Isn't this sentence strange?
"Washington struck me as a precarious place from which to publish such a cerebral newspaper."
I think the sentence has to be 'Washington struck me as a precarious place at which to publish such a cerebral newspaper.'?
'from' is fine - from Washington. The newspapers are sent out from Washington to other places, so 'from' is normal here.
'at' is wrong, because you wouldn't say at 'Washington'.