I am the person still looking for the information about the "Gum Tree"
at Ford theatre.
My question now is, besides the internet what do you think is my best
resource in the Washington DC area to find my answer.  Does anyone
know of the list of the top questions/answer boards that are on-line. 
Can anyone recommend any good resources I could use (which are located
in the washington DC area) to maybe travel to locally or e-mail too to
get my answer. Any indepth help I could get I would greatly apprecaite
it.

I'd try the DC Public Library:
http://www.dclibrary.org/services/reference.html. Unfortunately they
don't seem to have online reference (unusual), but you can call or
visit the MLK Memorial Library, where the "Washingtoniana" collection
and reference specialists are located.