Washington Monument repair and theft of lightning rod points
During the fall and winter months of 1934, the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/36">Washington Monument</a> was prepped for repairs and cleaning, due to cracking at the base. Scaffolding was built around the 550-foot monument to allow the workers to make the repairs with Public Works Administration funding. The restoration lasted 140 days, during which time the Monument remained open to visitors. However, on December 28th, 1934, someone scaled the scaffolding to remove 107 of the 170 gold-plated, platinum-tipped lightning rod points from the top of the monument. The points were valued at $8 each, which totaled $856.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/thc1995013204/PP/">View original.</a>
12/28/1934
<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>
Reflecting Pool reconstructed
Restoration of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/23">Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool</a> began in November 2010. The two-year, $30.7 million renovation project almost completely rebuilt the structure. The 1923 original pool was built on an unstable foundation that sank and cracked. The overhauled pool is shallower, reinforced with over 2,000 pilings driven to the underlying bedrock, and a gray tint was added to increase the pool’s reflectivity. The water supply system was replaced, and instead of stagnant water, the supply is now circulated from the nearby <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/430">Tidal Basin</a>. Gravel sidewalks bordering the pool were also replaced with pavement to prevent erosion.
Justin Brown on Flickr.com. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/justininsd/6239416270">View original.</a>
2010-2012
Event
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2000-present">2000-present</a>
National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAACH)
The National Museum of African American History and Culture was established by an Act of Congress in 2003 and is the only national museum devoted to African American life. The goals of the museum are: to educate about African American history and culture; to show the importance of African American history to American history; to show the global context of American history more broadly; and to be a place of collaboration, both with other museums and with new audiences.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Principal+architects+Phillip+Freelon+and+David+Adjaye%2C+with+an+architectural+team+from+the+firms+the+Freelon+Group%2C+Adjaye+Associates%2C+Davis+Brody+Bond%2C+and+the+SmithGroup.">Principal architects Phillip Freelon and David Adjaye, with an architectural team from the firms the Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates, Davis Brody Bond, and the SmithGroup.</a>
National Museum of African American History and Culture. <a href="http://nmaahc.si.edu/Building">View original</a>.
2016 (opened)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2000-present">2000-present</a>
Survey Lodge
Located on the grounds of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/36">Washington Monument</a>, the Survey Lodge was originally a boiler and steam house for the machinery necessary to power the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/502">Washington Monument's elevator</a>. It was constructed of leftover marble and granite from the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/281">construction of the Washington Monument</a>. Today, the site is a National Park Service Ranger Station.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=William+Bradley">William Bradley</a>
1886
<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>
City of Washington
President <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/152">George Washington</a> and city planner <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/82">Pierre L'Enfant</a> chose the land for the new capital of the United States, in part, because of the beauty of its landscape. Rolling hills, the meeting point of two rivers, flat lands along the river banks, and fields good for growing crops were positive signs. This image shows a romantic view of the city looking across the Potomac River from Virginia into the District. The Capitol building stands on a hill. Sailing ships and tranquil farmlands speak of a prosperous and beautiful city.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.<a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/hec2009014634/"> View original</a>.
1939
<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>
Tiber Creek: The Bathers
<a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/40">Tiber Creek</a> raced through the city from the base of Capitol Hill to the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/424">Potomac River</a>. In the early 1800s, it was about 800 feet wide, flowing just below the hill where <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/66">White House</a> was built. Swimmers, boaters, and fishermen navigated its waters. Kingfishers, herons, muskrats, and turtles lived on its marshy banks. Before construction began on the new city of Washington, the Tiber Creek and its tree-lined banks created a natural drainage area from other bodies of water in the area. Artist Peter Waddell painted this reconstruction of the Tiber in 2004, using descriptions from early visitors and residents of Washington to envision how the environment looked in the early 1800s.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Peter+Waddell">Peter Waddell</a>
White House Historical Association. <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/timber-creek-the-bathers-john-quincy-adams-takes-a-deadly-chance-1825-by-peter-waddell">View original</a>.
2004
Copyright White House Historical Association, 2004
<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>
New Conservatory is Rising Steadily
The original <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/29">botanic gardens</a> in Washington were built in line with the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">Capitol building</a>, where the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/25">Capitol Reflecting Pool</a> is today. The new design proposed for the Mall in the early 1900s called for an open green space from the Capitol to the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/36">Washington Monument</a>, sparking a debate over the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/383">relocation of the Botanic Gardens</a>. The final decision was to shift the institution to Independence Ave, then Canal Street. The new buildings described in this article were state-of-the art for the time, fit for the National Botanic Gardens.
<em>The Washington Post</em>.
1/26/1932
<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>
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>
The national capital, Washington, DC
This detail of the bird's eye view of the city, "The national capital, Washington, D.C. Sketched from nature by Adolph Sachse, 1883-1884" shows the National Mall before the Army Corps of Engineers began to dredge the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/424">Potomac River</a> to fill in the tidal wetlands. The project was intended to enlarge the shipping channel and to help prevent flooding and sewage accumulation. The <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/326">Reclamation of Potomac Flats</a> began in 1882 and continued to 1890. Landfill extended the length and width of the Mall, forming East Potomac Park and extending the Mall beyond the site of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/36">Washington Monument</a>. When the project ended, Washington, DC, had 638 acres of new land.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Adolph+Sachse">Adolph Sachse</a>
<span>Library of Congress Geography and Map Division</span>. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/item/75693178">View original</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>
The Mall in 1800
In this passage, <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/118">Margaret Bayard Smit</a>h describes the Mall as it was when she first arrived in Washington in 1800, a plain covered in trees, shrubs, and flowers. By the time she wrote this passage in 1837, the banks of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/40">Tiber</a> had been transformed into the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/41">Washington Canal</a>, and the groves had been harvested for timber for the new city.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Margaret+Bayard+Smith">Margaret Bayard Smith</a>
<div class="csl-bib-body">
<div class="csl-entry">Smith, Margaret Bayard. <a><em>The First Forty Years of Washington Society</em></a>. Edited by Gaillard Hunt and J. Henley Smith. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1906.</div>
</div>
1837
<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>