Built in 1765 in the then British colony of Maryland, the Old Stone House was already fifty-nine years old when the British invaded Washington in 1814. Although it is preserved for its architecture today, it was originally preserved through a case…

Tobacco was the lifeblood of the community of Georgetown when it was founded. Because of this, in 1745, a "Rolling House" for the inspection and trade of the crop was called for by the Maryland legislature. Completed in 1747, the Rolling House…

George Bomford was an Army ordnance expert and the owner of the mansion Kalorama. In 1845, he constructed a cotton factory on the site of an 1832 flour mill, which had burned down the previous year. The factory was sold to Thomas Wilson in 1850, who…

The Old North Building is the oldest remaining academic building on the Georgetown University campus, built between 1794 and 1797. An 1829 Prospectus shows the North and South Buildings as the heart of Georgetown’s campus. The College appears to…

Georgetown University's Greek Revival astronomical observatory is located on a knoll in the southwest corner of the campus, south of Kehoe Field and north of McDonough Memorial Gym. The observatory is the third oldest in the United States. It was…

Named for Patrick Francis Healy, then the President of Georgetown University, Healy Hall began construction in November 1877 and was largely finished by 1879. Reverend Healy consulted with a number of prominent architects, but decided to select the…

The Washington Canoe Club was founded and constructed in 1904 and is an excellent example of Shingle style architecture, which was popular during the early 20th century. The club is one of two extant boat clubs on the Potomac River, and the building…

The John Walker House contributes significantly to the cultural heritage and visual beauty of the District of Columbia. The house has long been known as the Gannt-Williams House and its date of construction initially thought to be circa 1805, but…

When Alexander Graham Bell received his first telephone patent in 1876, the device was still something of a curiosity. Within two years, though, the first telephone exchanges were opening as the device caught on. Bell, newly famous, moved to DC in…

While the Vigilant Fire House was built in 1844, the "Vigilant" was the first, private fire company founded in Georgetown in 1817. At that time, membership to a fire company was a minor social distinction and included fierce competition between the…