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Washington, D.C. Then and Now
Millions of schoolchildren and visitors make the pilgrimage to our nation's capital each year. Built on reclaimed swampland, Washington is now the country's neoclassical seat of government and culture. Now you can witness Washington's development over the last century and a half. Seventy modern color photographs are compared side-by-side with seventy archival photographs from the 1850s to the 1950s. While focusing on famous vistas and familiar landmarks, it also explores well-known neighborhoods. The Then and Now series New York, Washington, Boston, and San Francisco.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 21, 2017
I love all of the books in this series, although I find them somewhat depressing. The most interesting thing for me is comparing the different volumes, and seeing how in some cities, the past is very much in evidence, while in others, it's completely obliterated.
August 5, 2016
I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and I'm totally in love with the city. Unfortunately, I haven't lived there for years, I miss it, and visit as often as possible. So, this book is a treasure for me. Pictures of contemporary Washington, D.C. are compared with archival photographs of Washington, D.C. decades earlier to trace the evolution of the city. When I'm feeling particularly homesick, this is the book that I turn to for my D.C. fix.
December 2, 2018
Washington, D.C. Then and Now is by Alexander D. Mitchell IV. The capital city of the United States has a unique and rich history and monumental buildings. It was planned to rival Athens and Paris. It became a conglomeration of structured elegance, unstructured meanness, and forced residential buildings. Grand marble and granite buildings from every port in England stand side by side with native wooden structures. It shows black and white photographs taken by John Plumbe and Matthew Brady alongside modern pictures of the same buildings at the end of the twentieth century. It creates an intriguing picture a most intriguing town.
Some of the buildings did not change much except for the landscaping and new streets. Some of the buildings like the Six buildings on Pennsylvania. One portion of the building still stands between a new residential building and a hotel. The National Archives has changed little on the outside except for large hedges. Seeing what the buildings looked like at the turn of the century and what they look like now is fascinating. v Washington, D.C. Then and Now is by Alexander D. Mitchell IV. The capital city of the United States has a unique and rich history and monumental buildings. It was planned to rival Athens and Paris. It became a conglomeration of structured elegance, unstructured meanness, and forced residential buildings. Grand marble and granite buildings from every port in England stand side by side with native wooden structures. It shows black and white photographs taken by John Plumbe and Matthew Brady alongside modern pictures of the same buildings at the end of the twentieth century. It creates an intriguing picture a most intriguing town.
Some of the buildings did not change much except for the landscaping and new streets. Some of the buildings like the Six buildings on Pennsylvania. One portion of the building still stands between a new residential building and a hotel. The National Archives has changed little on the outside except for large hedges. Seeing what the buildings looked like at the turn of the century and what they look like now is fascinating. v Washington, D.C. Then and Now is by Alexander D. Mitchell IV. The capital city of the United States has a unique and rich history and monumental buildings. It was planned to rival Athens and Paris. It became a conglomeration of structured elegance, unstructured meanness, and forced residential buildings. Grand marble and granite buildings from every port in England stand side by side with native wooden structures. It shows black and white photographs taken by John Plumbe and Matthew Brady alongside modern pictures of the same buildings at the end of the twentieth century. It creates an intriguing picture a most intriguing town.
Some of the buildings did not change much except for the landscaping and new streets. Some of the buildings like the Six buildings on Pennsylvania. One portion of the building still stands between a new residential building and a hotel. The National Archives has changed little on the outside except for large hedges. Seeing what the buildings looked like at the turn of the century and what they look like now is fascinating. v Washington, D.C. Then and Now is by Alexander D. Mitchell IV. The capital city of the United States has a unique and rich history and monumental buildings. It was planned to rival Athens and Paris. It became a conglomeration of structured elegance, unstructured meanness, and forced residential buildings. Grand marble and granite buildings from every port in England stand side by side with native wooden structures. It shows black and white photographs taken by John Plumbe and Matthew Brady alongside modern pictures of the same buildings at the end of the twentieth century. It creates an intriguing picture a most intriguing town.
Some of the buildings did not change much except for the landscaping and new streets. Some of the buildings like the Six buildings on Pennsylvania. One portion of the building still stands between a new residential building ;and a hotel. The National Archives has changed little except for the addition of large hedges. Seeing what the buildings looked like at the turn of the century and what they look like now is fascinating. v
Some of the buildings did not change much except for the landscaping and new streets. Some of the buildings like the Six buildings on Pennsylvania. One portion of the building still stands between a new residential building and a hotel. The National Archives has changed little on the outside except for large hedges. Seeing what the buildings looked like at the turn of the century and what they look like now is fascinating. v Washington, D.C. Then and Now is by Alexander D. Mitchell IV. The capital city of the United States has a unique and rich history and monumental buildings. It was planned to rival Athens and Paris. It became a conglomeration of structured elegance, unstructured meanness, and forced residential buildings. Grand marble and granite buildings from every port in England stand side by side with native wooden structures. It shows black and white photographs taken by John Plumbe and Matthew Brady alongside modern pictures of the same buildings at the end of the twentieth century. It creates an intriguing picture a most intriguing town.
Some of the buildings did not change much except for the landscaping and new streets. Some of the buildings like the Six buildings on Pennsylvania. One portion of the building still stands between a new residential building and a hotel. The National Archives has changed little on the outside except for large hedges. Seeing what the buildings looked like at the turn of the century and what they look like now is fascinating. v Washington, D.C. Then and Now is by Alexander D. Mitchell IV. The capital city of the United States has a unique and rich history and monumental buildings. It was planned to rival Athens and Paris. It became a conglomeration of structured elegance, unstructured meanness, and forced residential buildings. Grand marble and granite buildings from every port in England stand side by side with native wooden structures. It shows black and white photographs taken by John Plumbe and Matthew Brady alongside modern pictures of the same buildings at the end of the twentieth century. It creates an intriguing picture a most intriguing town.
Some of the buildings did not change much except for the landscaping and new streets. Some of the buildings like the Six buildings on Pennsylvania. One portion of the building still stands between a new residential building and a hotel. The National Archives has changed little on the outside except for large hedges. Seeing what the buildings looked like at the turn of the century and what they look like now is fascinating. v Washington, D.C. Then and Now is by Alexander D. Mitchell IV. The capital city of the United States has a unique and rich history and monumental buildings. It was planned to rival Athens and Paris. It became a conglomeration of structured elegance, unstructured meanness, and forced residential buildings. Grand marble and granite buildings from every port in England stand side by side with native wooden structures. It shows black and white photographs taken by John Plumbe and Matthew Brady alongside modern pictures of the same buildings at the end of the twentieth century. It creates an intriguing picture a most intriguing town.
Some of the buildings did not change much except for the landscaping and new streets. Some of the buildings like the Six buildings on Pennsylvania. One portion of the building still stands between a new residential building ;and a hotel. The National Archives has changed little except for the addition of large hedges. Seeing what the buildings looked like at the turn of the century and what they look like now is fascinating. v
November 15, 2024
I enjoy reading these kinds of books because they combine my interest in travel and history, especially if I’ve visited a place frequently. Probably been to DC at least 2 dozen times!
December 21, 2025
I love history, photography, and all things DC. This book had it all!
October 2, 2015
There is something special about a good "then and now" book. There is a lot one can glean from analyzing photos and reading carefully worded captions. From this book I started to wonder why D.C. constantly demolishes handsome and perfectly functional buildings. Was it cheaper than renovating? Or was there a different motive? Why did the authorities decide to plant a shopping mall on top of the site where Alexander Hamilton died in a duel? So many projects were stalled for decades because of withdrawn funding or the land wasn't good to develop on in the first place. Many civilian buildings were demolished to build the Federal Triangle, and some buildings were scorned for adhering to a different style than the neoclassical. Now that I'm armed with questions and visual perspective, I'm ready another book on these topics!
November 28, 2015
A great book that shows how much DC has changed over the centuries. Nice, big, clear photographs show a lot of detail. But I am a bit directionally challenged, so a map would have been a nice addition.
November 25, 2012
I love these kind of "then and now" books with photos plus some simple commentary.
October 30, 2013
Excellent little tidbits about DC history, and amazing photos spanning over two hundred years of the city.
October 16, 2014
Really good book showing how D.C. looked in the past, compared with how it looks at present day.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews