Perhaps the most iconic city in the United States, Washington, D.C., holds a unique spot in America's rich history. Published in 1897, this map reflects the city and nation as a whole in a time of great transition. Tensions between the North and South were easing following the reconstruction period after the Civil War, and President McKinley's State of the union this year served as a fervent reminder that the nation needed unity and cooperation to move forward as the 19th century came to a close. Published by prominent mapmaker and newspaper magnate George E. Matthews, this depiction is unique as it employed his patented "prism" print process, which used a four-color printing technique that superseded the previous three-color method. This stunning illustration immediately transports the viewer back in time and is truly an authentic price of cartographical History. Washington DC was in a period of great transition in the late 19th century, and the densely populated city was bustling with government workers traveling to outlying suburbs by motorized streetcars. The city was one of the first to undertake urban renewal projects in the early 1900s, with the "City Beautiful" movement establishing a trend for other communities throughout the nation to build parks and other open-air spaces to develop a sense of beauty and monumental grandeur. With increased federal spending under the New Deal in the 1930s, Washington DC would see the construction of many of its monuments to the greatest leaders in American History.
