Built between 1836 and 1869, the Treasury Department building is the work of five major American architects—Robert Mills, Thomas U. Walter, Ammi B. Young, Isaiah Rogers, and Alfred B. Mullett. Conceived and built in the Greek Revival style that…

When the seat of the federal government moved to DC in 1800, no provision was made for housing for the Supreme Court—a problem that wouldn’t be permanently resolved for 135 years.Less than two weeks before the Court was to convene for the first time…

The State, War, and Navy Building was built just west of the White House between 1871 and 1888, based on designs by architect Alfred B. Mullett. Like the Greek Revival Treasury Building to the east in ground plan, the Second Empire version of French…

John Philip Sousa Junior High (now Middle) School, built in 1950, stands as a symbol of the lengthy conflict over the desegregation of public schools and the beginning of the modern civil rights movement. The school is nationally significant for its…

The site, which contains Lincoln Cottage (President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument), was built as a private country residence known as Corn Rigs between 1842 and 1843. Subsequently, the site has served as a retreat for at least four…

The Smithsonian Institution Building was designed by prominent New York architect James Renwick, Jr. and erected between 1847 and 1855 on the Mall. It was built to house the Smithsonian Institution, which had been chartered by Act of Congress in…

Built between 1876 and 1879, Saint Luke’s is a major work of Calvin T.S. Brent (1854-1899), the city’s first Black architect. It is designed in the early English Gothic style and features a long nave with cast-iron columns, exposed roof framing, oak…

Due to its close proximity to the White House, Saint John’s Church is known as the “Church of the Presidents”; accordingly, every President since James Madison has attended at least one service there. A prayer book in one of the pews contains the…

Established largely through the efforts of Dorothea Dix, the leading mental health reformer of the 19th century, Saint Elizabeths Hospital was chartered by Congress in 1852 as the Government Hospital for the Insane, with a mission of providing “the…

This three-story Victorian rowhouse, with its slate mansard roof, is designated as a National Historic Landmark in recognition of the service of Zalmon Richards (1811-1899), who devoted most of his life to furthering the development of public…