Notley Young's plantation bordering the Potomac was among the lands appropriated for the city of Washington and its public buildings. These site plans show the plantation's original grounds, buildings, slave quarters, overseer's house, gardens, water…

Soon after the US entered World War II in the early 1940s, the government increased tremendously. The Department of Defense expanded rapidly, but there was not enough space for all of the new employees. To accommodate these new workers, the…

In 1930, the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission selected James Earle Fraser to design a pair of statues representing peace. Lack of funding during the Great Depression delayed the project until 1935. To curb costs, Fraser worked in bronze rather…

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan created a Presidential Commission to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the arrival of 13 German Mennonite families in Pennsylvania. The Commission decided to create a German-American Friendship Garden on the…

In November 1938 a group of white women led by Eleanor Patterson, owner of the Washington Times-Herald, protested the removal of cherry trees from the Tidal Basin to make way for the Jefferson Memorial. On November 18, the women chained themselves to…

In 1902 the Senate Park Commission announced a plan to renovate the National Mall. Named after the committee chair, Senator James McMillan, the McMillan Plan redesigned the layout of the Mall from a system of informal gardens to today's streamlined,…

In 1850 President Millard Fillmore asked Andrew Jackson Downing, the nation's preeminent landscape gardener and advocate of a rural American style, to design the landscaping for the largely undeveloped National Mall and Smithsonian grounds. Downing’s…

In July 1790, when Congress approved the establishment of a federal capital on the Potomac River, the area they chose was already owned by people who lived and farmed there. President George Washington and other government officials negotiated with…

On April 12, 1967, a classic wood merry-go-round with 33 animals and 2 chariots moved to the National Mall near the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building. Rides cost 25 cents apiece. In 1981 museum officials replaced the worn-out merry-go-round…

In 1848 the Freemason Society laid the cornerstone for the Washington Monument during an elaborate Fourth of July ceremony commemorating George Washington. Thousands attended, including the President and Vice-President, Congressmen, representatives…