Ghosts of DCThe lost and untold stories of Washington

Try an address, a neighborhood, a name or a year, like “14th and U” or “1968.”

Not sure where to start?
Best OfThe stories readers come back toAtlasOur stories, on a mapPodcastOur stories, told aloudAboutWho writes this, and how
Lost History

The State Department Building in an 1857 Photograph

An 1857 photograph shows the State Department in the North East Executive Building near the White House.

Posted 1 min read
Atlas
Old State Department Building in 1857
Old State Department Building in 1857

This is the oldest known photo of the U.S. Department of State. The photo is from 1857 and shows the old State Department building, before it was located in Foggy Bottom, and even before it was located in the State, War, and Navy Building next to the White House.

The building above is the old North East Executive Building, near the White House. Read more about the building at the State Department’s Office of the Historian.

Old State Department Building in 1857 (Library of Congress)

The Email

Lost Washington stories, in your inbox.

The newest story, plus a few from the archive.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime.

We use AI to help research, write and edit stories across our sites. Here’s how we use AI.Suggest a correction

Filed underLost History

Topics1850s · Politics

Pass it on

Know someone who’d like this?

Send it to them.

Email it

Readers’ favorites

AI-colorized historical photograph of shops, gas pumps, and a yellow stop sign at the rural Tysons Corner crossroadsWho Was the Tyson Behind Tysons Corner?2 min readRobert Todd Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial Dedication, 19222 min readA hatchet photographed in 2004 that a Wikimedia Commons contributor identified as the one thrown in the 1970 Bunny Man incidentIs the Bunny Man Real? The 1970 Story and Bunny Man Bridge7 min read
On the Atlas

See where this happened.

Old State Department (NE Executive Bldg)

Open the map

Keep reading

AI illustration imagining the proposed 1964 Pennsylvania Avenue plaza near the National ArchivesPoliticsKennedy’s Lost 1964 Plan to Remake Pennsylvania Avenue10 min readPoliticsBartholdi Fountain Almost Moved to Dupont Circle in 18813 min readWillard's Hotel1850sPhilemon Herbert and the Fight at Willard’s Hotel in 18566 min read