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National Mall

Thousands of people take part in a candlelight vigil on the National Mall in Washington D.C. September 12, 2001. (Photo: Reuters/Win McNamee/Newscom)

Candlelight Vigil on the Mall after 9/11

I remember this so vividly. I walked the length of the Mall, stood on the west front steps of the Capitol (which you can no longer do) and stared out onto a virtual sea of candles flickering on the Mall....

1903 Map of National Mall’s East End

Okay, it’s been a really long time since we posted anything. Life gets busy when you have Ghost Toddler and a new Ghost Baby. But, a few extra hours after an evening when they both went to bed at a...
Third in a series of four panoramic photographs of Washington, D.C., from left to right (west to east) taken from a tower in the Smithsonian Institution Building. The Mall area is covered with trees. The streets on the left perpendicular to the Mall are 12th Street and 11th Street. The long building on the right is Center Market bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue, Constitution Avenue, 7th and 9th Streets, N.W. Up and behind Center Market on the right, the large building is the Pension Bureau Building bounded by F and G Streets, N.W., between 4th and 5th Streets, designed by General Montgomery C. Meigs, completed in 1887, later occupied by many government agencies and now known as the National Building Museum

Why Does the National Mall Look the Way It Does?

What do you think? Is Washington the most beautiful city in the world? I have to believe that I’m biased, but I do think it is certainly one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Okay, there’s Paris, Vienna,...
proposed National Mall in early 1900s

What Was the Proposed National Mall in the Early 1900s?

Check out the drawing of a proposed National Mall, as viewed from the Capitol Building. This was in the early 1900s. Source: Library of Congress
view of Mall from Smithsonian

Beautiful Western View of Washington Monument From Smithsonian

What a beautiful view of the Mall from the Smithsonian. This was taken in the early 20th century. Source: Library of Congress
Proposed drawing for Independence Square, Washington Memorial and grounds from model. Drawing for Independence Square III

Proposed Second Mall East of Capitol

Check this out. It’s a proposed design for a second mall, east of the Capitol Building. Obviously, this was never built, but imagine how different things would be. The design below was done as part of the Beaux-Arts Institute of...
the Mall

1930s Aerial View West of the National Mall

Here’s a cool aerial shot of the National Mall from the Capitol and Library of Congress to the Potomac. Source: Cornell University Library
1936 view of the Mall

1936 View of the National Mall

What a great photo from 1936. This shows the National Mall as viewed from the Capitol. Source: Cornell University Library

Cool Satellite View of National Mall

Here’s a really cool, not often seen, view of the National Mall. This was taken by the IKONOS satellite on March 30th, 2001. Source: Archive.org
Plan of the west end of the public appropriation in the city of Washington, called the Mall : as proposed to be arranged for the site of the university / to the Committee of the H. of R. of Congress, BHLatrobe, Surveyor of the City of Washington, Jan'y 1816.

Never Built: Proposed University on the National Mall in 1816

So this obviously never happened, but it’s a fascinating proposal for the National Mall, done in 1816. Can you imagine a university sitting where the Lincoln Memorial does today? Source: Library of Congress
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