The City of Washington

the long version

Here is a uniquely rich and alive celebration of our national capital, past and present - a splendid city tour that follows the capital from this birth over 200 years ago, through its history, to its modern glory that attracts millions of visitors each years. From the transformation from wilderness, to a city torn by the Civil War, to Presidential inaugurations and balls, THE CITY OF WASHINGTON: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY covers the events, both daily and monumental, that have made Washington what it is today. This detailed history is accompanied by an amazing collection of nearly 700 vivid Illustrations, photographs, drawings, paintings, and maps. The pages are also filled with writings, quotes, and reminiscences of Washingtonians and visitors through the ages - including Presidents George Washington, John Quincy Adams, and Theodore Roosevelt; writers Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; statesmen Henry Adams and Frederick Douglass; architect and city planner Pierre Charles L'Enfant; and many more. Their comments on the city range from the idealistic: "It is a beautiful spot, capable of every improvement, and the more I view it, the more I am delighted with it." (Abigail Adams, 1800) to the practical: "One of these days this will be a very great city if nothing happens to it" (Henry Adams, 1877) to the more critical: "Washington seldom bothers itself about the skeletons in the inhabitants closest. Lucifer himself will be welcomed if he will dress well, keep his hoofs hidden in patent leathers, and his tail out of sight" (journalist Frank Carpenter, 1870s). This book is a labor of love. It represents the work of some hundred members of the Junior League of Washington who devoted five years to the projects: first as historical "detectives", searching through public archives and private collections, journals and diaries, memoirs and newspapers reports, for the most resonant and exciting photographs and documents; then as chroniclers, joining pictures and narrative to recreate the essence of Washington, D.C. A history. A family album. A documentary. The book for anyone who has ever lived in Washington or visited it, or hopes to, this is surely the best and liveliest accounted ever published of the city as it was and is.