To establish a ‘federal enclave,’ the U.S. Congress spent seven years negotiating with members of the Federal Government to define the concept of Washington D.C. as the capital of the United States. Congress passed the Residence Act on July 17, 1790, which established a permanent federal government seat. Christopher Columbus was honored with the name District of Columbia, and George Washington with the name District of Columbia.
From 1830 to 1865, Washington underwent enormous changes, beginning with the arrival of President James K. Polk. As railroads opened up Washington in the 1830s, a wave of tourists flooded the city, as did a proliferation of congressional spouses who transformed the city’s social scene. During the American Civil War, Richmond, Virginia, which housed the Confederate capital, was never too far from the front lines. After Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre just days after the war ended, Washington was plunged into an unprecedented state of desperation and despair. Following the Civil War, the capital slowly became a tourist attraction. Washingtonians were granted self-government for the first time in 1871. Many improvements to the city were undertaken during the three years the territorial government held office: schools, markets, streets, outdoor lighting, sewers, and more than 50,000 trees were planted.
In the late 1890s, social organizations, private clubs, and traditional societies for the arts began to flourish in Washington. The Washington Monument was completed in 1884, the Library of Congress in 1897, and the founding of the American Institute of Architects in 1898.
Below are some historical photos that show Washington from the 1860s to 1890s.
#1 Smithsonian Castle, 1860s
#2 Trinity Episcopal Church, 3rd & C & Ind. Ave, 1863.
#3 Agricultural Department, Washington DC, USA, 1890s
#4 Washington, D.C., circa 1860s. “Old Winder Building, 17th & F. St. NW., Washington, D.C., 1865.
#5 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry. Hancock’s Veteran Corps on F Street N.W.” Wet plate negative, Washington, D.C., 1865.
#6 Another artillery unit passing on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Treasury, Washington, D.C., 1865.
#7 Washington, District of Columbia. The Grand Review of the Army. Units of XX Army Corps, Army of Georgia, passing on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Treasury, Washington, D.C., 1865.
#8 Treasury Department in Lincoln’s time (Cash Room behind the desks).” At least two spectral presences here. Civil War glass negative collection, Washington, D.C., 1863.
#9 Army and Navy Building, Washington, D.C.’, 1897.
#10 Wagons at the Center Market, Washington, D.C., 1890.
#11 Old Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., where Abraham Lincoln was shot in 1865.
#12 Washington Monument as it stood for 25 years, 1860.
#13 Gen. John F. Hartranft reading the death warrant to the four condemned Lincoln assassination conspirators, July 7, 1865
#14 Washington circa 1863. Wounded soldiers at Harewood Hospital with mosquito netting over their beds, 1863.
#15 Mess hall at Harewood Hospital, heated by elaborate stoves, Washington, D.C., 1863
#16 The Comforts of Home, 1861
#17 Washington, District of Columbia. Tent life of the 31st (later, 82nd) Pennsylvania Infantry at Queen’s Farm, vicinity of Fort Slocum, 1861
#18 Sanitary Commission storehouse and adjoining houses at 15th and F Streets N.W., Washington, D.C., 1865.
#19 Old Patent Office model room (1861-65).” Wet-plate glass negative from the Brady-Handy Collection, Washington, D.C., 1865.
#20 John C. Howard’s stable on G Street between 6th and 7th, where John H. Surratt kept horses before leaving town on April, Washington, D.C., 1865.
#21 Buildings of the Sanitary Commission Home Lodge for Invalid Soldiers, North Capitol Street near C Street, Washington, D.C., 1865.
#22 Washington, D.C. Sanitary Commission workers at the entrance of the Home Lodge for Invalid Soldiers, Washington, D.C., 1863.
#23 District of Columbia. Government repair shops. Paint Shop, Washington, D.C., 1865.
#24 Washington, D.C. Hanging hooded bodies of the four conspirators; crowd departing, July 7, 1865
#25 Washington Navy Yard, David E. Herold, Lincoln assassination conspirator, 1865.
#26 Group of Quartermaster Corps employees, 1865.
#27 Government repair shops, Washington, D.C., 1862.
#28 New Woman, 1896
#29 U.S. Treasury building, Washington, D.C., 1897
#30 Guards at ferry landing on Mason’s Island examining a pass, Washington, D.C., 1861
#31 Elizabeth Clapp (between January 1891 and January 1894), Washington, D.C., 1892
#32 Beall, Nellie and her little dog, 1892
#33 Washington Monument under Construction, Washington DC, 1860
#34 Thaddeus Stevens Lying In State In The Rotunda Of The Capitol At Washington, 1867
#35 Adjusting Ropes on Scaffold of Conspirators of Assassination of U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln, Arsenal Prison, Washington, DC, July 7, 1865
#36 Quartermaster’s office at 7th Street Wharf, Washington DC, May 1865.
#37 The Grand Review of the Army. as Gen. John A. Logan’s 15th Army Corps pass down Pennsylvania Avenue on May, 1865 in Washington, DC.
#38 Guards are posted at entrance of Ford’s Theater after the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln April, 1865
#39 Interior view of The Ballroom for Lincolns Second Inaugural Ball, 1865.
#40 Grand Army Review, 1865.
#41 Former US Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant (standing 5th from L) next to a tent with his fellow officers during the US Civil War, 1865.
#42 Grand Army Review, 1865.
#43 Grand Army Review, 1865.
#44 Pennsylvania Avenue. Washington, 1865.
#45 Ward K, Armory Square Hospital, Washington DC, 1864
#46 Gardner’s Gallery, 7th and D Streets, Washington, D.C., 1864.
#47 U. S. Capitol Under Construction, 1864.
#48 The U. S. Capitol in its last stages of reconstruction. Washington D. C., June 28, 1863.
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Given #46 is dated 1864 and #47 dated 1863 was the cupola dismantled?
#49 Second Corps Hospital, Washington, D.C., 1863.
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This is actualy the Circuit Courthouse on Princess Anne Street Fredericksburg
