Washington, D.C., 1852 – Antique Wall Map
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This rare antique map captures Washington, D.C., 1852 in remarkable detail. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.
Library of Congress record: View of Washington
Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.
Washington, D.C., 1852
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Washington, D.C., in 1852 was a federal city of roughly 40,000 people, built around government work rather than manufacturing. The Washington Monument had risen only partway up the Mall, and its construction stalled in the mid-1850s amid political fights over money and the Know-Nothing movement. The Capitol was still growing, with its iron dome under construction, and the Smithsonian Institution, founded in 1846, was raising its red sandstone building on the Mall. Daily life depended on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which had reached the city in 1835, and on a canal and a broad but largely unpaved street grid. Enslaved and free Black residents made up a large share of the population, and the city's streets, boardinghouses and markets reflected a place still deciding what it would become.
| Created / published | 1852 |
|---|---|
| Creator | e. sachse & co |
| Notes | An original bird's-eye view map of Washington, Washington DC, drawn in 1852. Bird's-eye view maps were drawn by travelling artists who walked a town street by street, sketching every building from an imagined vantage point in the air, then sold the finished lithograph door to door by subscription. Roughly five thousand American towns were recorded this way between the 1860s and the 1920s, and for many of them the panoramic map is the most complete picture of the place that survives. Reproduced from the original in the Library of Congress collections. Printed to order on archival paper. Free shipping on all US orders. |
| Subjects | Panoramic maps--Washington DC |
| Source | Library of Congress, Panoramic Maps |
| Original scan | 9,136 × 6,528 px · prints to 30 × 22 in at 300 dpi |
| Library of Congress title | View of Washington |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-OYK-488205 |
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