RSS FeedHistory on Foot: The Christian Index
Have you ever noticed this plaque along the 900 block of E Street, near the Federal Election Commission offices and Hard Rock Cafe? According to the plaque, the oldest existing religious newspaper was first published at 925 E Street, NW on February 2, 1822. The Columbian Star, which is now printed as The Christian Index in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded by Luther Rice, a well-known Baptist leader who also founded Columbian College (now George Washington University).
By comparison, The Hartford Courant, first printed in 1764, is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the U.S., and The Washington Post, was first printed in 1877.
Penn Quarter Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Photo: Industry Takeover Night on January 7 – Voltaggio at Graffiato (707 6th St NW)
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Here’s what we were reading recently about neighborhood news in DC. Have something to add? Leave it in the comments!
Tips? Send them in confidentiality to: pqliving [at] gmail.com
Chinatown – We attended the first Industry Takeover Night on January 7 at Graffiato (707 6th St NW) with Bryan Voltaggio from Range cooking in the house. It was *very* well attended, delicious, and the food was gratis. The next industry night is on February 4 with Scott Drewno from The Source (575 Pennsylvania Ave NW). Refer to the photo above to see what we mean. [Graffiato – Industry Takeover Nights schedule/description]
Penn Quarter – Donald Trump wants to avoid the possessory interest tax on the Old Post Office redevelopment. Union Station was not so fortunate so we don’t think the Donald will be either. DC earns mucho dinero from commercial real estate taxes. [Washington CityPaper]
Chinatown – Absolute Noodle from the folks at Absolute Thai opens at 772 5th St NW. The liquor license was before last evening’s ANC2C meeting so we believe that will be on its way shortly. [The 42 Bus Twitter picture] & [Menu – The 42 Bus]
Chinatown – Slices on the Walk replaces the pretzel place in the Gallery Place alley (7th and G St NW) and Panera is open too at 7th and H St (675 H St NW). [PoPville – Slices] & [PoPville – Panera]
Penn Quarter – Jon Gann, a resident of Penn Quarter, is running for the D.C. Council At-Large councilmember position. [Jon Gann for D.C. Council website]
Chinatown – There’s a new public protestor on the corner of 7th and H St NW…and he dances a lot. [Washington CityPaper 1] & [Washington CityPaper 2 (possibly NSFW)]
Downtown – Tosca Restaurant (1112 F St NW) gets a facelift. [Washingtonian]
Penn Quarter – A new bartender is coming to Elisir at 427 11th St NW. [Washingtonian]
Downtown – Will CityCenter have an Apple store? Maybe…ooohh the anticipation. [WaPo]
Downtown – Will CityCenter get a speculative office building? Maybe….ooohh the anticipation. [Washington Business Journal]
Downtown – Will CityCenter get a condo building? Yes! Our first Crib of the Week for 2013 is a development and for the trifecta in the CityCenter news department is the Residences at CityCenter on the site of the old DC Convention Center. There will be two condo buildings that front 9th St NW and we toured the sales center and the full size 2 BR condo built into the sales center on one of the floors of 901 New York Avenue. Based on what we saw, the condos will be just great and very European befitting Norman Foster’s architectural involvement. Figure on about $700 per square foot for a purchase price and 90 cents per square foot per month for the condo fee. Larger one bedrooms on up get a parking space included. We’ll let you do the math. [WaPo] & [Residences at CityCenter sales website] & [WaPo – pics of 2 BR model unit] & [Curbed DC]
First Penn Quarter ANC Meeting Is Tonight!
If you live downtown in Penn Quarter, this meeting is for you. The first Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2C meeting solely dedicated to the Penn Quarter is tonight at 6:30 pm in the Martin Luther King Library (901 G St NW) in Auditorium A-10.
Prior to the 2010 census, Penn Quarter and downtown’s East End was split between two wards, Ward 2 and Ward 6, which also meant that there were two different jurisdictions where community meetings would be held depending on which side of the street you lived on. Consolidation brought the two jurisdictions together into one ward, Ward 2, and one ANC, 2C. The 2010 census made this possible because changes in the ward populations required that the ward boundaries be redrawn. A number of Penn Quarter residents worked hard to get this new ANC set up including one of your own Penn Quarter Living writers. You might say this meeting has been ten years in the making.
Check out the draft agenda after the break…come on out and meet the neighbors. We’ll see you there!
P.S. The next meeting after tonight’s will be Monday, February 11.
The (Unofficial) Penn Quarter Inauguration Survival Guide
Inauguration day is right around the corner and we want our readers to be prepared. Sure you can get official information from the DC Presidential Inauguration website, but that’s geared towards tourists and outsiders; and besides, where’s the fun in an official guide? What do PQ residents need to consider besides street closures? Well, the following might just save your holiday:
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- Tip One – if your political party lost, make it a long weekend away from DC. Although judging by the fact that Obama brought in over 90% of the votes in DC (folks, third world dictators would be embarrassed by those kinds of numbers) there won’t be many of you leaving.
- Tip Two – if your political party won, throw a viewing party. You’ll thank us when you’re not stuck in the purple tunnel of doom (yeah, yeah, it’s closed this year… artistic license).
- Tip Three – get your guest list to your front desk concierge ahead of time (assuming you are listening to us about tip two), we recommend an open note to the concierge, something like “my friends will be those carrying booze.”
- Tip Four – make a list and check it a dozen times. There won’t be any last minute trips to the store for the onion you forgot for your inaugural guacamole.
- Tip Five – be a good neighbor and invite some of your building neighbors to your party. You never know, they might be able to supply that onion your forgot (see tip four).
- Tip Six– plan to keep it indoors. The last thing you want is the Secret Service mistaking your rooftop yard-of-ale for a firearm.
- Tip Seven – not a drinker? Then this is the tip for you! Take a drink every time President Obama mentions Penn Quarter in his inaugural address.