author
Grace Dunlop Peter
Best known for writing lovingly detailed books about historic Washington neighborhoods, this local historian brought Georgetown’s streets, houses, and family stories vividly to life. Her work feels personal and rooted in memory, shaped by a deep connection to the city she wrote about.
1 Audiobook
A Portrait of Old George Town
by Grace Dunlop Peter
About the author
Grace Dunlop Peter was an American writer remembered for books on the history of Washington, D.C., especially A Portrait of Old George Town, first published in 1933. In that book’s preface, she presents Georgetown not as a dry chronology but as a portrait of a place she knew intimately, describing it as the town of her birth and the home of generations of her family.
She later wrote Cleveland Park: An Early Residential Neighborhood of the Nation's Capital, and sources also connect her with Unpublished Letters of Dolly Madison. Taken together, these works show a writer drawn to local history, neighborhood character, and the lives behind old streets and buildings.
Available records indicate she was born in 1878 and died in 1974. While many biographical details are hard to confirm from readily available reliable sources, her books remain a useful window into the history and atmosphere of old Washington.