Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.
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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.
Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]
Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
WMONV_970212_01.JPG: Washington Monument2X E (Closer): The Mall
Look for:
RFK Stadium (funky shape in middle behind dome)
Supreme Library of Court Congress
Senate US Capitol House Office Office Bldgs Buildings
(Civil War statues US Botanical at reflecting pool) Gardens (small bldg) Natl Gallery Of Art East Bldg (the triangle)
Natl Gallery The Mall National Air & of Art West Bldg Space Museum
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden (the donut)
National Museum Smithsonian Arts & Industries of Natural History Castle Building
WMONV_970212_02.JPG: Washington Monument2X N (Closer): White House
Look for:
Lafayette Square (the green rectangle)
Old Executive White House Dept of Office Bldg Treasury \ (White House lawn) / \ / -------------------------------------------------------------
The Ellipse
WMONV_970212_03.JPG: Washington Monument2X NE (Closer): Old Post Office
Look for:
FBI Building
Old Post Office Tower (pic center) Customs Service Internal Revenue Building Service Building Reagan Building (under construction)
Schematically:
XXXXX <- FBI (white building with funny shaped upper floors) XXXXX XXX XXXXX XXX XX XXX XXX XXX XX <----------- Old Post Office (tower with blue-ish roof) XXX X XX /XXX XXX XX <------- Internal Revenue Building (stucco roof on right) / XXX XX | XXXXXXXX XXXXXX | XXXXXXXX XXXXXX | \----------------- Customs Service Building (stucco roof on left) \------------------------- Reagan International Trade Building (incomplete roof)
WMONV_970212_04.JPG: Washington Monument2X NNE (Closer): District Bldg
Look for:
Catholic Shrine (toward horizon)
District Tip of Customs Service Bldg Building <----------- The little rectangular bldg between stucco
Ronald Reagan International Trade Dept Center (under construction) of Commerce Building
WMONV_970212_05.JPG: Washington Monument2X NNW (Closer): Old EOB
Look for:
National Cathedral (on horizon)
Old Executive Office Building (funky architecture in front of red building)
(Pinnacle is the First Division Monument) Corcoran (Grass) Art Gallery <--- white building, to left of grass
American Red Cross <----------- two white rectangles, green-ish roofs
Note: The American Red Cross building is their national headquarters.
The Old Executive Office Building took 17 years to build, beginning in 1871. In its early days, it was considered an aberration. Mark Twain called it "The ugliest building in America". Harry Truman called it "The greatest monstrosity in America." The original architech sued the US Govt for nearly $160,000 due to him for his work, committing suicide in 1890. When it was completed in 1888, it was the country's largest office building and has cost $10 million. The Department of State, War, and Navy took up residence here and one-upsmanship between the services helped to add to the building's cost. Much of America's diplomatic business was conducted in these elegant rooms; in 1898 the Spanish Ambassador was given his walking papers and thus war was declared here; in 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed here ending World War I; in 1942 the United Nations Declaration was signed here. In 1943, the Army, Navy, and Air Force were combined as the Department of Defense and moved to the newly-constructed Pentagon. In 1947, the State Department moved to its new building. Since then, the building has housed the Vice President of the United States, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Council of Economic Advisors. It also held the National Security Council and it was here that Oliver North shredded documents about the Iran-Contra deal.
WMONV_970212_06.JPG: Washington Monument2X NWW (Closer): Georgetown
Look for:
Rosslyn Potomac Georgetown River || Key Bridge---- || \ (Whitehurst Freeway--white line) =============|| \ Kennedy Watergate (mostly hidden) Center // // State Virginia Dept Ave
(Mall--Memorial to Signers of Decl of Ind)
WMONV_970212_07.JPG: Washington Monument2X S (Closer): Jefferson Memorial
Look for:
National Airport
Potomac River 14th St Bridges
East Thomas Potomac Jefferson Park Memorial
Tidal Basin
WMONV_970212_08.JPG: Washington Monument2X SE (Closer): Hains Point
Look for: (Smudge) Potomac River // ---------------------- National // Hanes Point \\ Airport // \\ Washington Potomac Channel East Potomac River \\ Park \\ Waterfront \\ \\ Bridges------------------------ More bridges (14th St)-------- \\ Bureau of Printing Tidal and Engraving Basin
WMONV_970212_09.JPG: Washington Monument2X SE2 (Closer): Holocaust Museum
Look for:
Waterfront Washington East Potomac Channel Park ----------------------------------------- bridge (some bldg) USDA Annex ------- bridge US Dept of Bureau of Engraving Agriculture and Printing US Holocaust Memorial Museum Auditors Building
Note: Auditors Building was the first home of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (1879 to 1914). Because of desires for security, it only has one entrance.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing was constructed in the 1930's. This is where all the paper money in the U.S. is printed.
The Holocaust Museum opened in 1993. From 1914 to 1930, the site was the temporary site of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Do you get the idea that that building's moved a lot in the same block?
The USDA building was built between 1904 and 1908.
WMONV_970212_10.JPG: Washington Monument2 E (Capitol)
Look for:
RFK Stadium (the flat thing in distance)
Capitol
Natl Gallery Air & Space of Art: Museum East Wing -- triangular West Wing
Hirshhorn Museum & Natural History Sculpture Garden (the donut) Museum Arts & Industries Building Smithsonian Castle (orange thing)
The middle grassy area is the Mall.
WMONV_970212_11.JPG: Washington Monument2 N (White House)
Look for:
16th St (the obvious road going up the middle || into the distance at a slight diagonal) || Old Exec White Treasury Office House Building * Building
**
* The little white building just to the left of the front end of the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB) is the Winder Building where I worked for the Office of the US Trade Representative.
** The little sliver that you see on the far right (first piece of building--this one's too small to have windows yet) is the tip of the Dept of Commerce where I work now.
WMONV_970212_12.JPG: Washington Monument2 NNE (Commerce)
Look for:
|| 16th Street Catholic Shrine || (the diagonal) 15th St (in distance) || || * Treasury || Willard Hotel || || Dept of 14th St DC District || Commerce (can't see) Building || .. || .. International || .. Trade Center
* The white area is an edge of the White House
The Willard Hotel has been around forever. It is a very fancy hotel where Abe Lincoln stayed when he first came to town before he could move into the White House. It typically had high-paid lobbyists and is famous, for among things, being the reason Ulysses S Grant said "What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar"--everything in the hotel was just too expensive. The AAA book for 1996 says weekday rates at the 3-star hotel are $275-$335 for one person but they drop down to just $199 per night on weekends.
The International Trade Center (The Reagan Building) is the interesting shaped one. You'll see other shots of it.
WMONV_970212_13.JPG: Washington Monument2 S (Jefferson Memorial)
The center of this picture is the Jefferson Memorial. The body of water in front of it is the Tidal Basin which is known for the cherry blossoms. The body of water behind it is the Potomac River. Directly up from the Memorial, over the Potomac, is National Airport. The bridges to the right are the 14th Street bridges where the Air Florida crash was back in 1984 or so.
The Memorial itself is on an island-like area called the East Potomac Park. Hanes Point is way off screen to the left.
WMONV_970408_001.JPG: Washington MonumentPM E (Capitol)
The bright object just above the middle is the US Capitol.
To identify the other buildings, refer to the notes from one of the daylight shots in the same direction.
WMONV_970408_002.JPG: Washington MonumentPM E2X (Capitol)
Close-up view of DCPM_E.GIF.
The bright object just above the middle is the US Capitol. Most of the buildings on the Mall are clearly identifiable. The funny shaped triangular building to the left and down is the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art. The circular building to the right and down is the Hirschhorn Museum.
To identify the other buildings, refer to the notes from one of the daylight shots in the same direction.
WMONV_970408_003.JPG: Washington MonumentPM NE (Commerce, Reagan)
The long building in the lower left is the Dept of Commerce building. The equally long one across the street is the Reagan International Trade Building.
WMONV_970408_004.JPG: Washington MonumentPM NNE (White House, Treasury)
The White House is the well-lit house in the lower left. Quite a bit to the right of it is the Treasury Building.
WMONV_970408_005.JPG: Washington MonumentPM S (Jeff Memorial)
The bright white object in the middle is the Jefferson Memorial. The reflection in front is on the Tidal Basin. The reflection in back is on the Potomac River.
WMONV_970408_006.JPG: Washington MonumentPM S2X (Jeff Memorial)
Close-up view of DCPM_S.GIF.
The bright white object in the middle is the Jefferson Memorial. The reflection in front is on the Tidal Basin. The reflection in back is on the Potomac River.
WMONV_970408_007.JPG: Washington MonumentPM SE (Agriculture)
The huge complex in the bottom left are the buildings for the Department of Agriculture. The Bureau of Engraving is in the bottom right.
WMONV_970408_008.JPG: Washington MonumentPM SEE (Capitol, South Mall)
The bright object in the distance on the left is the Capitol at the end of the mostly black Mall.
To identify the other buildings, refer to the notes from one of the daylight shots in the same direction.
WMONV_970408_009.JPG: Washington MonumentPM W (Lincoln Memorial)
That's the Lincoln Memorial in the middle front. The diagonal going away from it is the Arlington Memorial Bridge which goes over the Potomac (which is reflecting the bridge). The mass of lights in the background is Rosslyn.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Description of Subject Matter: From the 500 foot level of the Washington Monument, you get majestic views of the city. Two windows face each direction. North gives you a view of the White House, the National Cathedral, the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Sugarloaf Mountain, etc. East gives you a view of the Capital building, the National Mall, and most of the Smithsonian buildings. South gives you a view of the Jefferson Memorial, National Airport, East Potomac Park, etc. And West gives you a view of the Lincoln Memorial, the new World War II memorial, Arlington Cemetery, Tysons Corner, etc.
After 9/11, every other window was closed off for spy cameras so the military could install massive cameras for views in all directions. That made it very hard to get decent views because there were so many people trying to get to windows. They fixed this some time later, installing the cameras higher up.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.)
I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com
and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
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1997 photos: Since 1984, I've lived in Silver Spring, Maryland.
From 1981 to 2002, photos were taken using a Pentax ME Super camera.
From 1989 to 2002, I was doing all pictures as prints (instead of slides which I had grown up on).
In 1997, at the age of 40, my photo obsession began and I started taking thousands of photos per year.
In September, 2002, I switched to digital cameras and the number of photos exploded.
Image quality is going to be variable because these are scans of slides and/or prints.
The images shown here were scanned in two phases. In the early years of the website, I rescanned a selection of pre-digital images, all at fairly low quality settings. During the COVID pandemic, I launched the Great Rescanning Effort, rescanning ALL of my pre-digital images from various media (prints, slides, negatives, etc) at higher resolution and quality settings. Mutilple versions of images -- some from the initial scannning phase, some from prints, some from slides/negatives -- were posted so there are frequently duplicate images on the same page. At some point, I hope to have time to do a final review and get rid of the duplicates but that'll have to wait until all of the pre-digital images are finally posted.
Trips this year: North Carolina (Dad), Florida (Mom), using a time share in Arkansas to visit Civil War sites in Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. The Civil War became my excuse to see places I'd never been to in my life and it was a great motivator for 20 years or so.
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