Originally designed by Charles Bulfinch, who succeeded Benjamin Henry Latrobe as the Architect of the Capitol, as part of the grounds for the restored Capitol, these gateposts and gatehouses have since been moved from their original locations. Until…

The District of Columbia War Memorial was constructed in 1931, following a five-year-long campaign by the DC community to raise money for a memorial that would honor the 26,000 residents who served (and the 499 who died) in World War I. It was…

John Paul Jones was a British merchant marine turned fugitive who took refuge in Virginia in 1773. At the outset of the Revolutionary War, he entered the Continental Navy as a lieutenant. Swiftly promoted to captain, Jones was given command of his…

The parks were a primary feature of the McMillan Commission Plan, the nation’s preeminent manifestation of the City Beautiful ideal of grand civic space. They are the cumulative product of a century of work by noted American architects. They are…

The Cuban Friendship Urn was created as a memorial to the U.S. sailors who perished aboard the U.S.S. Maine in 1898, when the ship sank in Havana Harbor during the Cuban War of Independence. The sinking of the Maine is widely regarded as the event…