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

The White House

Key Bridge and Georgetown College

Tucker’s Restaurant (now Wah Sing Restaurant)

Union Station

F Street

Aerial view

Rexall Drug Store

Washington monument

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

The Franciscan Monastery

The Pentagon

Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan National Airport)

Pennsylvania Avenue

Wardman Park Hotel



Love retro postcards? Check out our collection of San Francisco sites.