Washington DC National Mall

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Location: Constitution and Pennsylvania Ave., NW on the north, First St. on the east, Independence and Maryland Ave. on the south, and 14th St. on the west, Washington, DC

Washington DC National Mall's origins are as old as the capital city itself. The open space and parklands envisioned by Pierre L'Enfant's plan, which was commissioned by George Washington, created an ideal stage for national expressions of remembrance, observance and protest. The National Mall resources include the 2,000 American elms which line the Mall and the 3,000 internationally renowned Japanese cherry trees which grace the Tidal Basin.

Gardens that are botanical showplaces display thousands of tulips, pansies and annuals in over 170 flower beds, and 35 ornamental pools and fountains range from the simple to the sublime. This impressive mingling of natural and cultural resources has made our Nation's Capital one of the most heavily visited and photographed places in the world.

The Mall is significant as the central axis of the District's monumental core as designed by L'Enfant in 1791. There are several museums on the Mall, two entrances for underground museums, and the Department of Agriculture. The construction of the Museum of the American Indian, which is located to the west of the National and Air and Space Museum, has been completed and this latest museum opened.

The Joseph Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden was designed in 1974 by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The Smithsonian or "Castle" Building is the earliest building on the Mall and was designed by James Renwick and built in 1847-55 with alterations by Adolph Cluss after a fire in 1865. The Quadrangle Museums Project was designed in 1987 by Shapely, Bullfinch, Richardson and Abbot. It houses the Sackler Gallery of Asian Art, and the National Museum of African Art, and another smaller kiosk-like building which provides the entrance for the S. Dillon Ripley Center.

The Freer Gallery of Art was designed in 1923 by Charles A. Platt. The National Museum of American History was designed in 1964 by Steinman, Cain and White. The National Museum of Natural History was designed in 1911 by Hornblower and Marshall. The National Gallery of Art (West Building) was designed by John Russell Pope in 1941. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum designed in 1993 by Pei Cobb Freed and Partners is the American government's memorial to the Holocaust.