Landmarks

Join National Park ranger, author and historian Scott Einberger as he traces the human, natural and urban history of Rock Creek Park, the largest park in the nation's capital.

Washington, D. C. 's Rock Creek Park stands as a wild and wonderful natural gem among a burgeoning metropolis. But while local residents flock to its trails and roads on weekends to hike, jog and bicycle, they are largely unaware of its diverse history. The park's grounds were the site of the bloody Civil War Battle of Fort Stevens, and presidents like Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson exercised and picnicked in the park the same way many visitors do today. From the cabin of eccentric poet Joaquin Miller to the oldest house in Washington today, the many stories and legends surrounding the park are sure to entertain and inform.

Affectionately called "Woodies" by loyal Washingtonians, the beloved department store Woodward & Lothrop stood at the heart of downtown for over a century.

Crowds flocked to the flagship store on the F Street shopping corridor to find better service and the season's fashions. The store and its employees shared in the best moments in the lives of Washingtonians, from the elaborate holiday window displays to the Wedding Service department that helped countless brides choose their china patterns. For weary shoppers, the Bake Shop and seventh-floor Tea Room offered city favorites such as Wellesley Fudge Cupcakes and Chicken Pot Pie. Department store historian Michael J. Lisicky brings readers back to the store's golden age, chronicling the enterprise that made it a retail giant and the missteps that brought the store to its much lamented closing in 1995. Through interviews with store insiders, vintage images and a selection of recipes, Lisicky reveals the magic and the memories behind Woodward & Lothrop. With an introduction by Tim Gunn, American fashion icon and television personality.

Author Gil Klein reveals the fascinating role of Lafayette Square in the nation's history.

Lafayette Square near the White House is surrounded by landmarks and steeped in a fascinating history of rebellion. A congressman shot and killed the son of Francis Scott Key in broad daylight on the square and got away with it. On the night Lincoln was assassinated, a co-conspirator forced his way into Secretary of State William Seward's house and nearly killed him. The women's suffrage movement created the White House protest that goes on to this day. Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into the Blair House to assassinate President Truman, who was living there.

During the Gilded Age, Dupont Circle was Washington's undisputed center of wealth, power and status. Over twenty years, it evolved from small farms and an overrun city cemetery to a community of grand homes for society's elite. Residents included future president William Taft, inventor Alexander Graham Bell, newspaper publisher Cissy Patterson and many more. From the intimate dinners and receptions of the Cave Dwellers to the lavish balls of Mary Townsend and others in the "smart set," Dupont Circle marked each social season in the capital. Satirized in Mark Twain's novel "The Gilded Age," the nouveau riche lifestyle of Dupont Circle was fodder for newspaper celebrity gossip. Author Stephen Hansen brings to life the intriguing history of Washington's famed Dupont Circle.

The waters of the Potomac and the Anacostia Rivers surround and define the nation's capital. For centuries, these rivers have been manipulated environments--transformed by native populations, settlers, politicians and real estate developers. With docks and wharves extending from the Anacostia River to Georgetown, the architect of the young capital, Pierre L'Enfant, planned to develop the waterfront into a prosperous inland seaport. Decades later, the Civil War took a devastating toll on the District's maritime economy with civilian port facilities pressed into military service and the failure of many riverfront plantations. Author John R. Wennersten explores this early history of Washington, D.C.'s waterfront even as he tackles its twentieth-century redevelopment and the challenges the rivers face today.

Join author Garrett Peck as he traces the unlikely story of the Smithsonian Castle and the Seneca Quarry.

British scientist James Smithson left a fortune to the country he so admired but had never visited. His gift founded the Smithsonian Institution and built the Smithsonian Castle. Today, the castle's distinct Romanesque facade glows warmly against the cool marble that dominates the National Mall. Yet the story of the stones is just as remarkable as that of the building that they grace. It was a boom-bust ride for the Seneca Quarry--the source of the red sandstone. The quarry saw its first developer die, filed for bankruptcy twice, suffered through floods and contributed to a national scandal that embarrassed the Grant presidency and helped bring down the Freedman's Bank. This is the untold history of the quarry owners and emancipated slaves who toiled there and the many people who work to this day to save Seneca. Join author Garrett Peck as he traces the unlikely story of the Smithsonian Castle and the Seneca Quarry.

In the nineteenth century, Commodore David Porter built his mansion on a prominent hill sitting directly north of the White House, and the rest of Meridian Hill's history is indelibly tied to the fabric of Washington. John Quincy Adams once resided in Porter's mansion. Union troops used the estate and its lands during the Civil War. Later, part of the old estate was famously developed by Mary Henderson into a noted group of embassy mansions, and the extraordinary Meridian Hill Park was created. The rest of the land became a diverse, thriving residential neighborhood. Join local author Stephen McKevitt as he chronicles the fascinating story of this interesting urban locale in the nation's capital.