The National Mall’s two-mile span, from the steps of the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, is Washington D.C.’s resounding response to the “grand avenues” of the European cities: a central public space -- glorious, expansive, and landscaped -- punctuated by cultural and government buildings of impressive design and presence.
Initially imagined by city architect Pierre l’Enfant, the area of the National Mall was, however, used for more utilitarian needs throughout the 19th Century, including for military purposes during the Civil War, as well as housing a railroad depot, with tracks crossing north and south across part of the expanse.
In 1902, the concept of the grand avenue was brought back, with a renovation of the Mall to include a 300-ft. wide lawn running the entire two-mile length, bordered by flowers and rows of elm trees, with public buildings to encircle it, and with the removal of the railroad station.
The Mall’s centerpiece is the majestic Washington Monument located opposite the White House on the west side of the Mall, while the Capitol Building anchors its east end and the Lincoln Memorial its west. Ringing the Mall are the many museums of the Smithsonian Institution:
- Freer Gallery of Art - 1000 Jefferson Dr SW
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden - Independence Avenue at Seventh Street SW
- Museum of Natural History - 10th Street and Constutution Avenue NW
- National Air and Space Museum - 200 6th St SW
- National Museum of African Art - 950 Independence Avenue SW
- National Museum of American History - Constitution Ave. between 12th and 14th
- National Museum of the American Indian - 4th St and Independence Ave SW
The Victorian style Smithsonian Institution Building, called the Castle, is the oldest structure on the National Mall (built in 1855) and serves as the information center to the Smithsonian’s Mall museums. The Mall also includes the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial and the United States Botanic Garden. A new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is currently in the planning stages and will be built on a four-acre plot on the northeast corner of the Tidal Basin.
The Mall is the frequent home to festivals and concerts, as well as daily-life activities such as picnics, jogging, and playing frisbee.
- Shelley Hoose
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