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Historic Landmarks on the 2022 Most Endangered Places List
11 Locations ~ Curated by DC Preservation LeagueFeatured Sites
Little Tavern Shop No. 27
Built in 1963, Little Tavern Shop No. 27 prompts nostalgia for Washingtonians through its architecture. While the shop no longer serves the public in the fast food realm, it offers a fond memory to those who visited the chain of hamburger stands.…
Superintendent's Residence (Admiral's House), U.S. Naval Observatory
The Queen Anne style house located at Number One Observatory Circle was designed by Leon Dessez and constructed in 1893 as the U.S. Naval Observatory's (USNO's) Superintendent's Residence. Thirty years later, in 1923, the home became the residence…
Rock Creek Church Yard and Cemetery
With graves dating back to the early 1770s, and pre-revolution burials, the Rock Creek Church Yard is a unique landscape in the District. With a variety of headstones, inscriptions, and decorative grave markers, the cemetery tells the stories of the…
Recent Sites
Lingering on the Palate: Heller’s Bakery (1928 - 2014)
A “Pillar of Pastry,” as deemed by Paul Schwartzman of The Washington Post, Heller’s Bakery filled the air of the Mount Pleasant neighborhood with the sweet smell of doughnuts and apple turnovers for almost nine decades. Opened in 1928 by Ludwig…
Lingering on the Palate: Mamma Desta’s (1978 - 1983)
Opened in 1978, Mamma Desta’s would be the first and most well known Ethiopian restaurant in Washington, DC. A 1982 review from The Washington Post stated that the restaurant was a “simple vision of eating; lots of stews, which are sopped up with…
Lingering on the Palate: Roma’s (1920 - 1997)
The early twentieth century brought on an influx of Italian immigrants who sought to recreate the taste of home in a new country. One of the earliest Italian restaurants to grace Washington, DC, was Roma’s.
Roma’s was first opened by Frank Abbo on F…
Lingering on the Palate: Harvey’s Restaurant (1858 - 1991)
Harvey's Oyster House is one of the most famous Washington restaurants of all time. Founded as Harvey’s Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Oyster Saloon by brothers George Washington Harvey (1840-1909) and Thomas Harvey (1830-1872), the restaurant opened in…
Lingering on the Palate: Southern Dining Room (1938 - 1980s)
In the age of racial segregation and discrimination that kept Washington, DC’s “fine restaurants” out of reach for African American Washingtonians, a wide range of eateries, such as informal cafeterias and full-service commercial restaurants, filled…
Lingering on the Palate: Duke Zeibert’s (1950 - 1994)
A pinnacle of the power-dining culture of DC, Duke Zeibert’s opened in 1950 on L Street NW near Farragut Square, by David “Duke” Zeibert (1910 - 1997). Duke first gained a loyal following while working at Fan and Bill’s, a restaurant that he had…
DC Historic Sites
A project by DC Preservation LeagueDC Historic Sites is based on the DC Inventory of Historic Sites, the city's official list of properties deemed worthy of recognition and protection for their contribution to the cultural heritage of the city, the nation’s capital, and the nation. DC Historic Sites was developed by the DC Preservation League, Washington's only citywide nonprofit advocate dedicated to the preservation, protection and enhancement of the historic resources of our nation's capital.
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