About 17.9 million people visited Washington, DC in 2011 and the capital has long drawn crowds to its monuments, historic buildings and museums.

We took a look through the digital archives of the Boston Public Library to pull together a collection of keep sakes and souvenirs from yesteryear. Here are some of our favourite postcards from the The Tichnor Brothers Collection, dated between 1930 to 1950. They cover the big tourist attractions as well as a few businesses, transit hubs and a couple of oddities as well.

Enjoy!

Sightseeing tours

washington dc born yesterday

The White House

white house postcard

Key Bridge and Georgetown College

washington bridge postcard

Tucker’s Restaurant (now Wah Sing Restaurant)

https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:r781wm037

Union Station

washington union station

F Street

F Street Washington

Aerial view

aerial view dc

Rexall Drug Store

washington historic postcard

Washington monument

washington monument cherry blossoms

A pipe shop at 920 14th Street (now The Park At Fourteenth venue)

dc washington postcard vintage

The Franciscan Monastery

monastery washington dc

The Pentagon

the pentagon postcard

Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan National Airport)

airport washington dc

Pennsylvania Avenue

pennsylvania ave postcard

Wardman Park Hotel

wardman park hotel washington
Love retro postcards? Check out our collection of San Francisco sites.

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