MEMORIES - PAGE 5!!!

Born and raised in Southeast DC, I moved only once in my first 24 years -- from 109 - 15th Street, SE to 219 - 14th Street, SE. The 15th Street house had gas lights when I was a baby.

I have fond memories of rollerskating and sleigh riding on the Capitol grounds. I rode my bike to Lincoln Park, Rock Creek Park, and Fort Dupont Park. Playmates and I used our BB guns to shoot at rats at the city dump. Later, Barnum and Bailey Circus used this same area (turned into a park by then) to pitch their tents. RFK Stadium now stands there. I remember playing marbles (was neighborhood "champ" for a while!) and practicing yo-yo tricks by the hour. Attended Bryan Elementary; spent four years in military school, and attended Eastern HS.

My "downtown" was the area at 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE...I remember vividly the Penn Theater and Avenue Grand and not too far away, across the street from the Marine Barracks, the Academy Theater. This downtown area had a "dimestore" (Woolworth's, I think); a soda shop (Arundel's?); a Little Tavern, and a Peoples Drug Store. I remember when neighborhood hucksters kept their horses in alley stables and seeing them during the day selling their vegetables and fruits. And, I remember when we could go horseback riding in Fort Dupont Part in Anacostia. I remember my first job working summers at Meadow Gold Ice Cream Company.

At age 17, I saw my first "stripper" at Jack Rowe's on 11th Street, SE. (Boys will be boys---I lied about my age!) I did a lot of dancing and girlwatching at Guy's and The Roundup and Little Dutch Tavern. I hung around Lucky Corner at Bladensburg Road & Moore Street. Also frequented the Kavakis Club, 8th & H Sts., NE and the dances at the Burlington Hotel on Vermont Avenue, NW. .....And, let's not forget the "jumping" 4400 Club in Brentwood, the Dixie Pig in Cottage City, and the Rustic Cabin at Peace Cross in Bladensburg, to name just a few.... And, AV's at 6th & NY Ave., NW, was THE place to eat a nice Italian meal (real late at night) after a big night out on the town.

I finally "settled down" --joined the DC Fire Department where I stayed for the next 20 years. But, that's ANOTHER long story.

"BUCK"

After my father died, I was cleaning out the basement of his home in Maryland, and what a pleasent surprise to find he had one of the old gas pipes left over from the old house. If you have never seen one of these pipes you have missed some excellant old country craftsmanship. They were solid brass and very ornate. The one I have doesn't have the screw on base or chimney but to me it is still beautiful to have something left from your youth.

One of my uncles told me if I really wanted a collectable I should try to find one of the old gas meters that really wasn't a meter but was coin operated. You had to put in 2 quarters and gas would flow for so long. Only took quarters and seemed that it always run down at night and no-one had any quarters. And we complain today ?

John

Weekly visitors to the neighborhood included trash trucks, garbage trucks (no disposals then), and ash trucks (many homes still had coal or wood-burning stoves & furnaces). Coal was delivered in baskets or directly from a Griffith's Consumers truck, and down a chute to the coal bin in the basement. The milk man showed up frequently, picking up empty bottles and dropping off milk and cream. Hucksters, sometimes in horse-drawn wagons, would ride through the neighborhood during the summers, and knife-sharpeners would appear every few weeks, ringing a bell as they walked or rode up the streets.

Once we reached age 10 or so, we would ride a bus from Minnesota Ave SE to Barney Circle at the foot of Pennsylvania Ave SE, then catch the streetcar to downtown. My cousin and I would wander through the Smithsonian, including the Air Museum, then housed in a quonset hut behind the Castle Building, or walk through the shopping district north of Pennsylvania Ave NW, stopping for a hot dog at one of the many small lunch counters in the area.

Once a year, my mom and I would go downtown to shop for clothes at Woodies, Hechts, Kanns, and Lansburghs. Does anyone remember the x-ray machines in the shoe department which allowed you to look through the leather of the shoes to check the fit (and scope out the bones in your foot at the same time)? Amazing. Afterwards we'd meet my dad who worked downtown and have dinner at O'Donnell's -- they had the best rum buns on the face of the earth.

As Anne pointed out earlier, the Naval Air Station and Bolling Field in southeast were operational in those days, with Navy and Army (and later Air Force) aircraft taking off and flying over (and occasionally crashing into) Fairlawn Park along the Anacostia River. On certain holidays (probably Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, or the 4th of July), large formations of WWII bombers would fly over the city.

Do you remember the police boxes and fire alarm boxes along the streets? The fire boxes used to have orange globes on top, but they had been replaced with dark blue globes for the air raid drills during WWII. And the street lights at intersections with glass inserts near the top that showed the names of the streets? Very tempting targets for slingshots (not that my cousin and I would ever shoot at them, of course).

Good times.

Tom in Fairfax

My mother and her family grew up in Southeast, attended Anacostia High School, stayed in the area many years.

I read with joy, many of the memories others have written...and, for what it's worth...I remember...Mighty Mo (where the burgers were always the best..it was on Pennsylvania Ave and we'd stop every time we visited my Aunt and Uncle in District Heights)...Giffords (I think I may still have some left over calories from all the banana splits)...Peoples Drug Store (visiting the lunch counter at N. Rhodes and Wilson Blvd in 1960 with my Grandmother..I was a child) and, it turned out..at the ripe age of 15...the lunch counter at Peoples at Gallows Rd. and Rt. 50 ...was my first job...The Trolley Car Station at the end of Key Bridge in Rosslyn....and segregation (the first time I really thought about it)...The Outlaws (car gang) and the Pagans (motorcycle group) and a gang fight they had in 1967 too close to home (Kroger Store at Harrison St. and Lee Hwy. my first inkling that I didn't like violence.)...The Cousin Cupcake Show...not sure why I ever ended up on it!!....The war protests (Vietnam)and standing on the steps of the Pentagon at 16 years old stomping on ketcup packets as the generals would walk out...Independence Day (with the fireworks that could be seen for miles)...Military Funerals at Arlington National Cemetary and crying....at the sound of Taps during the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unkown...The Marine Corps Band at the old Marine Barracks...The day Kennedy was shot (Robert E. Lee Elementary school - 5th grade...Mrs. Miller was my teacher...and school closed...and I went home and cried...and I was not alone)...Marios Pizza...geesh that was good stuff...7-Corners and S&W cafeteria....all those meals with my grandmother....with lots and lots more memories...to numerous to mention...and yes...I even remember Glen Echo....ha...Washington DC...what a wonderful place!

Larry Lachance
Jacksonville, FL

This past November 1998, my Wife an I visited Glen Echo. Some of the old building are still standing (in very poor shape). We went to the Park Ranger's Office and was looking at photo albums of the old Park. On of the Ranger's on duty set up a TV and VCR in an office and showed us about half hour of some old family home movies of the park, which someone who lived in the area had found and copied to video tape. On of the segments on the tape was a ride on the old roller coaster.

Tom Jones

Heller's bakery at Mt Pleasant street (where the street car turned around and headed back down connecticut Ave. The Tickling and Savoy theaters on 14th street. The Arcade bowling alleys. Rock Creek Park and Pierce Mill. The wild trolley rides to Glenn Echo Park and Cabin John. The Potomac river midnight cruise past Mt Vernon and Marshall Hall amusement park. Going down to Haines point to watch the "Submarine races". Walking up all those steps to get to the top of the Washington monument.

I lived near Sacred Heart catholic church on 16th street across the street was a triangle shaped small park with a bronze metal statue. I used to climb up and sit on his lap. CREI (Capitol Radio Engineering Institute) 16th & Park rd.Griffith Park. I worked for McCarthy Brothers Dumont television repair shop. Every year Allen B. Dumont would donate a television set to the white house. I had the privilege to install and service it. I was lucky enough to meet and speak with President Harry S. Truman one day while adjusting the TV set. Many times I walked to the Fireworks display at the monument grounds on the 4th from my apartment on Lamont st at Mt pleasant. Driving to 4 corners to get fireworks with my uncle was a yearly event. Hot shoppes were everywhere. Hechts and Woodworth & Lathrops Xmas displays were a must to see. Red Skeleton and Harry Blackstone at the Capitol Theater on F St with it's Pipe organ sing a longs (follow the bouncing ball) Going to see all those great exhibitions at the Smithsonian Museum. The fish and fresh vegetable marketing at Foggy Bottom. Roller skating at Riverside stadium (just across the street from the senate brewery), Alexandria, Bladensburg National arenas.

The Prom dance at the Woodman Park Hotel. Georgetown and the C & O Canal. School trips to The Capitol. Water hydrant spray street parties on a hot summer's day. Blackouts when we had to cover the windows. I was a CD (Civilian Defense) runner working for the Air Raid Warden and, last going through the large collection of surplus equipment that was donated for scrap metal. I used to find a lot of good stuff there, Old radios, cameras, appliances and all the good things kids liked.

Harry D. Flagle