The church in the background is the [now-demolished] Metropolitan Methodist Church, located on the southwest corner of C Street NW and John Marshall Place (called 4½ Street at the time).  Another image of it <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.shorpy.com/node/4278">here</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=_vZrkGaUVukC&amp;pg=PA502">https://books.google.com/books?id=_vZrkGaUVukC&amp;pg=PA502</a> describes a white marble monument right in front of the City Hall, with a pillar 35 feet high, on top of which was a life-size statue of Abraham Lincoln done by Lot Flannery (a former U.S. Army lieutenant).  That all meshes perfectly then; the photo was taken from in front of City Hall (today the District of Columbia Court of Appeals), looking due south down John Marshall Place...  Construction on the church started in 1854 but was interrupted by the Civil War, and the church was dedicated in 1869. The steeple was not finished until 1872, and at 240 feet high was the tallest privately owned building at the time. It was apparently a long-time D.C. landmark. The spire was torn down in 1935, and the rest of the church was torn down in 1956. The architects were Teckritz and Mundell, of New York. The site today is the Canadian Embassy I think. The street shown no longer exists: I think half of it is now John Marshall Place Park. The statue though still exists in that same area, but on a shorter pedestal -- the pillar is gone.  Photo of it on the pillar <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/npc2008011753/">here</a>; and after the pillar <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/npc2007007335/">here</a>  (much like it is <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0000370.htm">today</a>). - (lightly edited from remarks by <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Clindberg" class="mw-redirect" title="User:Clindberg">Carl Lindberg</a>, originally made at <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jmabel/Stereo_cards_of_Washington,_D.C." title="User talk:Jmabel/Stereo cards of Washington, D.C.">User talk:Jmabel/Stereo cards of Washington, D.C.</a>)
<div class="fn value">
Unknown artist<span style="display: none;">Unknown artist</span></div>
<p>Created: 1865-1890.
</p><p><br>
Coverage: 1865-1890.
Source Imprint: 1865?-1890?.
</p>
Digital item published 12-1-2005; updated 2-12-2009.
This image is available from the <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library" title="New York Public Library">New York Public Library</a>'s Digital Library under the digital ID G90F110_019F: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?G90F110_019F">digitalgallery.nypl.org</a> → <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?keywords=G90F110_019F">digitalcollections.nypl.org</a>