Washington D.C in Early Photography: 23 Rare Vintage Photos Capture the Capital of the U.S From the 19th Century

This is what Washington, D.C looked like in early photography. Most of them were taken in the early 1860s, several from the 1840s.

Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for a second time on March 4th, 1865

A Civil War Camp near Washington, DC in 1862

Adjusting the rope for the execution of captain Henry Wirz, Washington, DC, November 10, 1865

Ford's Theatre, draped in mourning after Lincoln's assassination, 1865

Civil War victory parade on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., 1865

The Capitol in 1861

During the Civil War, Capital dome not finished, Washington DC,1863

Ford's Theatre in the 1870s

Guards examine passes near Georgetown, Washington D.C., on the banks of the Potomac River, during the Civil War in 1865

Maimed soldiers and others before Office of U.S. Christian Commission, Washington, D.C., April 1865

The alley behind Ford's Theater, 1865

The Capitol building under construction in Washington, DC, ca. 1863

The construction of the Washington Monument is completed by Army engineers, December 6, 1884

The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln at the unfinished Capitol, Washington D.C, March 4, 1861

The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln at the unfinished Capitol, Washington D.C, March 4, 1861

The Treasury Department Building under construction, 16 September 1861

The US Capitol building, still with the old copper dome, 1846

The White House in 1846

Treasury Department in the early 1860s

U.S. volunteer infantry in Washington, D.C, March 1865

US Capitol, Washington, D.C, 1861

Washington during the Civil War, 1865

Washington Monument in 1860