Georgetown Main Street’s Coffee & Community takes place on the second Thursday of every month at 1310 Kitchen & Bar. Local business owners and community leaders gather over coffee and breakfast bites for 90 minutes of connection and conversation. This month’s featured speakers included Mary-Frances Wain, executive director of Tudor Place, Gloria Kenyon, executive director of Dumbarton House, Maggie Downing, executive director of Georgetown Heritage and the discussion was moderated by Georgetown Main Street’s Executive Director Rachel Shank.
Mary-Frances spoke about the Peter family as Georgetown’s original self-promoters: a dynasty that leveraged their Washington connection for social and financial capital and happened to hoard 20,000 artifacts in the process, many traceable to George and Martha Washington.
Attendees at 1310 Kitchen & Bar during May 2026 Coffee & Community
Kenyon mentioned that Dumbarton House is currently closed for HVAC renovation but will be reopening this fall. Beyond being a Federal-era house museum, it serves as the national headquarters of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, an organization that stewards over 95 historic properties across the U.S., second only to the National Park Service.
Downing talked about Georgetown Heritage being more than just the canal boat. With the boat in dry dock until spring 2027 (pending National Park Service repairs), the organization has leaned into a new arts and culture program led by Nancy Miyahira, formerly of the Georgetown Business Improvement District. Programming includes Fête de la Musique in June, temporary public art initiatives and a series of America’s 250th and Georgetown’s 275th anniversary walking tours.
Teddy Sullivan Director of Development Georgetown Ministry Center, Megan Judt, Director of Advancement for the The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America at Dumbarton House, Mary-Frances Wain ED of Tudor Place
Downing also noted that first-time visitors come for the Canal 101 in the Boat Tour experience, but the goal is building a deeper menu of themed tours and programs for repeat visitors. Dumbarton House’s Kenyon pointed to its beloved Jane Austen Film Festival, which returns in September and its garden and event rental spaces as retention drivers. Wain emphasized being welcoming and accessible, as one recent visitor didn’t know they could walk through the gate, and building neighborhood partnerships so visitors can “make a day of Georgetown.”
Kenyon highlighted new research showing Dumbarton House was briefly home to the French ambassador Louis-Andre Pichon, who signed Meriwether Lewis’s (of the famed Lewis & Clark expedition) passport to cross into French territories before the Louisiana Purchase.
Wain spotlighted Tudor Place’s “witness trees,” which are specimens as old as Georgetown itself, predating the U.S., as a tangible way to ground the founding era story. Downing made sure to mention the Old Stone House on M Street, the only building in D.C. standing at the time of the country’s founding and spoke to the natural geography that shaped Georgetown, i.e. the canal was built because Georgetown was the furthest point large ships could navigate up the Potomac.
Jordan Ferguson-Powell, Georgetown BID Clean Team
All three organizations are actively seeking business partnerships and excited about the prospect of being more involved in the community. Specific opportunities mentioned included:
- Tudor Place: Employee volunteer days (garden weeding), private event hosting, client gifts (honey harvested on-site, family memberships), co-promotions around Tudor Tuesdays (summer Tuesday evenings) and a July 2nd “Brew the People” event
- Georgetown Heritage: Sponsorships, food/beverage partnerships for canal boat happy hours, and a future “show your boat ticket, get a discount” program when the boat relaunches (typically drawing ~16,000 visitors per season)
- Dumbarton House: Sponsorships for a new NSCDA exhibition opening with the fall reopening, food/beverage partnerships for the Jane Austen Film Festival (~200 attendees per evening)
A question from The Georgetowner’s Editor-at-Large Robert Devaney about Dolly Madison prompted Kenyon to confirm that Dumbarton House was her brief refuge during the burning of Washington in the War of 1812, with a portrait print of her in the dining room.
An attendee gave an unprompted endorsement of Georgetown Heritage’s canal walking tours. A Georgetown University Alumni Association representative expressed interest in connecting alumni programming to Georgetown’s cultural institutions. Shank closed by asking for a show of hands from business owners who wanted to be on a recommended itinerary list for visitors, which was prompted by an enthusiastic response.
Maggie Downing, ED of Georgetown Heritage, Gloria Kenyon, ED of The NSCDA at National Headquarters Dumbarton House, Mary-Frances Wain, ED of Tudor Place, and Rachel Shank ED of Georgetown Main Street
