Metro’s 1968 Mockup Station: Before the First Tunnel Was Dug
In 1968, WMATA spent $69,000 on a full-scale mockup of a Metro station to test the design before construction began. At just 17 feet long, it looked right but went nowhere.
1960s
The 1960s were a decade of transformation and trauma for Washington. The March on Washington in 1963 brought a quarter million people to the Mall. JFK’s assassination brought the city to a standstill. And the 1968 riots that followed Dr. King’s murder left scars across entire neighborhoods that would take decades to heal.
Man Crashes Truck Through White House Gate
Doyle Allen Hicks wanted to warn President Kennedy of the coming communist takeover of the country. Find out what happened after he drove his truck through the White House gates.
The Kennedy Center: A Look at the Proposed Design and the History Behind It
Take a look at the proposed design for the Kennedy Center and the history behind it. Learn how the idea for a national cultural center dates back to 1933 and how it eventually became the Kennedy Center we know today.
Early Rejected Designs for the National Air and Space Museum
The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum opened on the Mall on July 1, 1976, after 18 years and dozens of rejected designs.
Mid-1960s Vision for Washington’s Metro System
The proposals were published to convince transit officials that the 19-mile system authorized by Congress within the city – part of a 25-mile network extending into the suburbs -would be inadequate by 1985.
Abandoned Capitol Traction Company Powerhouse in 1967
These haunting 1967 photos show the inside and outside of the old Capitol Traction Company Powerhouse, previously located on the Georgetown waterfront.
Washington’s Suburbs in 1961: How the City Spilled Into Maryland and Virginia
A 1961 Washington Post map plots every real estate subdivision ringing the city, capturing the postwar suburban explosion in Maryland and Virginia.
1963 Map of D.C. Public Housing
This fascinating old map from 1963 shows all the public housing developments in Washington, DC.
The 1967 Map of DC Highways That Were Never Built
In 1967 the National Capital Planning Commission mapped out the freeway grid Washington was supposed to get: a K Street expressway, a Three Sisters Bridge, an I-95 extension up through northeast. Almost none of it got built.