What a fascinating old drawing from 1846. This is the proposed design for the Smithsonian Castle, Proposed design for Smithsonian Institution Building by John Notman, north front elevation. It is a Gothic design...
What an awesome photo from the Civil War era. You're looking up what is Independence Ave. today. View of the Smithsonian Institution Building looking east up B Street (Independence Ave) towards the U.S....
What a beautiful view of the Mall from the Smithsonian. This was taken in the early 20th century. Source: Library of Congress...
Now this is a really super old photo of Washington from around 1857. Click on it for a much larger version to study it. I believe this is a view looking southeast, and the Washington Monument...
This is a beautiful painting done by Jex Garnet Garnet Jex in 1936. Source: Smithsonian...
Faces & Places of Yesterday / 21.05.2013
Smithsonian Institution Building from Pennsylvania Avenue in 1874
We are loving the Smithsonian Archives! This is a great one from 1874. Looking south from the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 11th Street, the silhouette of the Smithsonian Institution Building is seen in...
Notable People & Places / 20.05.2013
Temporary Wartime Buildings on the Mall as Viewed from the Washington Monument
This is a view from the top of the Washington Monument, sometime late in 1940s. You'll see old temporary buildings occupying the current site of the Museum of American History. Aerial view from...
This is an old photograph we dug up on the Smithsonian's Flickr feed. It shows a crowd of people near the entrance to the Arts and Industries Building, around 1905. At the turn...
Thank you Shorpy for an amazing photograph. This appears to be a photo we haven't yet seen. ...
Faces & Places of Yesterday / 14.12.2012
1863 View Down Maryland Ave.
Wow, check out this amazing view. We dug up this gem on the Library of Congress site. The full caption is below. West-southwest view with Maryland Ave. SW and B Street SW (i.e., Independence Ave. SW) to...
From the Crazy Vault, Guest Posts / 28.08.2012
Capitalsaurus: Official Dinosaur of the District (Seriously)
Workers were digging a sewer trench beneath a Capitol Hill street in 1898. They came upon a...
Daniel H. Riggs, Howard University Medicine, in the South Yard of the Smithsonian Institution Building, stands next to his carriage. Picture shows the East Wing after Adolph Cluss' 1884 renovation. Against the...
We are a great nation and Americans in the 1880s were proud of their rapidly growing and dominant country. But how can you truly be a great nation without a national zoo to show off all...
Notable People & Places / 23.03.2012
The Smithsonian’s English Birth
Some of you may not be aware of this, but an Englishman, who had never set foot in America, provided the financial backing for the nation’s greatest museum: The Smithsonian Institution.
James Smithson was a wealthy man from across the Atlantic and on June 27th, 1829, he died while visiting Genoa, Italy. He was a man of science, being a mineralogist and chemist, and a great admirer of the young country in North America.
Thus, began the auspicious and completely unplanned birth of the Smithsonian Institution.
Below are excerpts from his living will, disposing of his estate.