This landscape drawing was created as the Civil War ended in 1865 and captures the White House Grounds as they likely were during Abraham Lincoln's administration. Of note are the eight plots to the west (or left) of the White House. Collectively, these eight plots were over an acre and were the grounds of the White House kitchen garden at the time.
Pay Roll for Persons Employed on the Presidents Square
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This document is a pay roll for men working on the grounds of the White House as part of an earth moving project to reshape the lawns. The page records the names, dates worked, wages, and signatures of the employees and the witness to receiving their pay.
This lithograph is a survey of Washington D.C. created in 1792 and then reprinted in 1893 by the Norris-Peters Company. The sketch shows the areas of the District and who owned the land prior to the development of the capitol city. Edward Pierce owned apple orchards and tobacco plantations on the area that now is the North Grounds. The South Grounds was owned by a tobacco farmer named David Burns.
This 1857 map offers an isometrical, or angled, view of the White House grounds . The map anticipates the appearance of new, expanded government buildings, some never realized, and omits other landmarks such as the Andrew Jackson statue in Lafayette Park, which first appeared in the park in 1853.
This plan for the White House grounds was completed between 1802 and 1805. Thomas Jefferson likely created the plan during his presidency. The darker marks are attributed to Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the British architect who contributed to the design of the White House and the U.S. Capitol. The plan, which distinguishes the White House grounds from the surrounding President's Park, was largely carried out and remained intact until the 1860s.
This comparative elevation of the north view of the White House includes the East and West Wings. President Theodore Roosevelt oversaw the addition of both wings early in his presidency, a change that moved staff out of the residential space on the Second Floor of the White House.