The 1850s found Washington in the grip of the slavery debate that would soon tear the nation apart. Construction on the Washington Monument stalled when the Know-Nothing party seized the project, and the decade ended with the country barreling toward secession. These posts capture a city on the edge of crisis.
This 1852 dollar bill was issued by the Bank of the United States, a decade after the bank’s charter expired. Here’s the story behind the note and why the bank that printed it technically no longer existed.
Reader Nancy sent in an 1853 newspaper advertisement for her great-great grandfather’s air-tight burial case business in Washington, DC.
One of the earliest known photographs of Washington, taken in 1857, shows the Smithsonian Castle in the distance and an unpaved Mall.
David Levy Yulee, of Florida, was not only one of the first senators from that state, but he was also the first Jewish senator.
How much did a train ticket cost from Washington to St. Louis in 1854? We found the answer in an old advertisement: $26.50 – roughly $660 in today’s money. Compare this with a flight today, which costs around $280.
Here is an interesting video that we found, showing a collection of really old photos of D.C.
Did you know there was a stolen sailboat in 1854? Read the full unsolveted mystery of the stolen boat ad in the Daily Evening Star, July 5th, 1854. Did they ever find the boat?
In August 1853, Montgomery C. Meigs placed an ad in the Daily Evening Star for skilled bricklayers to help expand the U.S. Capitol. See a great 1858 photo of the Capitol under construction.
Take a look back in time to 1854 with this old omnibus advertisement from the Daily Evening Star. Learn more about the coach service to Alexandria and the history behind it!
