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Monumental: 1919

Submitted by Dave on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 9:10am.
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1919. "National Museum, air view from Washington Monument." The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (domed building at right) nine years after its completion. Harris & Ewing Collection. View full size.

1919. "National Museum, air view from Washington Monument." The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (domed building at right) nine years after its completion. Harris & Ewing Collection. View full size.

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I'll regret asking, but......

Submitted by Mal Fuller on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 3:25pm.

How can this photo of the Washington Monument be "an air view from the Washington Monument"?

[The view is of the museum looking east from the Washington Monument. - Dave]

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Tip-Top

Submitted by billyboy on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 2:46pm.

Ever wonder about the tip of the Washington Monument? Wonder no more.

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Tennis, anyone?

Submitted by Claybuster on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 12:06pm.

I use to live in DC years ago, but don't ever recall a tennis court there. I can sense a more genteel era.

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Federal Triangle

Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 11:45am.

This image gives a fairly complete view of the Federal Triangle. Home today to the Department of Commerce, IRS, National Archives, and few other mammoth bureaucracies. The 1919 view shows the triangle's workaday pedigree: markets on Indiana Avenue, a powerhouse at 14th and Constitution, and a lumberyard opposite the National Museum. All of it gone today except for the Old Post Office, which appears above and just to the right of the Washington Monument's peak.

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Lawnmowing

Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 11:43am.

How were lawns mowed back in the day?

I doubt gas lawn mowers existed and hand mowing such large area would take forever.

[There were many gasoline mowers on the market early in the 20th century. Steam-powered mowers go back to the 1800s. Before that there were reel mowers pulled by horse teams. - Dave]

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Where are the tourists?

Submitted by Anonymous Tippler on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 11:25am.

What makes this photo kind of odd is that there's no long line of tourists waiting to get into the Washington Monument, like you'd see today. My best guess is that it was taken early on a Sunday morning. Or is there another explanation?

[The base of the monument, which is where the people would be, isn't in the photo. - Dave]

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Miniature White House

Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 9:46am.

The small building near the Washington monument looks like a model of the White House. Anyone know what it was?

[It's restrooms and a Park Service ranger station. - Dave]

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