Capital elites: high society in Washington, D.C., after the Civil War

High society gets underway in the new capital: 1800-1860

Washington society transformed: the Civil War and its aftermath in the capital

The blossoming of official society: 1868-1872

Official society sullied by scandal, cleansed by time: 1873-1900

The first rich newcomers trickle into Washington: 1865-1880

A rising tide of rich newcomers floods the capital: 1881-1900

"Dying snails": the old elite withdraws into its shell.