Pierre L'Enfant had originally planned the City of Washington around a right triangle, with the eastern portion at the Capitol, the northern portion at the White House and the 90 degree angle close to where the Washington Monument sits today. Thomas Jefferson marked this spot in 1793 with a wooden post, which was replaced in 1804 with the Jefferson Pier.

Meridian Hill Park is an amazing place to visit up 16th St. NW. Built in the 1910s, you can see some amazing photos here.

Discover an alternate view of Meridian Hill in 1867 with our new blog post from Ghosts of DC. See what streets have changed and which have stayed the same. Click to explore the map!

Taking a look back at the construction of Meridian Hill Park in DC, largely thanks to Mary Foote Henderson's vision of the park. Uncovering never-before-seen photos from the Library of Congress of the park being built.

Last week we posted a detailed topographical map of Rock Creek Park from 1866. There were some great comments on it, including GoDCer Elizabeth’s observation that the map was entitled “Location for a Public Park & Site for Presidential Mansion” … intriguing. Topographical sketch of the environs of Washington, D.C. : (survey of locality for public park & site for a presidential mansion) / to accompany report of N. Michler, Major of Eng’rs, Bvt. Brig. Gen’l...