A couple of things.................these two............are of opposite directions...........the one on top is looking East.............at the us capital building..........look at the foreground of the us capital.......u will notice water going straight at it.................the wash canal............used to bring the sandstone to it......................

The bottom one........is looking west................toward the Potomac......Virginia.........the half finished monument..........this is 1863.........during the US civil war...........two years later........a big fire almost burns down the castle.................now.............notice for one thing..............just how close the Potomac river is to the monument...........................that area now...............is the base of the monument........which extends to 17th st...................then u have the ww2 memorial...........then the reflecting pool.............then the Lincoln memorial..............etc.............back in 1863.........none of that was there...............






Titian Ramsay Peale, Bird‘s-Eye View of the U. S. Capitol looking East, from panorama of Washington D.C., taken from the central tower of the Smithsonian Institution, c. 1863, albumen (probably) print, overall size: 20.3 cm. x 25.8 cm., catalog number: 66.23.01

Views from the Tall Tower

August 1, 2012 – Indefinitely

Museum: Smithsonian Castle

Location: East Corridor

In 1863, artist Titian Ramsey Peale took a series of 8 photographs from the roof of the Castle’s tall north tower that form a panoramic view of Washington. A corresponding set of 8 images, taken from the exact same vantage points in 2012, shows a much changed city.