Earliest Photographs of Wash., D.C. 1843-1866 *Incl. Lincoln's Inaugurations March 4, 1861 & 1865

[appalachiablue]

(14 mins). Photographs by Mathew Brady, Andrew J. Russell, Alexander Gardner and others.

Landmarks & Images: U.S. Capitol, White House, U.S. Patent Office, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Treasury Building, Washington Monument, James Buchanan Inauguration, 1857, Lincoln's Inauguration March 4, 1861, U.S. Troops Defending the White House and the U.S. Capitol during the Civil War, Patent Office, General Post Office, U.S. Botanical Gardens, Lincoln's 2nd Inauguration March 4, 1865, Lincoln's Funeral April 19, 1865, Penn. Ave., Ford's Theater, execution of Capt. Henry Wirz, commander of Fort Sumter prison camp near Andersonville, Ga. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wirz



- Mathew Brady, 1861 returned from the Battle of Bull Run, photographer.



- Alexander Gardner, 1856 self portrait, photographer.



- Andrew J. Russell, photographer.

- Photographers of the American Civil War, more.. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Photographers_of_the_American_Civil_War

[soothsayer]

1. You will love this site: ghosts of dc

https://ghostsofdc.org/

[appalachiablue]

2. It looks great, thanks!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. Thank you so much for posting this.

I lived in Alexandria, VA, from 1969 to 1981, and all of these places are familiar to me. I will say that I had not realized how many of the iconic buildings pre-date the Civil War.

Then there's the Smithsonian. Only the Castle is in this. Since then, many other buildings have been constructed. I was a docent at the Natural History Museum in 1976-77. What I learned while becoming a docent sent me back to college, lucky me.

Oh, and back then, in the late 1960s into sometime in the 1970s, there was a cafeteria in the basement of the American History Museum which was fantastic. Real food. Cooked there. If time travel is ever invented, I'd use it for things like going back to visit the Smithsonian in 1968 or so.

[soothsayer]

4. You'll love ghosts of dc too. Lots about Alexandria, Arlington...

Ghostsofdc.org

https://ghostsofdc.org/2016/06/28/civil-war-steam-frigate-near-alexandria/

[appalachiablue]

5. Luv DC since going there with family as a kid.

You know it well from the Amer. History Museum at the Smithsonian to Alexandria.

Years ago I worked with a SI Amer. Hst. Mus. outreach program, & the Office of Hist. Alexandria.

[FakeNoose]

6. K & R Very cool!

[Martin68]

7. Thanks for sharing.

[burrowowl]

8. Thanks for link

[Smackdown2019]

9. Amazing transformation of the US Capitol pre-civil war

The dome is a living history! Does it breathe? NO, But our nation gave birth to it, for our founding Patriots fought and some giving their lives for our freedom we have today. Make no mistake, trumpers want to remove those rights that our founding fathers and Patriots gave to us. The right to vote! That right gives each one of us a voice in the House and Senate. That DOME was created for our voices to be heard and without that dome, tyranny will reign.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Thanks for posting this!

Was just down there in 2018 with my sister and BIL and a niece and did one of the bus tours. As much as I had been down to the D.C. metro area over a 20 year period (including a little over 10 years ago when I was commuting down there almost every month for course work), I hadn't been in D.C. proper since the early '90s. And when I saw that pic of "the castle" in your OP video montage, I remembered the bus going by that and my snapping a quick pic of it as the bus was crawling along. The building is still there.

From what I gather, the Capitol (notably the dome) was undergoing renovations as part of the 2009 ARRA ("American Recovery and Restoration Act" a/k/a "stimulus" ) funding, like many federal buildings, including the one I worked in back then... and in its case, with work starting in 2014.

So this last time I was down there, that was all done and the scaffolding had finally been cleared away. They did a nice job on it just from viewing the exteriors (the bus went all around it and in one of the entrance driveways to it).

https://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/2016/05/under-construction-the-u-s-capitol/

[appalachiablue]

11. Terrific, thanks for adding this material.

[BigmanPigman]

12. Last night I watched some more of "Lincoln" on CNN.

They said he was very clever in using the new medium, photography, to his advantage. He made an appointment at Brady's studio in NYC and had is photo taken as soon as he got to the city. Supposedly it is known as one of his best photos.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mathew-brady-photographs-presidential-candidate-abraham-lincoln#:~:text=On%20February%2027%2C%201860%2C%20President,%2C%20Republican%20Candidate%20for%20President.%22

"On February 27, 1860, President Abraham Lincoln poses for the first of several portraits by noted Civil War-era photographer Mathew Brady. Days later, the photograph is published on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar with the caption, "Hon. Abram [sic] Lincoln, of Illinois, Republican Candidate for President."

"A relatively new art form, the photograph (or daguerreotype) showed an unusually beardless Lincoln just moments before he delivered an address at Cooper Union that day. The address, in which he articulated his reasons for opposing slavery in the new territories, received wild applause and garnered strong support for his candidacy among New Yorkers."

[appalachiablue]

14. This is so interesting, I can see it in Lincoln,

thanks for posting.

[Auggie]

13. Mesmerizing!

[Still Sensible]

15. An incredible collection indeed

nicely assembled in the video.

[Stuart G]

16. Incredible Collection.....Thank You for Posting this...Great Pictures...

I found this late....April 7,,,but a wonderful post