A Look at Wisconsin Avenue between N and Dumbarton
From The Ruined Capitol: The Fussell-Young Ice Cream Company (in the 1923 photo shown above) stood just north of N Street on Wisconsin Avenue. Today, what stands is the always irritating faux-colonial design of The Georgetown Inn that was constructed in the 1960's. What is most remarkable about this photo is the two little colonial period wood frame houses on the far right. These predate the Federalist Papers of 1787, and times were not easy for our earlier fellow citizens. They are, in fact, some of the first houses of Georgetown when Indians still roamed the dirt roads with extreme prejudice, often at night. In 1760, during the French and Indian War (The Seven Years' War), the town of Alexandria was almost overrun by 'the Savage' and you can bet that news traveled fast through these parts. The tall structure that currently houses Helia's and Smith Point survives today and its wall is visible on the extreme right.
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