Tenley Circle
Originally uploaded by DDOTDC

I’ve been through this intersection so many times, I could resist posting this photo (and I’m too lazy this morning to write up a full, substantial post).

The DC DDOT has started posting old-timey photos of the District on Flickr, and it’s some of the coolest stuff I’ve seen in a long time. This photo depicts the main traffic circle in Tenleytown, the neighborhood near American University (where I go to school), and only one mile from where I currently live. For the past three years I’ve traveled through this circle almost every other day in some capacity or another, on my way to the metro, grabbing food with friends, or running errands to the Best Buy, Ace Hardware, or good old CVS.

It’s hard to imagine what it must’ve been like back in 1955. At the time, my business school was just being founded–that very year, in fact. From the angle in the photo, though, it doesn’t even look all that terribly different. The street remains essentially the same size and shape, although with significantly more traffic. And the large church on the left is still the defining landmark of the traffic circle.

Take a look through all the photos on the DDOT Flickr page. Enjoy!