The Civil War reached the outer edges of Washington in 1864. It was so close that President Lincoln rode near the front lines of Fort Stevens and came under fire.

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 you even came close to the fence today, you’re going to have an unpleasant experience with the Secret Service. […]

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 this really make you wonder who these individuals are, what their lives were like, and what happened to them. […]

This stunning old photo shows the city of Washington in May of 1865.

We wrote a great post about Chain Bridge a while back. That shared a few images of it, but we recently came across this gem. Click on it for more details. Source: Library of Congress

The sad truth is that slave pens existed in and around all of Washington. This photo shows one of those in Alexandria during the 1860s. We dug these up at the Library of Congress. Source: Library of Congress

These old Civil War photos of Alexandria are amazing. This one shows the steam frigate Pensacola in 1861, the beginning of the war. Click on it for some incredible details. Source: Library of Congress We also came across some amazing old photos of the frigate here.

This photo is a great moment in time, showing life on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1865, right at the end of the Civil War. Source: New York Public Library

This wonderful old image from the 1860s shows F St. near the end of the Civil War. The details are quite incredible when you click on the photo. I’m a little confused as to where this is exactly. The building in the background could be either the old patent office of the post office. But, […]

Do you recognize the Treasury Building? This photo shows it back in 1860, before the Civil War. Source: Library of Congress

We posted a great old photo of the old State Department Building earlier. Here’s another, similar angle photo of the building, but much clearer. Click on it for some amazing details. Does anyone know why there are a large number of wooden boxes at the main entrance to the building? Those seem too small to […]

Check out this cool photo of the city back in 1861. Click on it for a larger version. Source: Library of Congress

We posted a cool old property map of Columbia Heights the other day. Today, we’re showing you something that we dug up showing an alternate view of what Meridian Hill could have looked like, starting back in 1867. A few of the street names are the same, like Columbia Rd. and Crescent St. Others like […]

This property map of Columbia Heights from 1869 shows John Sherman’s subdivision with the old street names (learn about the street names here). Make sure you click on it for more details because it’s very interesting. For some reference, Kennesaw Ave. is now Irving St., which runs right by DC USA (aka, Best Buy and […]

This photo shows the Smithsonian castle as it looked just after the Civil War.

This very rare photo of the Capitol Dome under construction shows it as it looked during the early days of the Civil War. Source: Library of Congress

I love old railroad photos like this. You’re looking at a couple photos of the Alexandria railroad roundhouse back during the Civil War. They’re just beautiful photos, frozen in time, so make sure you click on them for a larger, more detailed version. You’ll love them. Source: Library of Congress Source: Library of Congress

Here is an old Civil War map of Arlington. This map was for reconnaissance, done by Benjamin Church. The orientation is a little different with north being down and to the right. Click on it for a larger version to study it. Source: Library of Congress

Here is a great old photo from 1863 showing Alexander Gardner‘s photo gallery at 7th and D. Click the image for a detailed version. Source: Library of Congress

This is a terrific old map from the Civil War, showing the Washington Aqueduct and Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. Source: LIbrary of Congress