This five-part panorama shows the National Mall and surrounding buildings, from the Smithsonian "Castle" Institution Building. The left section shows Washington Monument under construction in background, with Agriculture Department at left. The left…

The city office of public buildings and grounds, who operated the site, held a carnival to celebrate the opening of a formal bathing beach at the Tidal Basin. The beach included buildings for changing and a shelter. It was segregated, open only to…

In 1872, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station opened near the Capitol, crossing the parks and lawns of the National Mall. The first train departed at 5 a.m. on July 2 with sixty passengers. The depot buildings were opened in 1874. The presence…

The Center Market, one of the first formal markets in Washington City, opened in mid-December 1801. The market's location was proposed in the early plans of the city and George Washington had set aside land for its establishment in March 1797. Laws…

White residents of Washington enjoyed swimming in the Tidal Basin as early as the 1880s. In 1918, the district office of buildings and grounds added buildings to make the beach more enjoyable, like a cabana and diving platform. Like other…

The Nacotchtanks are a Native American Algonquian tribe who once lived on land which is now near the National Mall. Captain John Smith noted that the village had 80 fighting men in 1608. The Nacotchtanks likely spoke the Piscataway variation of the…

Mary Ann Hall purchased a home in 1840 on land where the National Museum of the American Indian is today. Her three-story home became the site of a high end brothel for the District. Archaeologists excavated fragments of champagne bottles, oyster…

Alethia Browning Tanner was an enslaved woman who ran her own vegetable market in Lafayette Square in front of the White House during the late 1700s and early 1800s. She was highly successful, counting President Thomas Jefferson among her customers.…

Robey's slave pen, like its neighbor at the Yellow House, was a holding pen for slaves intended for auction. Brought in from surrounding areas, the slaves were subjected to brutal conditions before their sale and were marched through the streets of…

A private home owned by William H. Williams, the Yellow House was one of two notorious slave holding pens in Washington, DC. The two-story home housed slaves temporarily in the basement; traders removed them to the yard on auction day for the…