History

Then & Now: Corner of 9th & G Streets NW

by John Muller   •   January 12, 2012 3:25 pm

In many ways, the corner of 9th and G Streets NW is in a different world than it was in the 1920s. But even today, it's recognizable by the architecture and remains a transit hub.

Corner of 9th & G Streets NW, circa 1920s. Photo from the Library of Congress.

President Lincoln's second inaugural party in March 1865 took place at the Old Patent Office Building at this intersection. Today, that structure is home to the National Portrait Gallery.

The corner is also home to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library and an entrance to the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station.

In the old image, streetcars prepare to head northbound on 9th Street NW, now a one-way southbound street. Clumps of snow are melting in the street. American flags hang between the columns of the Old Patent Office Building. Across the street a dentist and cigar shop are where today is a YWCA and a Segway tour company.

Corner of 9th & G Street NW, January 2012. Photo by the author.

John Muller is a former reporter for The Washington Times and current contributor to Capital Community News. He earned his degree in Public Policy from GWU and is currently working on a book, Frederick Douglass' Washington: The Lion of Anacostia to be published in October by The History Press. John is a late night Metro rider.