United States Botanic Garden Now encompassing several buildings and several dozen acres, the US Botanic Garden began with an original plot of 5 acres set aside by President James Monroe. The original location of the garden buildings was on 3rd Street in line with <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">Capitol dome</a>, roughly where the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/25">Capitol Reflecting Pool</a> is today. The Garden <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/383">expanded several times</a>, especially in the 1860s, to accommodate the first greenhouses <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/384">built on the site</a>. In 1933, the Garden was <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/387">moved to its present site</a>. The Garden holds over 100,000 plant specimens, many of them rare. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cph/item/94505276/">View original</a>. 1820 (First instance) 1842 (Expedition) 1850 (Open to public) 1930 (Moved) <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1800-1829">1800-1829</a> <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1860-1889">1860-1889</a> <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1920-1949">1920-1949</a>