Smithsonian Institution Building Popularly known as "the Castle," the Smithsonian Institution's original building opened in 1855 and was the first museum on the Mall. <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/74">James Renwick Jr </a>designed the building in a Gothic Revival style with red sandstone from Seneca Creek, Maryland. The Castle housed collections, laboratories, and <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/456">the family of the first Secretary</a>. By 1881, the Smithsonian's collections and staff outgrew the Castle and expanded to a <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/56">second building next door</a>. Today, the Smithsonian Visitors' Center and founder <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/68">James Smithson</a>'s crypt can be found inside the Castle. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=James+Renwick%2C+Jr+">James Renwick, Jr </a> Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004680129/">View original</a>. 1855 (Complete) 1865 (Damaged by fire) <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>