President's Park is made up of the White House, the Ellipse, and Lafayette Square, and has existed for more than 200 years. Originally, President's Park was only the grounds immediately surrounding the White House, but over time it grew to include…

One of America's premier scientists, and the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Joseph Henry (1797-1878), is memorialized in this statue just outside the Smithsonian Castle.  John Phillips Sousa wrote an original musical piece, Transit…

A large sculpture depicting a frontier father defending his family from an attacking American Indian, "The Rescue" has been a source of controversy since its installation in 1850. Sculptor Horatio Greenough stated that he was trying to show the…

Horatio Greenough's "Enthroned Washington" is one of the more controversial sculptures located on the Mall. Congress commissioned the statue in honor of Washington's 100th Birthday and was installed in the Capitol Rotunda in 1841. Many legislators…

George Mason (1725-1792), author of Virginia's Declaration of Rights, was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He refused to sign the Constitution because of the absence of a Bill of Rights and a disagreement over the issue of standing…

The Constitution Gardens were dedicated in May 1976 as part of the United States Bicentennial and were declared a living legacy to the US Constitution by President Ronald Reagan in September 1986. During World War I, the US government built temporary…

Architect of the Capitol, Charles Bulfinch, designed the gatehouses and matching gateposts in the 1820s. They originally flanked a grand pedestrian entrance on the west side of the Capitol. They were removed in 1874 and placed in their present…

This monument to President James Garfield (1831-1881) depicts him giving a speech, gazing outward with papers in one hand. Garfield was elected in 1880, but he served only four months of his term before his assassination in a railroad station on the…

The Peace Monument, also known as the Naval Monument and the Civil War Sailors Monument, honors naval deaths at sea during the American Civil War. Admiral David Dixon Porter conceived the idea of the monument and sketched an initial design in the…

This urn memorializing horticulturist Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852) was installed on the Mall in 1856 near the present location of the National Museum of American History. The urn was moved several times before it arrived in the Enid A. Haupt…