Washington, DC, The Outhouse Tour

Excellent pick, James. Has been one of my favorites for years. Washington DC had a metamorphisis in the Civil War and then again in World War 2. I found it interesting (and ironic) that it was regarded in one of the books on the town as a "sleepy, Southern town." During the Civil War it had many outhouses and quite a number of those other "houses" and probably started the well known DC August vacation tradition as those smells were at their worst. Troops bunking in parks and even the White House, cattle grazing on the Mall, Southwest DC was a swamp! Every day I drive around the city and sometimes try to imagine how it was - but probably couldn't come close.

I take 16th Street into town usually and sometimes think about the Iron Brigade camping in Meridian Hill Park as mentioned in, I think, Alan Nolan's "The Iron Brigade: A Military History"


I ' think ' ( I can't lay my hands on the source without digging ) malaria was rampant due to those swamps? The area surrounding and behind the Botanical Gardens sure looks wet, we're lucky to have these images. There are shots of the gardens, mostly closer looks and you get the idea it was all elegance and very attractive. Then there's this- wonder what it smelled like when the photographer set up his gear? Unidentified floating sludge in the old canal.

botanic gardens.jpg
 
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