Mount Vernon Square, 1887

While we tend to think of most of the circles and squares in Washington as having been planed to be exactly what they are today, most of them changed as new monuments and buildings were planned for the city.

Here we have Mount Vernon Square ca. 1887. Instead of a building dominating the square, it is an open park with a fountain in the middle.

The old City Library that is there now was built by Andrew Carnegie in 1902 in the Beaux-Arts style. Currently, the building is home to the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

Here is the list of what trees and shrubs were growing in the square ca. 1887.