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Washington, D.C. in 1951: The USGS Topographic Map

The U.S. Geological Survey published this topographic map of Washington, D.C. in 1951 — the year the city hit its all-time population of 802,000. Every neighborhood is packed. The highways that would displace tens of thousands of residents hadn’t been built yet.

1 min readUpdated

We came across a great archive of maps thanks to the U.S. Geological Survey. This one shows much of Washington and some of suburban Maryland in 1951.

Historical Topographic Map Collection

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Topics1950s

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