The Capitol Building Archives - Page 5 of 7

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Washington, D.C., July 11, 1939. There comes a time each year when things around Capitol Hill need a bit of fresh paint, flagpoles no exception. Here is the flagpole over the Senate Office Building getting its new paint job, curiously enough, from a steeple-jack named Tarzan--Jack Tarzan

Tarzan Paints the Senate Flagpole

This is an interesting photo of a man precariously perched on a flag pole near the Capitol Building. It was taken on July 11th, 1939 as the man (Jack Tarzan) was painting the flagpole. The safety equipment of the day

Bird’s Eye View of the Capitol from Post Office in 1888

This is a terrific old photograph from the Library of Congress. It’s a great view of the Capitol Building from the old post office on F Street (now Hotel Monaco). It was taken by William M. Chase.

Photograph shows Carroll Row, a block of five houses at 1st & A Street, SE, razed in 1887 for construction of the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building. Includes the sign "Architect."

Excellent View Down East Capitol from The Capitol Dome

This is a great view down East Capitol St. from the Dome, taken around 1880. UPDATE: GoDCer Leonard sent along this great shot (a little blurry), from the same vantage point today. So cool!

More About That Mysterious Photo of the Capitol “Painted” Red

Yesterday Tom shared a somewhat jarring photo of the Capitol dome — colored red. It wasn’t something we had seen before, dating roughly to the late 1950s. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have much information. After a bit of digging, we

Capitol Dome Painted Red

Well, not really red paint. This is a shot from sometime in the 1950s and the red-colored dome is covered in primer. We came across this photo thanks to a Twitter exchange between @darsal and @MrTinDC.

Amazing View From Capitol Dome in 1863

Wow, these are awesome. Click on them for greater detail because they are pretty amazing. Sorry I just wasted at least 30 minutes of your time at work! Thank you Library of Congress. UPDATE: If you like these, you will

Southeast View from the Capitol Dome

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.

Drawing shows stables in the foreground and view of the city of Washington from southeast with the United States Capitol on the right, the White House in center background, and the Smithsonian castle and Washington Monument on the left.

View of Washington in the 1840s

Here is a painting of Washington from the late 1840s or 1850s, done by Augustus Köllner. The view is from an angle south of the Capitol, looking northwest. We just came across this watercolor while digging through the Library of Congress archives.

Washington, D.C. Sailor taking a picture of his girlfriend at a monument in front of the Capitol on a Sunday afternoon

World War II Sailor Photographs Girlfriend in front of the Capitol Building

I wonder what happened to this couple. It’s possible that this photo was staged for the war effort. Also, take a look at the soldiers milling about in the background. This photo reminds me of this one, also from World

West Front of the Capitol Building Around 1910

What an incredible photo of the Capitol Building. This is from between 1905 and 1915, part of the Detroit Publishing Company collection at the Library of Congress.