Capitol Site Selection, 1791 – Historic Print
(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This rare historic image captures Capitol Site Selection, 1791 in remarkable detail. Drawn from the Snapshots of the Past archive, it is an authentic piece of documented history.
Order it framed and ready to hang, or unframed to match a frame you already love. It brings character to any room and makes a memorable gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Capitol Site Selection, 1791
Order a print
Thank you. Your order went through, and a receipt is on its way by email.
Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal
Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.
The Capitol site selection of 1791 is the detail that sets this picture apart: it recalls the moment when the federal government fixed the location of its seat on the Potomac. Under the Residence Act of 1790, Congress agreed that the capital would sit on the river within a ten-mile square, and President George Washington chose the precise spot, which was then mostly farmland and marsh. Surveyor Andrew Ellicott laid out the district that year, and the decision tied the new nation's government to a site that Washington himself would help shape. The scene is worth studying for how it casts a bare landscape as the foundation of a national symbol.
| Original scan | 1,805 × 1,508 px · prints to 6 × 5 in at 300 dpi |
|---|---|
| Reference | 1791 capitol_site_sel_70642_1 |
More from the Washington collection
Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
![[African American school children facing the Horatio Greenough statue of George Washington at the U.S. Capitol]](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/18/1852b3bde1a7-400.webp)
