Victorian Washington was booming in the 1880s. The decade brought the dedication of the Washington Monument (finally finished in 1884), the consolidation of Georgetown into DC, and a wave of grand Romanesque architecture that still defines many of the city’s neighborhoods. These posts explore Washington at its Victorian peak.
Check out this fascinating old stereographic photo of the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, DC. Learn more about its history from John DeFerrari’s blog and Ghosts of DC. Explore now!
Terrific old photo of the Washington Monument being dedicated in 1885. Check out the amazing details.
Washington Monument under construction with U.S. Fish Commission hatching ponds in the foreground and Bureau of Engraving and Printing building in the background.
What is a zymotic disease? This is a map of deaths due to this disease in 1892. Find out what that means.
What a sad map of the District. This shows the deaths in Washington from lung disease in 1888.
An 1890s map plots DC deaths from diarrhea by neighborhood, concentrated in Swampoodle and Murder Bay where sanitation was worst. One of the more unusual maps we have found.
A scene was enacted just outside the National Theatre last night at the close of the performance which may end in a divorce suit.
A herdic cab is a type of horse-drawn carriage, used as an omnibus, invented by Peter Herdic of Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in 1881.
At the time, Grover Cleveland lived north of the city in a lovely old estate called Oak Hill. Eventually, the neighborhood that grew up around his home was named for him: “Cleveland Park”.
