Antique & Vintage Postcards

Step into the cozy Pennsylvania Dutch dining room of Marjory Hendricks' Water Gate Inn, where a red-and-white checked tablecloth catches the warm glow of overhead copper pots, a hand-painted carousel horse presides over a carved wooden settle, and folk-art fraktur panels line the whitewashed walls — a slice of Lancaster County transplanted to the banks of the Potomac in the heart of Washington, D.C. The inn, perched "On-the-Potomac-at-F, N.W." at the phone exchange District 7-9256, was a beloved mid-century dining destination decorated by Genevieve Hendricks (A.I.D.) and celebrated for hot popovers, Mennonite chicken baked in sour cream, shrimp wiggle esche puddle, and Dutch apple-cheese pie. The back reveals it was addressed to a Henry S. Fullerton, 3rd, of Westfield, New Jersey, though never posted — a collector's acquisition note penciled "EC / 1–" suggests a dealer priced it at $1. The Water Gate Inn predates the famous Watergate complex by over a decade and occupies a forgotten but charming chapter of D.C. dining history.