Snapshots of the Past

Washington, D.C., 1880 – Antique Wall Map

Washington, D.C., 1880, 1880 — antique map
Washington, D.C., 1880, 1880. Antique map from the Panoramic Maps collection.

(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

Few images capture their era like this antique map of Washington, D.C., 1880. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

Library of Congress record: The City of Washington birds-eye view from the Potomac-looking north

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. A conversation-starting piece for home, office, or as a meaningful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Washington, D.C., 1880

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In 1880 Washington was a city of about 177,000 people, and the federal government still set its rhythm, with clerks crossing between department buildings and the Capitol each weekday. The census that year counted a large Black population, and Black families, churches and schools were central to neighborhoods from Georgetown to the Southwest waterfront. That November, voters chose James A. Garfield as president, and office seekers and party men crowded hotel lobbies and saloons along Pennsylvania Avenue in the weeks that followed. The Mall still held unfinished work on the Washington Monument, and the city's horse-drawn streetcars carried residents along its grid of numbered and lettered streets.

Created / published1880
Creatorparsons, charles r. (charles richard), currier & ives
NotesAn original bird's-eye view map of Washington, Washington DC, drawn in 1880. 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.
SubjectsPanoramic maps--Washington DC
SourceLibrary of Congress, Panoramic Maps
Original scan10,752 × 7,616 px · prints to 36 × 25 in at 300 dpi
Library of Congress titleThe City of Washington birds-eye view from the Potomac-looking north
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-OYK-488209

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