From 1915 to 1935, there was a tennis court behind the Smithsonian Institution Castle, next to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in the South Yard. The court was created for the Smithsonian's tennis team, which played in intramural as well as…

As soon as the Japanese cherry trees were planted, Washingtonians and tourists enjoyed the blossoms every spring. Although there were cherry blossom fetes in the 1920s, they were mostly held in Hains Point. The first Cherry Blossom Festival, which…

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…

John McShain was a building contractor in charge of the construction of many federal buildings in Washington during the 1900s. On the Mall, he was responsible for building the Jefferson Memorial and was trusted with remodeling the White House during…

The Department of Agriculture's first building on the Mall was completed in 1868, but by the 1890s, the Department was outgrowing its building. In 1901, as part of the McMillan Plan to redesign the National Mall, Congress approved a new office…

The original Bureau of Engraving and Printing was opened on July 1, 1880, but by the 1930s, the facility had become too small for all of the Bureau's responsibilities, which included printing money, stamps, and government security documents. In 1938,…

During the fall and winter months of 1934, the Washington Monument 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…

The first teahouse in Hains Point, the southernmost tip of East Potomac Park, was a refreshment stand opened in 1920 and run by local Girl Scouts. It was very popular, and in 1922 construction began on a permanent structure with restrooms, which…

When President Truman moved in in 1945, the White House was showing its age. Burned by British troops in 1814, renovated in 1902 and 1927, and expanded several times, the piecemeal and constantly incomplete renovations to the White House had left the…

In October 1945, World War II Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was honored with a parade in Washington, DC, before being presented with a Gold Star by President Truman for his service as the Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean…