Foggy Bottom and the West End

by Matthew B. Gilmore, Joshua Olsen

Beginning as a small town on the banks of the Potomac, the neighborhoods of Foggy Bottom and the West End grew into the capital’s industrial center at the head of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, with factories, gasworks and breweries. The amalgam of working-class row homes, stately mansions and mills largely disappeared with the coming of the twentieth century, and in their place came the federal government, George Washington University, the Kennedy Center and the Watergate. With a collection of rare vintage images, local authors Matthew Gilmore and Joshua Olsen have compiled a stunning visual narrative of the evolution of these historic Washington, D.C. communities.

195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 19, 2010

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly as described, he begins at the beginning of the development on the Potomac. He then takes you through the neighborhoods and business that began in the West End like Heurich Brewery, the Diary and other factories that came into being around the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal,. How the row houses developed and back alleys of the working class and working poor and also how the grand mansions once the last descendants were gone no one wanted them and the land was used for other businesses and ventures. He brings finally to Washington I and my family grew up in with development of the the federal government, George Washington University, the Kennedy Center and the Watergate. He gives you a wide variety of vintage photographs, some are repetitive, but all in all he gives you a good visual history of Foggy Bottom and the West End.