I want to share my recent discovery of D.C. Past, a tumblr blog that is “curating the photographic history” of Washington, D.C.
Kate Birmingham and Guillermo Esteves choose 19th and 20th century photos from the online catalogues of the Library of Congress and the National Archives. However, when shown on D.C. Past, the images are generally much larger and (pretty darn) sharp.
I love this early shot, below, of the Lincoln Memorial — the Reflecting Pool is still only a wetland.
Four years later. . .
You’ll have to go to D.C. Past, here and here, for the “much larger” part.
I like these swimmers below too. They’re in the Tidal Basin. And yesterday’s post was interesting — look at the (lack of) height of the fence.
(A link to the photo at the top is here.)
D.C. Past is still rather new; its first picture was posted in March 2013. But this makes it easy to catch up and get hooked.
enclos*ure 
What a great find! Thanks.
Can you imagine the Lincoln Memorial with a marsh in front of it? I kind of like it!
Wow! What a great find!! Thanks, Cindy, for sharing this site. Of course I will visit. Can’t wait to enjoy these old photographs of my city ~
Cheers,
Loi
You keep finding interesting things! Thank you. I’ve passed the link on to several people I know.
Thanks!
I am really enjoying your blog and website! — http://glenvilla.blogspot.ca
Strange as it sounds, the Lincoln Memorial in the wild landscape looks right. Somehow make me think of Lincoln the way he is so often pictured: all craggy and mussed up.
I love the idea of Washington’s greek temple monuments and buildings in wild settings: the Lincoln Memorial in a wetland (instead of the reflecting pool); the Smithsonian museums in a forest and/or meadow (instead of the mall). Not very practical, but lovely to imagine.
Reblogged this on Ciudad y Ciudadanos.
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