Smithsonian Garden Shed
This shed stood south-east of the first <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/52">Smithsonian building</a>, now called the Castle. Smithsonian staff stored gardening and grounds keeping equipment used on <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/529">the institution's grounds</a>. This shed was removed in the 1870s when construction of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/56">Arts and Industries Building</a> began. Smithsonian staff require much larger facilities today, as they continue to landscape and maintain the grounds near all of the Institution's buildings on the Mall.
Smithsonian Institution Archives. <a href="http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_10284">View original</a>.
1860
Ghost Sites
<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>
A Picnic on the White House Lawn
During the 1800s the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/66">White House</a> was much more accessible than it is today and informal social events were often held at the executive mansion. In this photo, a group is picnicking on the White House grounds with the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/337">Treasury Department building</a> visible in the background. <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/255">Unlike today, this area has the look of a forest with many large trees</a>. Before the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/206">McMillan Commission's redesign of the Mall</a> in 1902 the area was a series of meandering paths, gardens, and dense trees.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Uriah+Hunt+Painter+%28photographer%29">Uriah Hunt Painter (photographer)</a>
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002723172/">View Original</a>.
1889
<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>
Tennis Courts in the South Yard
From 1915 to 1935, there was a tennis court behind the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/52">Smithsonian Institution Castle</a>, next to the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/465">Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory</a> in the South Yard. The court was created for the Smithsonian's tennis team, which played in intramural as well as inter-departmental matches against teams from other federal agencies. This image shows Loyal B. Aldrich (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory employee), and Astrophysicist Charles Greeley Abbot (Fifth Secretary of the Smithsonian) playing tennis.
Smithsonian Institution Archives. <a href="http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_9156">View original</a>.
1915 (constructed)
1935 (converted into a parking lot)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1890-1919">1890-1919</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>
Smithsonian South Shed
The South Shed, also called the Annex, was used to prepare specimen for exhibition. Built in 1898 and demolished in 1975 to make way for the Victorian Garden, the South Shed at various times housed the Smithsonian's <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/233">model and taxidermy </a>shop, the bug house, and astrophysicist Samuel P. Landley's Aerodrome shop.
Smithsonian Institution Archives, <a href="http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_7005">View Original</a>.
1898 (built)
1975 (demolished)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1890-1919">1890-1919</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1950-1979">1950-1979</a>
Discovery of America
In 1837, the President and Congress commissioned Italian-born artist Luigi Persico to create a sculpture depicting Christopher Columbus to be one of a pair of artworks flanking the staircase on the eastern entrance to the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">Capitol</a>. When it was installed in 1844, some politicians and art critics applauded it as a representation of Manifest Destiny. In 1958, <em>Discovery of America</em> and its companion piece <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/18"><em>The Rescue</em></a> were removed in preparation for renovations to the east facade of the Capitol. By that point, both American Indian advocacy groups and members of Congress were highly critical of the sculpture. It was not reinstalled when the renovation was completed.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Luigi+Persico">Luigi Persico</a>
Wikimedia Commons. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Discovery-statue.JPG">View original</a>.
1844 (installed)
1958 (removed)
<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=1950-1979">1950-1979</a>
American Colonization Society Hall
The American Colonization Society was a national organization founded in 1817. Its purpose was to encourage the migration of free African Americans and formerly enslaved Africans to Africa. Members of the Society saw this plan both as a way to encourage slave owners to free their slaves and to give free black Americans a way to escape the inequality they experienced in the US. The Society was responsible for sending 6,000 black Americans to Liberia between 1821 and 1867. The organization had a permanent office on the Mall from 1860 until the building was razed in 1930.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=I.+Cranford+Nielson">I. Cranford Nielson</a>
The Historical Society of Washington, DC. <a href="http://historydc.pastperfect-online.com/32595cgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=22A006DB-CBF1-4D66-957C-531426593726;type=102">View Original</a>.
1860-1930
<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>
<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>
Federal Government Building
One of the first office buildings in Washington, this building initially housed the Departments of State, War, and the Navy, as well as the Patent Office, the General and City Post Offices, and the offices of the Superintendent and Surveyor of the City. By 1814, only the Departments of State, War, and the Navy remained, but they were temporarily relocated when <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/157">the building was damaged by British forces during the War of 1812</a>. In 1816, all three departments returned to a renovated office building, although the Department of State moved in 1819. The Department of the Navy continued to occupy the building until it was demolished in 1884.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Leonard+Harbaugh">Leonard Harbaugh</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=James+Hoban">James Hoban</a>
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/stereo/item/2005680798/">View original</a>.
1801 (constructed)
1814 (burned)
1816 (rebuilt)
1884 (demolished)
<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=1860-1889">1860-1889</a>
Old and New Agriculture Buildings
The <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/291">Department of Agriculture's first building</a> on the Mall was completed in 1868, but by the 1890s, the Department was outgrowing its building. In 1901, as part of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/350">McMillan Plan</a> to redesign the National Mall, Congress approved a new office building for the Department, to be built directly behind the first, with the intention that the newer building would replace the original. This photo from the late 1920s shows the old (on the left) and the new (on the right) buildings, with the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/52">Smithsonian Castle</a> visible between the two. The old building was demolished in 1930.
DC Public Library. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcplcommons/3360758266/">View original</a>.
1868 (old building completed)
1930 (old building demolished, new building completed)
<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>
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
This observatory was established in March 1890 and was one of the first to practice astrophysics. It was housed in buildings in the South Yard of the Smithsonian Institution Building's grounds. Early research conducted on the site focused on solar radiation. In the 1950s, the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/52">Smithsonian Institution</a> created a partnership with Harvard University and the Astrophysical Observatory headquarters moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Smithsonian Institution Archives. <a href="http://siris-sihistory.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!sichronology&uri=full=3100001~!10251~!0#focus">View original</a>.
1899
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1890-1919">1890-1919</a>
John Russell Pope's Mayan Temple design for the Lincoln Memorial
In 1912 John Russell Pope submitted several entries to the design competition for the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/33">Lincoln Memorial</a>. They were each unique. This proposal was for a Mayan Temple style monument to Lincoln which featured a large flame burning at the top of the memorial.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=John+Russell+Pope">John Russell Pope</a>
National Archives at College Park. <a href="http://research.archives.gov/description/6087971">View original</a>.
1912
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1890-1919">1890-1919</a>