1957 Map of Washington

About this map

The US Capitol and the White House stand at the center of this 1950s regional landscape, which documents the mid-century evolution of the nation's capital and its surrounding tidal reaches. As the suburbs of Bethesda and Silver Spring densify, the map traces the deep history of the Chesapeake region, from St Marys City to the plantation grounds of Mount Vernon and Stratford Hall. The vast waterways of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River define the local economy and geography, dotted with critical maritime and military installations like the Patuxent River NAS and Quantico Marine Corps Base. The transition from the urban core of Washington to the rural Eastern Shore, including Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, highlights a period when the Penn Central RR and B & O RR still moved goods alongside the emerging interstate system.