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Description of Pictures: It hadn't been finished the first time I visited.
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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 including AI scrapers 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.
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
OPMUS_180117_001.JPG: Trump International Hotel Washington D.C.
OPMUS_180117_004.JPG: Where Luxury and History Meet
More than a century after its opening, the Old Post Office, now Trump International Hotel, remains an iconic building and the hotel of choice for dignitaries, celebrities, business executives and leisure travelers.
Trump International Hotel, Washington DC, includes 263 of the largest and most luxurious guestrooms and suited in Washington DC, with lofty 16-foot ceilings, soaring windows, beautifully restored woodwork and glittering crystal sources and chandeliers.
Encompassing 38,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including the opulent 13,200 square foot column-free Presidential Ballroom, the largest among DC luxury hotels, the hotel boasts the 10,000 square foot Spa by Ivanka Trump, DC's first BLT Prime restaurant with celebrity chef David Burke, and this Old Post Office museum.
OPMUS_180117_010.JPG: An Historic Transformation
OPMUS_180117_014.JPG: A New Vision for the Old Post Office
By the end of the 20th century, it had become apparent that the Old Post Office needed a developer with the vision and experience to realize its full potential and make it an important contributor to the vibrant life of our Nation's Capital.
In 2011, through a rigorous selection process for the country's most coveted development project, which included many competing development teams, the US Government's GSA awarded the honor of "developer" to The Trump Organization.
From 2014 to 2016, The Trump Organization led a meticulous redevelopment of the Old Post Office, resulting in a 5-Star luxury hotel which befits the grandeur of this city -- the Trump International Hotel, Washington, DC.
OPMUS_180117_017.JPG: Eleanor Holmes Norton (2nd from right shown at groundbreaking), the District's Delegate to Congress and a resolute advocate for the Old Post Office, introduced and obtained passage of "The Old Post Office Building Redevelopment Act of 2008." This act of Congress was required to usher in the historic transformation.
OPMUS_180117_023.JPG: With architects, Beyer Blinder Belle and interior designers, Hirsch Bedner Associates, The Trump Organization, led by Ivanka Trump, worked closely with the GSA, the National Park Service, the DC Historic Preservation Office, the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission to maintain and enhance the beauty of the original building.
OPMUS_180117_028.JPG: The Postmaster General's Office was so regally designed that it included its own commode within one of the building's turrets. Sitting at the table shown above are the building's former inhabitants, Postmaster General Will Hays (in the center seat) and his postal cabinet.
OPMUS_180117_032.JPG: After several successful preservation efforts, the Old Post Office underwent a renovation in the 1980s. The renovation may have saved the iconic building, but was hardly considered a commercial success.
OPMUS_180117_043.JPG: Saving the Old Post Office
From "White Elephant" to Historic Landmark
Considered innovative at the time of its design, postal officials eventually came to feel that the Old Post Office's vast interiors had become too confining for modern postal operations.
During the ear;y twentieth century, as the vision for the District's downtown evolved, the building's location on Pennsylvania Avenue came to be viewed as an obstacle to development of the Federal Triangle.
But, as time passed, the Old Post Office building established itself as an icon on the District's skyline and won the hearts of her citizens.
When it achieved National Historic Landmark status in the 1970s, as a result of the concerted efforts of preservationists, the Old Post office's future was secured.
Today, this building stands as a symbol of what can be accomplished when governments are responsive to the sentiments of their citizens.
OPMUS_180117_050.JPG: The McMillan Plan (1901)
This comprehensive plan laid the groundwork for the development of The "Federal" Triangle, which would become the greatest threat to the building's survival.
OPMUS_180117_054.JPG: Old Post Office Tower (1964)
This rendering shows a plan for completion of The Federal Triangle, which proposed the demolition of the Old Post Office, except for its Tower.
OPMUS_180117_058.JPG: Demolition of the neighborhood to make way for the Federal Triangle (1928)
While demolition and construction proceeded around it for almost 70 years, the Old Post Office, because of its "good bones," continued to provide much needed office space for several Federal entities including the NEA, NEH, USIA, FBI.
OPMUS_180117_063.JPG: The Ditchley Bells (1976)
In 1976, Great Britain donated the Ditchley Bells to the US Congress to celebrate the country's Bicentennial. The bells were originally intended to hang in the Capitol building, but instead were placed in the Old Post Office's clock tower, which was sturdy enough to withstand the significant force generated by the ringing of the massive bells.
OPMUS_180117_068.JPG: 1899
Vault Door
Vaults of varying sizes were placed throughout the upper and lower levels of the Old Post Office building to store money, stamps, and other valuables.
The door to the left, fabricated by Mosler Safe Company in Hamilton, Ohio, is from a vault located on the northeast corner of the fifth floor.
During the redevelopment process, a seal was uncovered below the first layer of paint. This first layer has since been removed in an effort to display the original seal, which can now be seen here.
OPMUS_180117_073.JPG: Mosler Safe Co.
OPMUS_180117_076.JPG: Earliest known photo of Pennsylvania Avenue, looking northwest from US Capitol (1843).
OPMUS_180117_080.JPG: Inaugural Parade for Theodore Roosevelt with the Old Post Office in the background (1905)
OPMUS_180117_084.JPG: WWI Victory Parade with the Old Post Office in the background (1919)
OPMUS_180117_087.JPG: Inaugural Parade for President Dwight Eisenhower with the Old Post Office in the background (1957)
OPMUS_180117_090.JPG: Inaugural Parade for President John F. Kennedy with the Old Post Office in the background (1961).
OPMUS_180117_094.JPG: Moratorium March of Washington with the Old Post Office in the background (1969).
OPMUS_180117_098.JPG: Women's Suffrage Parade with the Old Post Office in the background (1913)
OPMUS_180117_101.JPG: Mail truck at the Mailing Platform of the Old Post Office (1910)
OPMUS_180117_104.JPG: Parcel Postman near Mailing Platform at the Old Post Office (1913)
OPMUS_180117_107.JPG: Flag Day in the Cortile (1925)
On June 14th, 1908, a number of postal employees met on the Building's second floor balcony to sing the "Star Spangled Banner" before the American flag.
It was this patriotic tradition that took place at the Old Post Office that evolved into the celebration of Flag Day.
In subsequent years, postal employees expanded this tradition by hanging each state's flag in the cortile on this day and a seven-story American flag there during the other days of the year.
Coincidentally, June 14th is also the birthday of the hotel's developer, Donald J. Trump.
[Can you believe the self-centered douche actually had this on the sign?]
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.
Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Old Post Office -- Exhibit: ) directly related to this one:
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2018 photos: Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000.
Trips this year:
Civil War Trust conferences in Greenville, NC, Newport News, VA, and my farewell event with them in Chicago, IL (via sites in Louisville, KY, St. Louis, MO, and Toledo, OH),
three trips to New York City (including New York Comic-Con), and
my 13th consecutive trip to San Diego Comic-Con (including sites in Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles).
Number of photos taken this year: about 535,000.
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