Old Washington, D.C. in Early Photographs, 1846-1932

Robert Reed

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780486238692
• eBook ISBN:
  9780486138541
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: North American History

The rise and growth of Washington, D. C., in the nineteenth century closely paralleled the invention and development of photography — a felicitous circumstance that made possible this valuable photographic record of the early years of the nation's capital. Culled from the archives of the Library of Congress, Smithsonian, Columbia Historical Society, and other sources, these 224 rare prints (including works by such Victorian-era cameramen as Brady, Bishop, Plumbe, Hiller, Peale, et al.) constitute a vivid and enduring record of a city in progress — from sparsely settled provincial southern town to majestic seat of national power and influence.
In spite of their vintage (over half are pre-1900; the earliest a striking 1846 daguerreotype of the Capitol under construction), these priceless views retain an undiminished precision and clarity of detail that brings old Washington into sharp focus — timeless reminders of how a city and its people looked as a metropolis of pomp and power grew up about them. From the slums of Purdy Court to the turreted mansions of Dupont Circle, from the massive marble monuments of "Federal" Washington, to the humble shops and saloons of 7th Street, these rare pictures recall places and events steeped in meaning for a nation and its citizens: Lincoln's first inauguration (1861); Ford̍'s Theater draped in mourning (1865); Grand Review of the Union Army (1865); Old Willard Hotel (housed Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lincoln, Grant, Tyler, Pierce); portrait of Frederick Douglass and family (1885); homes of Dolley Madison and Francis Scott Key; Women’s Suffrage Parade (1913); and many other historic, social, and geographic landmarks.
This rich gallery of contemporary views also reveals nineteenth-century Washington as a showplace of architectural styles (Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Classical, Italian Renaissance, Victorian, etc.) employed to stunning effect by the master builders of the age: James Renwick (Smithsonian, Corcoran Gallery of Art); Benjamin Latrobe and Charles Bulfinch (Capitol); Robert Mills (Old Post Office, Patent Office, Treasury Building); Andrew Jackson Downing (Francis Dodge House); Henry Hobson Richardson (Henry Adams House), and many others.
Side by side with its architectural splendor, the mundane life of the city is recaptured in remarkable images of an era when beer was a nickel a bottle and cows still grazed within sight of the Capitol. Here are turn-of-the-century schoolchildren admiring the newly opened Library of Congress; summer crowds mingling on the White House lawn in the administration of Chester Arthur; an Easter Monday egg-roll in 1898; Marine Band concerts; idyllic outings at Rock Creek Park; bone-shaking rides on a velocipede; parades, celebrations, inaugurations, and many other vignettes of people, neighborhoods, and daily life.
The photos are arranged in an east-to-west geographic sequence (Capitol Hill to Georgetown) that roughly parallels the historic development of the city. Robert Reed has provided an informative introduction and captions, enhancing the unique and irreplaceable value of this collection. Historians, photographers, architects, visitors — anyone interested in the process by which a muddy village on the banks of the Potomac became one of the great capitals of the world — will want to have this book.

VIII.

C THROUGH K STREETS AND BEYOND

93. Baltimore & Ohio Railway Station, New Jersey Avenue and C Street, NW, 1888. The B & O tracks ran to Washington as early as 1835, but trains were not allowed to enter the city under their own power. For 17 years trains halted on the outskirts of town and the cars were drawn into the city by horses. In 1852 the stricture was relaxed, and this Italianate station was erected three blocks north of the Capitol. The view shows the depot after extensive street grading had nearly buried the old station, at the left.

94. Robinson’s Veterinary Hospital, 222 C Street, NW, ca. 1898. Robinson’s sons pose in the alley behind the hospital with the small ambulance that their father used to pick up sick and injured dogs and cats.

95. Capital News Company, 227 B Street (now Constitution Avenue), NW, ca. 1925. The company was agent for The Ladies’ Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman and out-of-town newspapers. The view looks east from 3rd Street.

96. Trinity Episcopal Church, 3rd and C Streets, NW, ca. 1863. The design of the church, which stood from 1849 to 1936, was James Renwick’s first plan (rejected) for the Smithsonian Institution. The Gothic Revival church of red sandstone was attended by John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and Francis Scott Key. When the Civil War broke out, the minister refused to read prayers for the victory of the Union forces. He was fired. The church was then seized by the Union and used as a hospital. The small building with the false front left of the church is William Birth’s Grocery Store.

Opposite, top: 97. Hannah Crosby’s Boardinghouse, 248 3rd Street, NW, ca. 1886. The establishment stood between C Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. The block at the front of the house was used to help people mount and dismount from horses and enter and alight from carriages.

98 and 99. Nos. 206 and 204 10th Street, NW, ca. 1886. J. T. Walker Sons dealt in lime, cement, plaster, pitch, felt, North Carolina tar, building paper, crocks, firebrick, chimney pots and clay. To the right is James T. Walker himself; left is one Patrick Connally. No. 206 is merchant Dennis W. McGrath and associates, dealers in wagons. Urban planners of the early twentieth century saw this area, south of Pennsylvania Avenue between 15th Street and the Mall, as an eyesore of nondescript commercial and public buildings. Beginning in 1926 it was redeveloped as Federal Triangle, a series of monumental federal office buildings done in the classical style.

100. Old City Hall, Judiciary Square, 4th and D Streets, NW, ca. 1870. In a city of classical buildings, Old City Hall, completed in stages between 1820 and 1858, stands out as a prominent example of Greek Revival architecture. The architect, George Hadfield, also designed the Custis-Lee Mansion in Arlington and was for a time supervising architect of the Capitol. Old City Hall has had many uses over the years—slave market, Civil War hospital, patent office and courthouse. Today it houses the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The carriage block in the foreground belonged to the house directly across the street.

101. Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Gallery, 7th and D Streets, NW, 1863. Gardner, who advertised himself in the city directory as “Photographer to the Army of the Potomac” and is today remembered for his documentation of the Civil War, had his gallery in the upper floors of this corner building. On the street floor was a sutler (provisioner) dealing in stationery. Just up D Street (right), in a four-story building at 396 is Robert Rainey’s Hotel. Next to it at 398 is Margruder, Beall & Co., dealing in boots and shoes.

102. The National Intelligencer, Northwest Corner, 7th and D Streets, NW, ca. 1862. The newspaper reported the proceedings of Congress to the country beginning in 1800. It was an influential journal which served as party organ for Jeffersonian Republicans, Whigs and Democrats until it went out of business in 1869.

103. Robert Hoy’s Saloon and Hotel, 721 D Street, NW, ca. 1895. The saloon boasts the classic corner entrance with swinging doors. At the end of D Street is the Patent Office; the building to the right of it, 413 8th Street, housed D.C. Fire Company No. 14.

104. Jacques Jouvenal’s Marble Works, 941 D Street, NW, ca. 1875. Many of the cemetery monuments in Washington were produced by Jouvenal during the 1860s and 1870s. This photograph shows his staff and shop. Ne...

Table of contents

• DOVER PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTIONS
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
• I. - GENERAL VIEWS
• II. - THE CAPITOL
• III. - CAPITOL HILL AND THE NAVY YARD
• IV. - OLD SOUTHWEST
• V. - PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE FROM THE CAPITOL TO MARKET SQUARE
• VI. - MARKET SQUARE
• VII. - PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE FROM MARKET SQUARE TO THE TREASURY
• VIII. - C THROUGH K STREETS AND BEYOND
• IX. - THE WHITE HOUSE AND LAFAYETTE SQUARE
• X. - DUPONT CIRCLE, MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT AVENUES
• XI. - GEORGETOWN
• GENERAL INDEX
• CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF PHOTOGRAPHS