Visualizing Early Washington

Every three or four years we take our students on an extended field trip in Washington, DC. And, as we stand near the Jefferson Pier and look North towards the White House, I point out that everything to our left used to be water and the areas to our right were sheep or cow meadows with one museum in the field. To help, we look at a couple of old drawings and leave the rest to their imagination.

Now they can stop imaging what the city was like. The Chronicle reports on a Washington Post Magazine report on the UMBC Imaging Research Center's project Visualizing Early Washington. This includes some 3-d video that really captures the dynamic nature of the District, even if it isn't really within the United States.