The red brick of old Georgetown, the streetcar lines of Tenleytown and the eclecticand stately homes of Cleveland Park—the neighborhoods west of Rock Creek Park were the setting for the remarkable history of the capital. Amidst the gardens of their Friendship Estate, the McLean family held lavish parties until they were laid low by the rumored curse of the Hope Diamond, and it was the fashionable residences of Woodley Park that attracted the senators and cabinet members of the 1920s and 1930s. From the history of Georgetown College and American University to stories of runaway slaves seeking protection at Fort Reno, historian Mark Ozer charts the evolution of the storied neighborhoods of Northwest Washington, D.C.