The 1890s were gilded years for Washington, with grand new buildings rising across the capital and the city’s population surging. The Library of Congress opened in 1897, the streetcar network expanded rapidly, and the rowhouses and apartment buildings that define Northwest DC filled in block by block.
Take a look at this interesting and unique map of Washington, DC’s street lamps in 1891. At the time, there were only 321 electric lamps, mostly along major thoroughfares, with close to 5,000 gas lamps.
This is such a bizarre story, not unlike the horse that impaled itself on the same fence. Read about the suicide of Edward Caton, as printed in the Baltimore Sun on October 11th, 1890, and we were able to dig up Edward Caton in the 1880 U.S. Census.
Check out this cool map of what would become the City of Washington. It was done around 1893 near the city’s centennial. View the Patawmack River, not the Potomac, in this early map of Washington.
![Maps accompanying the report of the operations of the Engineer Department of the District of Columbia : for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1891 : [Washington D.C.] / compiled by Capt. W.T. Rossell, U.S. Eng'rs ; compiled by Capt. J.L. Lusk, U.S. Eng'rs.](https://ghostsofdc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2013/08/cs000001.jpg)
Discover the property value map from 11 years later that was compiled by Capt. W.T. Rossell and Capt. J.L. Lusk of the Engineer Department of the District of Columbia. Check it out now!
Check out this rare map of the D.C. area from 1894 and see the Ulysses Grant Memorial Bridge, which was never built. Plus, see the source from the National Archives.
An amazing map of Washington City from 1892 reveals the streets of the nation’s capital in great detail. Learn what it was like to navigate the city before the World’s Fair and street renaming.
Take a look back in time to what Washington could have been like if the 1892 World’s Fair had been held here. See the proposed layout, and check out the bridge where Memorial Bridge stands today.
Take a look back in time to 1897 and explore the proposed highway changes to Washington, DC. Read the full article from The Evening Star to learn more about the fascinating history of the city.
Take a step back in time and view the White House front lawn in 1897 with this rare image from the Library of Congress. Get a glimpse of what it looked like over 100 years ago!
