Photos of yesterday, featuring regular people and regular places.
Potomac and Georgetown Flood
This crazy old photos shows Georgetown’s flooding and the Potomac in 1918. Here’s another good piece about it at The Georgetown Metropolitan.
View of Georgetown in 1855
This lovely painting shows Georgetown in the distance as it looked in 1855. Source: Library of Congress
View of National Archive Site Construction in 1932
This lovely old image shows the site of the National Archives early in the construction process. It was taken on July 1st, 1932.
National Airport Way Back in 1941
This lovely old photo was taken in 1941. You're looking at the old terminal (then the only terminal) at National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
Where Is This Car?
Okay GoDCers! This is a photo shared by a fellow reader Eric. He sent it in quite a while ago, so I’m a bit late on sharing this with the group. But, I promised to crowd-source...
Independence Avenue Before the FAA Headquarters
Take a look at the building below. This is the Federal Aviation Administration’s headquarters on Independence Ave. SW. It obviously didn’t always look like this. Now look below at what the block looked like in 1941,...
The White House Before Fences and Security
Can you even believe this photo. This dude is just sitting on what appears to be a low stone wall on the south side of the White House. This would be E St. today and if...
Negro Laborers at Alexandria Wharf
This photo was posted by the National Archives and labeled as “negro laborers, near coal wharf.” This beautiful old photo shows the faces of regular African-Americans in the 1860s, living and working around Alexandria. Photos like...
Look at 11th Street NW Back in the 1920s
Here’s a great old photo of Washington back in the 1920s. You’re looking down 11th St. NW from L St. Source: National Archives And here is what it looks like today on Google Street View. You...
Best Aerial Photo of Griffith Stadium in 1925
We’ve looked for a high resolution image of Griffith Stadium for quite some time. We finally dug one up at the National Archives. Check it out below. Source: National Archives Here’s another great one we found.
Photo of Willard Hotel Undergoing Major Renovation
This is an aerial image of the Willard Hotel undergoing major renovations in the 1980s. Source: Library of Congress
Tidal Basin Canoeing During World War II
During the dark early days of World War II, people in the city of Washington still found time to relax on weekends. This photo was taken on a Sunday in July 1942 by John Collier. In...
Machine Guns at the Lincoln Memorial
The day after Pearl Harbor this is what the Lincoln Memorial looked like. Reminds me a little of what downtown Washington looked like the day after 9/11.
Car Dealerships Prohibited From Selling During World War II
These photos show a cool old building on 14th St. in Logan Circle which still stands today. It used to be an automobile dealership and the photos below are from 1942 during World War II. In...
Before Sidwell Friends: The Nourse House
This lovely photo is captioned as the Charles Joseph Nourse House in Tennallytown (read about the name’s history). This is the main administrative house today and it’s known as Zartman House. It’s a beautiful old farm...
Wright Brothers Fly Over Fort Myer in 1909
We posted another piece about this event a while back. This is a much higher resolution image from the event at Fort Myer. Source: Library of Congress
Then and Now View of Lord Fairfax House in Alexandria
Here’s a great photo of the Lord Fairfax House at 607 Cameron Street in Alexandria. By the way, Lord Fairfax was the Baron of Cameron, hence the street name. Source: Library of Congress And here’s the...
Incredible Colorized 1927 Photo of Car
Two new colorized photos for today! Here’s an awesome one we dug up thanks to Pinterest. It’s an image originally from 1927. See if you can identify the buildings in the background to pinpoint the location....
