Check this out … what a fascinating old stereographic photo of the Old Executive Office Building, then known as the State, War, and Navy Building, adjacent to the White House.
John DeFerrari posted a great history of the building on his site, and we have a few great posts on Ghosts of DC as well.
![Here's a circa 1876 stereoview image of the Old Executive Office Building under construction just as the south wing (for the State Department) was nearing completion. You can see just a tiny bit of the old Navy Department building--one of the original ones designed by George Hadfield--on the right, behind the new building. It would take 17 years to finish the whole thing.](https://ghostsofdc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2020/06/33773589565_2cf459583f_o.jpg)
Source: Flickr user streetsofwashington
Thanks to a man we greatly admire, John DeFerrari, one of the preeminent DC historians with a great blog you should check out.