The winter garden: classwork

Botany class, Barnard College, Library of CongressA botany class at Barnard College, New York City, between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920, by Bain News Service, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. (Click  here to see a larger version on the Library’s flickr photostream.)

The winter garden: Greene County

Farmhouse window, John Vachon, Library of Congress“Plants in window of farm home. Greene County, Iowa,” 1940, by John Vachon, via Library of Congress Photographs Division.

The pleasure of working outside is only matched by the pleasure of dreaming inside.

Tyler Whittle

The winter garden: El Paso, Texas

plastic flowers in Tex. cemetary, C. Highsmith, Library of Congress“Plastic flowers festoon Mt. Carmel Cemetery in El Paso, Texas,” February 2014, by Carol M. Highsmith, via The Lyda Hill Texas Collection of Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America Project, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The winter garden: Center Market

Center Market, Washington, D.C., February 18, 1915, via National ArchivesForced azaleas, forsythias, and bulbs at a flower stand, February 18, 1915, by U.S. Department of Agriculture, via U.S. National Archives Commons on flickr.

Center Market was located at 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., where the National Archives building now stands. The red brick German Renaissance Revival structure was built between 1872 and 1878 (replacing an 1801 market). It held over 700 vendors in its halls and courtyard and was possibly the country’s largest market building.

Center Market, Washington, D.C., February 18, 1915, via National Archives

The Market closed in 1931, a victim of the rise of community chain stores and increased availability of canned and frozen foods — as well as the McMillan Commission‘s vision for a white marble, neoclassical center for the capital city.

Center Market, Washington, D.C., February 18, 1915, via National Archives

There are more photos of Center Market here and a more complete history here.  Click on any photo above to enlarge it.

The winter garden: San Francisco

Conservatory Dome 1, by J. Lowe, 1981, San Francisco, Library of CongressThe dome of the Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, 1981, by Jet Lowe for an Historic American Buildings Survey, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Conservatory Dome 2, by J. Lowe, 1981, San Francisco, Library of Congress

Conservatory Interior, by J. Lowe, 1981, San Francisco, Library of Congress

The Conservatory is the oldest public wood-and-glass conservatory in North America, opening to the public in 1879.

Conservatory Exterior, by J. Lowe, 1981, San Francisco, Library of Congress