Uploads from wallyg, tagged districtofcolumbiainventoryofhistoricsites, with geodata

Washington DC: White House - North Portico

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 05:38:49 -0800

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The White House has served as the executive residence and principal workplace of every President of the United States of America since John Adams. At various times in its history, it has been called the "President's Palace," the "President's House," and the "Executive Mansion." President Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its current name in 1901--a reference to the 570 gallons of white paint covering its exterior. Originally built between 1792 and 1800, and expanded over the years, today the White Houses consists of three major parts: The East Wing; the West Wing, housing the offices of the President and senior staff, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, the Press Briefing Room, and the Roosevelt Room; and the Executive Residence.

Following the Act of Congress in December 1790 declaring current day Washington D.C. as the new seat of the federal government, President George Washington and city planner Pierre L'Enfant chose the site for a new presidential mansion--1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Irish-born architect James Hoban's design of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style was selected from a competition with eight other entries. Construction began on October 13, 1792, with Washington overseeing the laying of the cornerstone. Initial construction took place over a period of eight years, at a reported cost of $232,371.83, largely using slave and immigrant labor.

Second President of the United States John Adams became the first chief executive to take residence on November 1, 1800, while it was still unfinished. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson and architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe expanded the residence, creating the East and West Colonnades, concealing the domestic operations of laundry, a stable and storage. It was President Jefferson who first opened the house for tours, and it has has remained open to the public ever since.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by British troops, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior walls. Reconstruction began almost immediately and President James Monroe moved back in by October 1817. Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 and the North in 1829. In 1835, running water and central heating were installed. In 1848, gaslight was installed. Covered pavilions and then large greenhouses for growing flowers and vegetables were constructed on either side of the mansion. Victorian ornamentation and decor were added from the 1870s to the 1890s. Electric lights supplemented gaslights in 1891, and the first electric elevator was added in 1898.

In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt began extensive renovations. To address the overcrowding in the executive mansion, he also built a new one-story office structure, connected to the Residence Jefferson's west colannade and giving rise to the West Wing. Roosevelt also built an early-one-story East Wing as a formal guest entrance and removed the Victorian ornamentation and restored the mansion to the federal style with Georgian touches.

In 1909, William Howard Taft remodeled the interior of the West Wing, creating the Oval Office. In 1927, a new roof and third floor were added to Residence. A Christmas Eve electrical fire in 1929 significantly damaged the West Wing, which Herbert Hoover had the building remodeled without making significant changes. In 1934, Franklin Roosevelt added a second floor to the West Wing and moved the Oval Office to the southeast corner. He also added a swimming pool and gymnasium in the gallery (later replaced by Richard Nixon's bowling alley). The present East Wing was expanded in the 1940's, creating additional office space, balancing the enlarged West Wing, and covering the construction of the underground air-raid bunker known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center.

In 2007, the White House was ranked #2 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.

National Register #19600001

Washington DC: White House - North Portico

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 05:38:45 -0800

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Washington DC: Department of Treasury - North Wing

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 05:24:36 -0800

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The United States Department of the Treasury Building, at 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, is the third oldest building in Washington, dating from 1836. Robert Mills was commissioned to design the T-shaped Greek Revival building after the two previous structures had burned down.

The Department of Treasury, established by an Act of U.S. Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government, prints and mints all paper currency and coins in circulation through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint. Alexander Hamilton, of whom a statue stands on the south wing, was sworn in as the first Secretary of the Treasury on September 11, 1789.

The Department of Treasury moved into a porticoed Gregorian-style building, designed by George Hadfield in 1800 when the federal government moved from Philadelphia. The structure was destroyed by the British in 1814, but rebuilt by James Hobson. It was again burned, this time by arsonists in 1833, with only the fireproof wing left standing.

Three years later, on July 4, 1836, Congress authorized construction of a new East and Center Wings. The most architecturally impressive feature of the Mills design is the 341-foot long colonnade of thirty 36-foot tall columns carved out of a single block of granite. The material for the original Wing was Acquia Creek freestone, which was largely replaced with granite in 1908. The interior design of the east and center wings is classically austere, in keeping with the Greek Revival style.

In 1855, Congress granted authority to extend the building. Construction of what is now the South Wing was begun in July 1855 and completed and occupied in September 1861. Construction started on the west wing in 1855 and was completed and occupied in 1864. The preliminary design of the wings was provided by Thomas Ustick Walter, but construction began under the supervision of Ammi B. Young and from 1862 until 1867 by Isaiah Rogers. While the exterior of the building was executed along the lines of the original Mills wings, the interiors of the later wings reflect changes in both building technology and aesthetic tastes. Iron columns and beams reinforced the building's brick vaults, and the architectural detailing became much more ornate, following mid-nineteenth century fashion.

The final addition came in 1867 in the form of the North Wing, which displaced the Department of State Building. Designed by Alfred B. Mullett, the wing contains the Cash Room, opened in 1869 as the site of Ulysses S. Grant's Inaugural Ball. It is a two-story marble hall in which the daily financial business was transacted. The Attic story, now the Treasury Building's fifth floor, was added in 1910. A statue of Albert Gallatin, the 4th and longest serving Secretary, sits on the North Patio.

The stone used in the South Wing, the West Wing and the North Wing, was quarried on Dix Island, near Rockland, Maine, and transported in sailing vessels. The facades are adorned by monolithic columns of the Ionic order, each 36 feet tall and weighing 30 tons. Each column cost $5,000. There are 18 columns on the west side and 10 each on the north and south sides..

Lafayette Square Historic District, roughly bordered by 15th and 17th Sts. and H St. and State and Treasury Places, exclusive of the White House and its grounds, covers the seven-acre public park, Lafayette Square, and its surrounding structures including the Executive Office Building, Blair House, the Treasury Building, the Decatur House, and St. John's Episcopal Church.

Department of Treasury National Register #71001007 (1971)
Fifteenth Street Historic District National Register #84003900 (2006)
Lafayette Square Historic District National Register #70000833 (1970)

Washington DC: Department of Treasury - East Wing

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:30:14 -0700

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Washington DC: Department of Treasury - South Wing

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:23:39 -0700

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Washington DC: Department of Treasury - South Wing

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 13:45:21 -0700

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Washington DC: Department of Treasury - South Wing

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:40:20 -0700

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Washington DC - Georgetown: Riggs Bank

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:51:56 -0700

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The old Farmers and Mechanics Branch of Riggs Bank, at 1201 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, on the corner of M Street, was built in 1921-22. Located at the major commercial intersection of Georgetown, the gold-leafed dome and neoclassical design by Marsh and Peter have become familiar symbols of the Georgetown neighborhood. Today it is a PNC Bank branch.

Riggs National Bank is the oldest continuously operating bank in Washington, dating to 1836 when William Wilson Corcoran opened a note brokerage house. In 1840, he entered into a partnership with George Washington Riggs, Jr., son of a prominent New York banker, offering checking and depositing services Corcoran & Riggs Bank became an official depository of the U.S. treasury, began overseas transactions and helped finance Samuel Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1845, and the Mexican War in 1847. Corcoran retired in 1854 and the firm became Riggs & Company. George Riggs led the 1867 syndicate that raised $7.2 million in gold bullion for the Alaska Purchase. In the 1920s, Riggs National Bank introduced savings accounts, opened a trust department, and purchased two other local banks, creating a branch banking network. In 1930, the firm acquired the Famrers of and Mechanics Bank of Georgetown, a congressionally chartered bank established in February 1814, which helped finance the War of 1812. After several notable scandals dealing with the embassy business in the early 2000s, Riggs Bank was bought by PNC for $779 million on July 16, 2004.

Twenty-two U.S. Presidents or their families banked at Riggs, including John Tyler, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Accounts were also held by Senators Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, Confederate president Jefferson Davis, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, suffragist Susan B. Anthony, and generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Douglas MacArthur.

The Georgetown Historic District, roughly bounded by Reservoir Rd., NW, and Dumbarton Oaks Park on the north; Rock Creek Park on the east; the Potomac River on the south; and Glover-Archbold Parkway on the west, encompassses the area laid out as a prosperous port town in 1751 prior to the establishment of the Distrcict of Columbia, and later assimilated into the city of Washington in 1871. Today, the primary commercial corridors of Georgetown are M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, which contain high-end shops, bars, and restaurants. Georgetown is home to the main campus of Georgetown University, the Old Stone House, the oldest standing building in Washington, and the embassies of France, Mongolia, Sweden, Thailand, and Ukraine.

Georgetown Historic District National Register #67000025 (1967)

Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol - Apotheosis of Democracy

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:39:53 -0700

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The Apotheosis of Democracy, also known as The People of the United States, was commissioned in 1910 and carved in 1914-1916 by sculptor Paul wayland Bartlett for the pediment of the House of Representatives of the United Stats Capitol. In the center of the pediment is the allegorical figure of Peace dressed in armor protecting the winged figure of Genius who rests against her proper right leg. Genius carries the torch of immortality in his proper right hand. Behind Peace is an olive tree. Flanking Peace are figure groups representing Agriculture and Industry. Agriculture on her proper left is a reaper and his assistant; a farmer with his bull; a putti carrying grapes; a mother; and a child playing with a ram. Industry on her proper right is a printer; an ironworker; a founder; a factory girl; and fisherman. In the corners are waves representing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:30:47 -0700

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The United States Capitol, located on top of Capitol Hill at the east end of the National Mall, serves as the seat of government for the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. Designed by a succession of architects, the neoclassical building is marked by its dome above a rotunda and two wings, one for each chamber of Congress: the north wing is the Senate chamber and the south wing is the House of Representatives chamber. With but one brief interruption, the Capitol has housed the legislative chambers of the U.S. Congress since 1800, and housed the U.S. Supreme Court from 1800 until 1935. Presidential inaugurations are traditionally held here, the physical symbol of the United States of America.

When Pierre Charles L'Enfant planned the city, he chose Jenkins Hill, which rose 88 feet above the Potomac River, as the site for the new Capitol Building. The following year, a public design competition was held and amateur architect, William Thornton, inspired by the east front of the Louvre and the Roman Pantheon, was selected by Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Execution was entrusted to Étienne Sulpice (Stephen) Hallet, a runner up in the competition, under the supervision of James Hoban. The cornerstone was laid by Washington on September 18, 1793. In 1795, Jefferson, vocal in his preference for Thornton's classical design, dismissed Hallet and George Hadfield was hired as superintendent of construction, only to resign three years later. In 1803, Benjamin Latrobe replaced him as Architect of the Capitoland, against his protestations, saw Thornton's design to near fruition.

The Capitol held its first session of United States Congress on November 17, 1800 in a then unfinished building. The Senate wing was completed that year, and the House of Representative wing was completed in 1811. In August 1814, the Capitol was partially burned by the British during the War of 1812. Reconstruction began under Latrobe, who was given more latitude to make alterations, in 1815 completed by 1819. Under Charles Bulfinch, who took over as Architect of the Capitol in 1918, construction continued through to 1826, with the addition of the center Rotunda area and the first dome of the Capitol.

The building was expanded dramatically in the 1850's under Thomas U. Walter, who was responsible for the wing extensions and the new "wedding cake" cast-iron dome, three times the height of the original dome and 100 feet (30 m) in diameter, which had to be supported on the existing masonry piers. The double dome consists of a large oculus in the inner dome, through which is seen The Apotheosis of Washington painted on a shell suspended from the supporting ribs, which also support the visible exterior structure and the tholos that supports the Freedom, a colossal statue that was added to the top of the dome in 1863. The weight of the cast-iron for the dome has been published as 8,909,200 pounds.

When the dome was finally completed, it was significantly larger than the original plan, and its massive visual weight overpowered the proportions of the columns of the East Portico. The East Front was rebuilt in 1904, following a design of Carrère and Hastings. A marble duplicate of the sandstone East Front was built 33.5 feet from the old Front during 1958-1962, and a connecting extension incorporated what formerly was an outside wall as an inside wall. In the process, the Corinthian columns were removed, and landscape designer Russell Page created a suitable setting for them in a large meadow at the National Arboretum, where they are combined with a reflecting'>reflecting pool.

The current Capitol Grounds, cover approximately 274 acres, were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who planned the expansion and landscaping performed from 1874 to 1892. In 1875, as one of his first recommendations, Olmsted proposed the construction of the marble terraces on the north, west, and south sides of the building that exist today.

In 2007, the U.S. Capitol was ranked #6 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.

National Register #19600002

Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:31:21 -0700

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Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:31:18 -0700

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Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:31:25 -0700

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Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:01:01 -0700

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Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:01:18 -0700

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Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:00:45 -0700

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Washington DC: Department of Treasury - Albert Gallatin

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 05:24:43 -0800

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The standing portrait statue of Albert Gallatin, executed by sculptor James Earle Fraser and architect Henry Bacon, was completed in 1941 and dedicated in front of the north entrance to the Department of Treasury Building on October 15, 1947.

The memorial was authorized by Congress on January 11, 1927 and responsibility for the installation of the memorial was placed with the Albert Gallatin Memorial Fund Commission. By 1934 enough funds had been raised, but the memorial was delayed by the U.S. Fine Arts Commission's approval of a suitable model. By the time the model was ready to be cast, WWII had created a ban on the non-war use of bronze. Before installation in the north courtyard, a fountain had to be removed.

Albert Gallatin (1761-1849) arrived in Cape Ann, Massachusetts in 1780 from his native Switzerland and later settled in Pennsylvania where he was elected a member of the State Legislature. He went on to be elected to the U.S. Senate and later the House of Representatives where he served on the new Standing Committee of Finance. Gallatin's interest in the fiscal operation of the U.S. Government led President Jefferson to offer him the post of Secretary of the Treasury in 1801. Within six years, Gallatin was not only able to see that the U.S. debt of fourteen million dollars was paid off, but also that a surplus of funds was created. Gallatin was again offered the position of Secretary of the Treasury in 1916 by President Madison and in 1843 by President Tyler, but declined. He went on to negotiate the Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812, and serve as Minister both to France and to England before retiring from government service. He then moved to New York where he became the president of the National Bank of the City of New York. He later became a founder of New York University and the American Ethnological Society.

The United States Department of the Treasury Building, at 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, is the third oldest building in Washington, dating from 1836. Robert Mills was commissioned to design the T-shaped Greek Revival building after the two previous structures had burned down.

The Department of Treasury, established by an Act of U.S. Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government, prints and mints all paper currency and coins in circulation through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint. Alexander Hamilton, of whom a statue stands on the south wing, was sworn in as the first Secretary of the Treasury on September 11, 1789.

The Department of Treasury moved into a porticoed Gregorian-style building, designed by George Hadfield in 1800 when the federal government moved from Philadelphia. The structure was destroyed by the British in 1814, but rebuilt by James Hobson. It was again burned, this time by arsonists in 1833, with only the fireproof wing left standing.

Three years later, on July 4, 1836, Congress authorized construction of a new East and Center Wings. The most architecturally impressive feature of the Mills design is the 341-foot long colonnade of thirty 36-foot tall columns carved out of a single block of granite. The material for the original Wing was Acquia Creek freestone, which was largely replaced with granite in 1908. The interior design of the east and center wings is classically austere, in keeping with the Greek Revival style.

In 1855, Congress granted authority to extend the building. Construction of what is now the South Wing was begun in July 1855 and completed and occupied in September 1861. Construction started on the west wing in 1855 and was completed and occupied in 1864. The preliminary design of the wings was provided by Thomas Ustick Walter, but construction began under the supervision of Ammi B. Young and from 1862 until 1867 by Isaiah Rogers. While the exterior of the building was executed along the lines of the original Mills wings, the interiors of the later wings reflect changes in both building technology and aesthetic tastes. Iron columns and beams reinforced the building's brick vaults, and the architectural detailing became much more ornate, following mid-nineteenth century fashion.

The final addition came in 1867 in the form of the North Wing, which displaced the Department of State Building. Designed by Alfred B. Mullett, the wing contains the Cash Room, opened in 1869 as the site of Ulysses S. Grant's Inaugural Ball. It is a two-story marble hall in which the daily financial business was transacted. The Attic story, now the Treasury Building's fifth floor, was added in 1910. A statue of Albert Gallatin, the 4th and longest serving Secretary, sits on the North Patio.

Lafayette Square Historic District, roughly bordered by 15th and 17th Sts. and H St. and State and Treasury Places, exclusive of the White House and its grounds, covers the seven-acre public park, Lafayette Square, and its surrounding structures including the Executive Office Building, Blair House, the Treasury Building, the Decatur House, and St. John's Episcopal Church.

Department of Treasury National Register #71001007 (1971)
Fifteenth Street Historic District National Register #84003900 (2006)
Lafayette Square Historic District National Register #70000833 (1970)

Washington DC: Washington Monument at night from POV Roof Terrace

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 13:45:07 -0700

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View from the POV Roof Terrace in the W Hotel.

The Washington Monument, a large white-colored obelisk at the west end of the National Mall, is constructed of marble, granite and sandstone and was built as a memorial for George Washington. Designed by Robert Mills, construction began in 1848, but not completed until 1884, 30 years after Mill's death, resulting from lack of funding and the Civil War. A difference in shading (visible at 150 feet) delineates the two phases of construction. Its cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848; the capstone was set on December 6, 1884, and the completed monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885. It officially opened to the public on October 9, 1888. At the time of its completion it became the world's tallest structure at 555 ft 51/8 in, a title it inherited from the Cologne Cathedral and held until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was finished in Paris. It is still the tallest structure in DC and due to a 1910 law restricting new building's height from being no more than 20 feet greater than the width of the street they're on, probably always will be.

Despite momentum for an appropriate memorial in the new capital following Washington's death, progress was finally made in 1833--the centennial of his birth. The Washington Monument Society began collecting donations and announced a design competition in 1836. Mills, who had designed the Washington Monument in Baltimore, was selected with a design that called for a 600-foot obelisk, topped by Washington in a chariot, and surrounded with a circular colonnade, but an exorbitant price tag of $1M.

In 1849, after 4 years of non construction, to combat escalating costs after 4 years the Society encouraged states and territories to donate memorial stones, which came pouring in from all sorts of organizations, businesses and foreign nations, often bearing inscriptions with no relevance to Washington. After the anti-Catholic, nativist Know-Nothing's stole a block donated by Pope Pius IX and took control of the Society in an election many claimed to be fraudulent, Congress rescinded the $200k contribution they had promised. The Know-Nothing's eventually ceded control in 1858.

It wasn't until after the Civil War, in 1876, that the Congress appropriated another $200k to complete the monument. After renewed conversation around design, the Society abandoned Mills' colonnade and altered the obelisk to conform to Egyptian proportions. Construction resumed in 1879 under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey and was completed within 4 years.

In 2007, The Washington Monument was ranked #12 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.

Washington DC: Washington Monument at night from POV Roof Terrace

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 13:45:14 -0700

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Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol - Apotheosis of Democracy

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:39:44 -0700

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