Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

Here is an old photograph from around 1860, showing the Capitol Dome under construction. I don’t think I’ve seen or posted this one before. Read More »

This one is amazing. Thanks to the Smithsonian for posting it online. The caption says this is around 1900. Read More »

This is an interesting photo of a man precariously perched on a flag pole near the Capitol Building. It was taken on July 11th, 1939 as the man (Jack Tarzan) was painting the flagpole. The safety equipment of the day looks a little weak. Okay … his real name wasn’t Tarzan, just a nickname. You can read a good blog ... Read More »

This is a terrific old photograph from the Library of Congress. It’s a great view of the Capitol Building from the old post office on F Street (now Hotel Monaco). It was taken by William M. Chase. Read More »

This is a great view down East Capitol St. from the Dome, taken around 1880. UPDATE: GoDCer Leonard sent along this great shot (a little blurry), from the same vantage point today. So cool!   Read More »

Yesterday Tom shared a somewhat jarring photo of the Capitol dome — colored red.  It wasn’t something we had seen before, dating roughly to the late 1950s.  Unfortunately, we just didn’t have much information. After a bit of digging, we now know that the Capitol’s re-painting (and temporary red coloring) happened in April 1960.  The photo spotted on Twitter came ... Read More »

Well, not really red paint. This is a shot from sometime in the 1950s and the red-colored dome is covered in primer. We came across this photo thanks to a Twitter exchange between @darsal and @MrTinDC. Read More »

Wow, these are awesome. Click on them for greater detail because they are pretty amazing. Sorry I just wasted at least 30 minutes of your time at work! Thank you Library of Congress. UPDATE: If you like these, you will also be fascinated by this photo of the Ebbitt House Hotel in 1889. UPDATE 2: GoDCer Brian over at National ... Read More »

Happy Sunday. Below is an amazing photograph, taken around 1880 from the top of the U.S. Capitol. The view is southeast, down Pennsylvania Ave., toward the Anacostia River. It includes a block of five homes at 1st and A St. SE, built around 1800 and razed in 1887 to build the Library of Congress. Thanks to the Library of Congress ... Read More »

Here is a painting of Washington from the late 1840s or 1850s, done by Augustus Köllner. The view is from an angle south of the Capitol, looking northwest. We just came across this watercolor while digging through the Library of Congress archives. Read More »

I wonder what happened to this couple. It’s possible that this photo was staged for the war effort. Also, take a look at the soldiers milling about in the background. This photo reminds me of this one, also from World War II. Read More »

What an incredible photo of the Capitol Building. This is from between 1905 and 1915, part of the Detroit Publishing Company collection at the Library of Congress. Read More »

Below is a photograph of five newspaper boys in front of the Capitol Building. It’s always great to see these photos accompanied with the names of those in the picture. We’ll see what we can dig up on these young boys. All the boys in the photo were first generation Americans, having parents that immigrated at the end of the ... Read More »

GoDCer, and D.C. native, Tony was kind enough to share a number of photos from his youth. His father was a pilot with Eastern Airlines (remember them?) and a few of the shots are taken by him, flying into National Airport (not Reagan). Read More »

It’s map Friday! Hopefully you liked the last map we posted, because maps seem to be super popular among GoDCers. Check this one out and click on it for greater detail. Related articles 1907 Map of LeDroit Park and Bloomingdale (ghostsofdc.org) 1851 Map of the City of Washington, D.C. (ghostsofdc.org) Old Columbia Heights: Where the Streets Have New Names (ghostsofdc.org) Read More »