Washington’s built environment is the product of grand ambitions, fierce debates, and brilliant (and sometimes terrible) ideas across more than two centuries. These posts dig into the buildings, architects, and design decisions that shaped the city we know today.
Take a glimpse into Washington DC in 1916 with these stunning images from the Ford Motor Company’s archives! See the Ford building under construction and the location of the current Canadian Embassy.
In 1890, a large number of Washingtonians wanted to keep the dangerous Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station at 6th and B Streets NW, where Garfield was shot. Read on to learn more of the story!
Take a look at the unfortunate demolition of the ugly, brutalist, Soviet-looking Dunbar High School built in the 1970s. Here’s an article we dug up from the Washington Post, printed on April 13th, 1977.
Get a glimpse into history with this amazing old photograph of the Cuban Embassy on 16th Street. See the image and read more about it from the Library of Congress!
L’Enfant Plaza in Washington D.C. has a sad history. It was once a vibrant part of the city, but it was bulldozed in the 1960s as part of an urban renewal program. Learn more about this unfortunate chapter of D.C. history.
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.
The Italian embassy at 16th & Fuller is a tragic reminder of its former glory. Learn the history of this sad building and what it used to be in its heyday.
A Friday classified in the 1906 Evening Star offered a superb stone residence at 1708 Q Street NW for $13,000. The Schneider row house later became the Washington home of Haiti’s Minister to the United States, Dantès Bellegarde.
A Shorpy photograph taken from the top of the National Press Building looking down 14th Street, showing the Department of Commerce under construction with the Willard Hotel at right.
