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Strange and Obscure Stories of Washington, DC: Little-Known Tales about Our Nation's Capital
Contributor(s): Rowland, Tim (Author)
ISBN: 1510722777     ISBN-13: 9781510722774
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
OUR PRICE:   $15.29  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: March 2018
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic (dc, De, Md, Nj, Ny, Pa)
- Humor | Topic - History
Dewey: 975.3
LCCN: 2022277413
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.5" W x 8.1" (0.45 lbs) 196 pages
Themes:
- Locality - Washington, D.C.
- Geographic Orientation - District of Columbia
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Strange and Obscure Stories of Washington, DC is a collection of wild but true tales about our nation's capital. Starting in the early days of the republic and reaching into modern times, the book recounts odd and humorous events that didn't make their way into the history books.
Along the way the book introduces a host of memorable characters:
  • Land speculators James Greenleaf and Robert Morris, whose financial shenanigans almost took down the Federal City before it was even established
  • Civil War madam Mary Ann Hall, who ran the city's most upstanding brothel and died with an estate valued at $2 million
  • The "Treasury Girls"--the first wave of female workers, hired to cut individual bills from printed sheets of cash (with scissors), who prompted a government investigation into immoral behavior in the workplace
  • The NSA's secret staff of African Americans who went to work in code rooms after Harry Truman desegregated the federal workforce
  • The 1960s activist who drew attention to a rat problem in poor neighborhoods by shuttling them in his station wagon to the toniest parts of Georgetown
    Readers will also find out how a hurricane saved the city in 1812, how a demonstration of the world's largest naval gun nearly killed the president, and about the tree at Washington Cathedral whose origins trace back to the Holy Land at the time of Joseph of Arimathea.
    With Strange and Obscure Stories of Washington, DC in hand, the city will never seem the same again.
    		•

    Contributor Bio(s): Rowland, Tim: - Tim Rowland has authored a number of books, including histories of the Adirondacks and Western Maryland mountains, and the Strange and Obscure series, collections of historical essays focusing on lesser-known aspects of American history. An avid outdoorsman, Rowland has climbed in the Himalayas, hiked the Inca Trail, trekked throughout Europe, and ridden a bicycle across the United States. He has climbed all 46 Adirondack High Peaks over 4,000 feet. He and his wife Beth live in Jay, New York.