The National Park Service employs a team of professional arborists to ensure the continued health of the Mall's 9,000 trees. Sometimes known as "tree doctors," the arborists care for the cherry trees along the Tidal Basin, which have been a fixture…

The paddle boats on the Tidal Basin have been a popular activity for the city’s residents and tourists since the late 1930s. Today, the boats provide visitors with unique views of the Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Martin Luther…

Anthony LaManna was a stone cutter who immigrated from Italy to the US through Ellis Island in 1904. He worked on the Lincoln Memorial in the late 1910s and early 1920s carving the words of the Gettysburg Address on the south interior wall. This…

In April 1987 a one-ton fiberglass Allosaurus sculpture was moved into the National Museum of Natural History.  A crowd formed on the Mall at the steps of the museum to watch the dinosaur lifted into the building with a winch. The 20-foot-long model…

Before the National Air and Space Museum opened in July 1975, objects like this WWII-era "Spitfire" airplane arrived. To get the plane inside the museum, its wings were temporarily removed and it was led through the museum's west end windows. These…

The American Locomotive Company of Richmond, Virginia built this 280-ton passenger stream train in 1926 which arrived at the National Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History) to go on permanent display in the…

Horatio Greenough's 1841 sculpture of George Washington has lived in 4 different locations on the Mall. Originally built for the US Capitol Rotunda, Congress did not like the statue and moved it outside to the east lawn 1 year later. Still unhappy…

In 1978, the National Museum of Natural History hosted "Treasures of Mexico: From the Mexican National Museum" that featured this large stone Olmec head. The Olmecs lived in south-central Mexico from approximately 1400 BC to 400 BC and are considered…

Philip Reed was an enslaved man who worked in the foundry operated by his owner, Clark Mills. The foundry cast the statues of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square and the statue of "Freedom" which tops the Capitol dome. The plaster cast for "Freedom"…

Visitors to the Mall during the 1950s-1970s may have encountered large rockets that lined the west side of the Smithsonian Arts and Industries building. Called "Rocket Row," this outdoor exhibit accommodated large objects before the National Air and…