THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT
The Washington Monument was built from 1848-1884, in the matter of two phases, started by Robert Mills and later finished by Thomas Casey. This monument stands at a height of 555 feet and 5-⅛ inches. This monument was constructed on behalf of the nations first president George Washington. The Washington Monument stands in the middle of the national mall right in front of the U.S Capital and it’s one of the most famous attractions that tourists from all over come to see. This monument is not only important to just D.C. but the American culture as well because Washington was not only the president but the commanding general who helped fight in the American Revolution.
THE U.S. CAPITOL BUILDING
The U.S. Capitol, built in 1793 and located in Capitol Hill near the National Mall in D.C., is home to the United States Congress as well as the seat of the U.S. Government’s legislative branch. The statue on top of the building, perhaps the most memorable of any government building, is called the Statue of Freedom. It has housed meetings for the House of Representatives and the Senate for more than two centuries. Today, it stands as a symbol of the American people and the American government.
THE JEFFERSON MEMORIAL
The Jefferson Memorial was built between 1939 and 1943 in order to honor the former U.S. President and Founding Father Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. Franklin D. Roosevelt sponsored the building of the memorial. Architect John Russell Pope is the one responsible for the memorial’s current design. His goal was to acknowledge Jefferson’s achievement as a politician, architect, President, Founding Father and founder of the University of Virginia
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
The Library of Congress, founded on April 24 in 1800, is the official library for the U.S. Congress and is the national library of the United States. It is open to the public for use of over ten terabytes of print collections. During the war of 1812, the British burned the Capitol building, which is where the previous library for Congress was held, destroying the library’s core collection of over 3,000 volumes. It holds book collections in more than 470 different languages, and materials from African, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, Asian, Iberian, European and Latin American cultures
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
The Lincoln Memorial, opened on May 30, 1922, started construction in April 1917, and was built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located toward the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., right across from the Washington Monument. Daniel Chester French designed the statue, a family of marble carvers named the Piccirilli Brothers produced the statue and the monument building was created by architect Henry Bacon.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. MEMORIAL
The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial is located in West Potomac Park by the national mall facing outward towards the waterfront. This statue is one of the more recent statues to be completed as it was finished in 2011. This statue also holds the stone of hope. Martin Luther King Jr was a civil rights movement leader who wanted to fight for equality amongst the races, but in a non-violent manner. On August 18, 1963 MLK delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington, DC describing his want for equality for both races. This statue represents freedom and equality amongst the people showing that anyone who has a dream can achieve it and in D.C everyone is equal.
VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL
The Vietnam Veteran Memorial is a memorial to commemorate the fallen soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War by having the names of these soldiers on a wall. This memorial has over 58,000 names on it for those fallen soldiers who fought in the war. The Vietnam War lasted for 19 years, 5 months, 4 weeks, and 1 day ending on the date of April 30th, 1975. It stands today in Washington, DC on the national mall where tourists come and visit the names of the many fallen soldiers. The Vietnam Memorial is important to D.C. because there were many soldiers who fought in that war who were from America and D.C. is the nation's capital so in honor of these fallen soldiers here this memorial was made to represent them.
THE NATIONAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM
The African American Museum is located in Washington, DC on the National Mall. The idea of a museum dedicated to the culture of African Americans was placed into thought in 2003, but however not constructed and later finished until 2016. The African American Museum was built by David Adjaye, Phil Freelon, and J. Max Bond Jr. The idea of the African American Museum was to show the African American culture and how it has changed overtime from slavery, segregation, to now having equality amonsgt the different races. It’s importance to defining what D.C. is, is to show that African Americans are people too who just like any other race can do just as much as any other race.
WARNER THEATRE
The Warner Theatre is located in Washington, DC by metro center train station on the red line. Here at this theatre all different types of plays are performed for the entertainment of people. Built in the 1920s the Warner Theatre was built first for silent movies downtown which sparked the city with tourists from all over. This theatre was one of the first theatres to play black and white movies in the city. It’s important to DC because it attracted tourists which got the cities name around and population increase.
MARION BARRY STATUE
Marion Barry was the second mayor of D.C and also a American politician. Marion Barry also helped with the creation of the Marion Barry Youth Summer Employment Program (SYEP) here in Washington, DC to help young teens follow the career choice they would like to partake in. The Marion Statue is a rarely new statue in the city, only have being built in 2018. Marion Barry was known as the mayor for life in Washington, DC.
THE OLD PATENT OFFICE BUILDING
Designed by architect Robert Mills and constructed in 1836, the Old Patent Office building was used by inventors to patent their inventions. In 1965, the building was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Government.
HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Howard University was founded on March 2nd, 1867 by black preachers as a training facility. It was named after white Civil War General Oliver O. Howard, commissioner of the Freedman’s Bureau. Today, Howard ranks as the top producer of African-American under-grads who earn STEM degrees.
BEN’S CHILI BOWL (U STREET)
The first Ben’s Chili Bowl restaurant was founded on U Street by Virginia Ali and her husband Ben in 1958. The building was Washington D.C.’s first silent move house, established in 1911. The restaurant served firemen and police officers who assisted with the reconstruction of U Street after riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Later, the restaurant would serve as a hangout spot for many blacks in the area and is a national landmark today.
SMITHSONIAN CHURCH
The Smithsonian Church was found on August 10, 1846 and is a mixture of museums and research centers combined together. It is located in Washington, DC on the national mall. The church is named after James Smithsonian who was an english chemist and mineralogist. This museum is termed, “the nation’s attic” because of its 154 million items. Inside the church it contains 19 museums, 21 libraries, 9 research centers, and zoo including architectural landmarks. This church brings a lot of tourists attractions to Washington, DC
HARRY THOMAS RECREATION CENTER (LANDMARK)
The Harry Thomas Recreation Center is a local recreation where kids can learn to swim, play tennis, basketball, etc. It’s located right next to McKinley Technology High School where teens can have a place to gain community service hours and have a place to meet all types of people. This recreation was rebuilt in 2013. Harry Thomas was a democratic politician who was selected to represent Ward 5 on the Council of the District of Columbia, This center was built and named in honor of Harry Thomas who was a leader in the Ward 5 area.