The National Botanic Garden - Its Commencement
This article from the Baltimore Sun discusses the establishment of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/29">National Botanic Garden</a> in Washington. The main source of the collection for the garden were botanic specimens gathered during the United States Exploring Expedition, which explored the coasts of North and South America from 1838 to 1842. These plants had been stored near the Patent Office but needed a new home. Congress chose to build the new botanic garden on the Mall where a private group had maintained a garden thirty years before: the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/406">Columbian Institution</a>'s botanic garden stood on the same site from 1820 to 1830.
<em>The Sun</em> (Baltimore).
7/2/1850
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1830-1859">1830-1859</a>
Downing's Plan for the Mall
<a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/84">Andrew J. Downing</a> presented this proposal for a <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/205">landscape design of the National Mall</a> to President Millard Fillmore in February 1851. He incorporated the Capitol's western front (left) and <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/20">White House grounds (right)</a>, fulfilling Pierre L'Enfant's desire for the two buildings to be connected by a park-like space. Downing divided the Mall into six spaces, connected by winding paths. As he wrote in a letter to the President a month after presenting his plan, he wanted the Mall to "form a public museum of living trees and shrubs." Downing's plan was never fully implemented, in part due to his <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/11">early death in 1852</a> at the age of 36.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Andrew+Jackson+Downing">Andrew Jackson Downing</a>
National Archives at College Park. <a href="http://research.archives.gov/description/6087997">View original</a>.
1851
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1830-1859">1830-1859</a>
Mills' Proposed Plan of the Mall
<p class="p1">In 1840, Secretary of War Joel Poinsett commissioned <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/114">Robert Mills</a> to create a plan for the recently <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/162">proposed Smithsonian Institution's building</a> and the grounds from the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">Capitol</a> to the future site of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/36">Washington Monument</a>. Mills broke the Mall into sections, with formal botanical gardens near the Smithsonian Building, which he set on the north side of the Mall. The area near the Washington Monument was meant to evoke the wilderness, with numerous trees and curving pathways. Only a portion of the plan, the landscaping for the Smithsonian grounds, was ever developed.</p>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Mills">Robert Mills</a>
National Archives at College Park. <a href="http://research.archives.gov/description/6087995">View original</a>.
1841
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1830-1859">1830-1859</a>
Joseph Henry
Henry was a noted scientist in the United States when he was selected to serve as the first Secretary, or chief executive officer, of the new <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/194">Smithsonian Institution</a> in 1846. He served for 30 years, developing the new museum as a center for research, publications, and international exchange. During his tenure, the Smithsonian provided important support for scientists by coordinating and funding research, publishing original studies, and facilitating communication among scientists in the United States and abroad. He lived <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/456">with his family</a> in the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/52">Smithsonian Castle</a> until his death in 1878.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Joseph+Henry">Joseph Henry</a>
Smithsonian Institution Archives. <a href="http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_9168">View original image.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1830-1859">1830-1859</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1860-1889">1860-1889</a>
Inauguration of President William Henry Harrison
In February 1841 President-elect William Henry Harrison arrived during a snowstorm at the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/344">Baltimore and Ohio railway station</a> near the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">US Capitol</a>. The first president to arrive at an inaugural by train, his inauguration also marked the first time an official committee of citizens planned the events. At 8,445 words, Harrison delivered the longest inaugural address on record, but served the shortest time of any American president. His inaugural took place on the east side of the Capitol building in overcast, windy weather. Three weeks later, he became ill and died after only 32 days in office.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00650916/">View original</a>.
3/4/1841
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1830-1859">1830-1859</a>
Baltimore & Ohio Train Depot, 1835
The brick Baltimore and Ohio Railway Depot stood at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Second Street on lots formerly occupied by a cabinet maker and a boarding house. Fitted with offices, living rooms, and a waiting room, an agent and a staff of fewer than half a dozen men managed passenger, baggage and freight. A few thousand people flocked to the station to greet the first trains arriving in 1835, welcomed at the District line by the mayor and the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/144">Marine Band</a>. The first passengers were escorted to nearby taverns and hotels for entertainment. Most then, returned to Baltimore, where their journey originated.
<em>Records of the Columbia Historical Society</em>, 27 (1925): 179.
1925
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Treasury Department
The Treasury Department is one of the oldest government departments. It was among those established when the federal government moved to Washington in 1800. The first Treasury Department building was damaged by fire in 1801 and <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/157">completely destroyed by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812</a>. A second building was destroyed by fire set by arsonists in 1833. In 1836, Congress authorized the construction of a new, fireproof building, which was finished by 1842. Additional wings to the south, north, and west were added in between 1855 and 1869, completing the building we see today.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Mills">Robert Mills</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Thomas+Ustick+Walter">Thomas Ustick Walter</a>
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96524469/">View original</a>.
1800 (established)
1836 (current building construction begins)
1869 (current building construction complete)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1800-1829">1800-1829</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1830-1859">1830-1859</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1860-1889">1860-1889</a>
Washington Canal Floods
On Saturday, September 16, 1843, a violent storm caused the rivers feeding into the Potomac to rise dramatically. The resulting water levels were higher than anyone could remember. When the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/424">Potomac River</a> and <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/41">Washington Canal </a>overflowed their banks, water flooded into the cellars and storage rooms in properties along the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/251">waterfronts in the Federal City and Georgetown</a>. It covered one of the bridges across the canal, which connected the Mall with the city, and damaged the supply of some of the local businesses. Flooding like this continued until the 1870s, when engineers brought it somewhat under control.
“Great Flood,” <em>Madisonian for the Country</em> (Washington, DC)
09/18/1843
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Braddock's Rock
Originally, Braddock's Rock was a sizable outcropping of Piedmont stone jutting into the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/424">Potomac</a>. Called the "Key of all Keys," this rock became a starting point for surveyors drawing property lines for early settlers. In 1755, General Edward Braddock landed at the rocky promontory and began his march to Fort Duquesne with the young <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/152">George Washington</a> among his soldiers. Later used as a quarry for the stone used in the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/66">White House</a>, <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">Capitol</a>, and C&O Canal, it was blasted away in 1832. Today, the remaining portions are 16 feet underground, enclosed by a well located among the approaches to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.
<em>The Washington Times</em>, February 19, 1906. <a href="http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1906-02-19/ed-1/seq-12/">View original.</a>
1755 (re-named)
1832 (destroyed)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Pre-1800s">Pre-1800s</a>
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Murder Bay
In the years preceding the Civil War, the area bordered by Pennsylvania Ave., 15th, and the "open sewer" of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/41">Washington Canal</a> was a slum characterized by rampant prostitution, muggings, and robberies. The population of this area increased during the Civil War as soldiers took advantage of Murder Bay's cheap alcohol and <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/6">brothels</a>. This area eventually came to be known as <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/297">"Hooker's Division"</a> or just "Division," and became a destination for former slaves. Reform movements in the late 1800s generally failed, but in 1928, the city leveled Murder Bay and began building Federal Triangle in its place.
Library of Congress Geography and Map Division. <a href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3851e.awh00008">View original</a>.
1928 (destroyed)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1830-1859">1830-1859</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1920-1949">1920-1949</a>