Some amazing old drawings of what our Library of Congress could have looked like.

This is what the Library of Congress could have looked like if Leon Beaver’s design from 1873 was selected. Here’s a second rendering of the building with some perspective. Check out a few more of his drawings here.

We are grateful for the picture below, since so many of the amazing images on this site come via the Library of Congress! In December 1941, as a precautionary measure, about 5,000 boxes of materials from the Library of Congress were transported on 29 trucks to three locations of “relative security,” according to the Library […]

Not many of us get to see Washington, DC from the roof of the Capitol. None of us ever got to see the view in 1861, but here’s the next best thing. Taken in 1861, this is looking north. The cursive at the bottom is pointing out the different sites you can see. From left […]

This is the Evening Star, published the day President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Obviously, the main headline focuses on his death and the attempted murder of Secretary William Seward. But this edition of the paper has more to tell. In what we can’t imagine ever happening in today’s newspapers, the Evening Star published a “Special Notice” […]

Obviously, our national library is not at Judiciary Square, but before we committed to building the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill, there were some other proposals evaluated. Below are two drawings of the proposed library to be built at Judiciary Square. These drawings were from between 1875 and 1879.

Here is a great and sharp photo of the Library of Congress in the early 1900s.

This is an amazing old photograph from 1866. This shows the interior of the old Library of Congress in the Capitol Building before the current one was constructed.

Happy Sunday. Below is an amazing photograph, taken around 1880 from the top of the U.S. Capitol. The view is southeast, down Pennsylvania Ave., toward the Anacostia River. It includes a block of five homes at 1st and A St. SE, built around 1800 and razed in 1887 to build the Library of Congress. Thanks […]

We came across this photo at the Library of Congress (how meta). Click on it for greater detail.

If you know who POTUS 25 is off the top of your head, congratulations. You are an über history geek. Enjoy the Libary of Congress photos below. [slideshow]

The weather has been awesome lately, and frankly, this has been a really easy winter. Well, that doesn’t mean it can’t snow this late in the winter or even in early spring. Early on during World War II, in 1942, Washington was getting ready for spring and the upcoming Cherry Blossom Festival (watch a 1944 […]

This is a man who needs no introduction. Babe Ruth was the biggest celebrity in America during the 1920s. On December 7th, 1921, he was visiting Washington to stop by and say hello to President Harding. Below is a photo of him exiting the West Wing (check out some old photos from the White House Historical […]

Here is a great gallery of some Civil War photographs I uncovered at the Library of Congress. It appears that the Treasury Department is in the background of the Sanitary Commission photograph at 15th and F St. NW. Related articles Native Americans at the White House During the Civil War Civil War’s 150th stirs a […]

Here’s a cool old photograph I found sifting through the Library of Congress archives. I find this one amusing: You wouldn’t have your child a jay walker.Don’t be one yourself. Still very applicable today. This city has an epidemic of jaywalking (on occasion I’m included in this group).

Chalk this up to our incredible Library of Congress. A silent film by Thomas Edison, shot on March 4th, 1901 at the Capitol. This one is quite blurry, but this is over a hundred years ago. It’s pretty amazing and even older than the last one I posted of Teddy Roosevelt. Thank you Library of […]

Great old photo from the Library of Congress. It doesn’t have an exact date on it, but it says it was created somewhere between 1909 and 1940 and gifted to the Library of Congress in 1947 by Herbert French … Fascinating image. Related articles Rep. Joe Baca: Native American Heritage Month – a Time to Honor […]

There’s a strong element of sadness watching this video. A burning city, military occupation … what essentially was complete chaos in the city from April 4th to April 8th, 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Economically it seriously devastated the corridors of 14th St NW, 7th St NW and H St NW. […]

Now this is a great one from the vaults of the Library of Congress. I found this on YouTube (of course). There’s no sound, but it’s very interesting to watch. On Mar. 4, 1905, Teddy Roosevelt was inaugurated in Washington, D.C. with much celebration and fanfare. He rides in an open landau on 15 St. […]

These are some great photos I came across on Flickr. These are from the Library of Congress, taken around 1941 or 1942, during the early days of World War II. They really depict a different D.C., although the houses look pretty much the same — yet strikingly like Philadelphia. The ones on Flickr aren’t all of D.C., […]