Smithsonian Building - Washington, D.C.
N 38° 53.340 W 077° 01.563
18S E 324279 N 4306409
The Smithsonian Building, often referred to as the Smithsonian Castle or The Castle, is a landmark building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Waymark Code: WMKA29
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 03/07/2014
Views: 19
This building, the oldest of the Smithsonian Museum group, is the administrative headquarters for the Smithsonian Institution and for several of the Bureaus managed by the Institution. Though neither its towering superstructure, with arcaded porte-cochere and flag tower, nor the reddish-brown sandstone of which it is built, may be said to harmonize with the line of Federal buildings along Constitution Avenue, the Smithsonian Building is likely to be preserved because of its significance to architectural history.
The structure was designed by James Renwick, American architect, in 1852, at the beginning of the period when classicism was abandoned in favor of the romanticism of Gothic and Romanesque ecclesiastical architecture. It stands as one of the earliest works in this country executed in the manner of the Gothic revival. ---Washington City and Capital 1937
Today, the Smithsonian Castle still houses the Smithsonian Institution's administrative offices, as well as its information center. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965. Just inside the north entrance to the building is a crypt that houses the tomb of James Smithson, the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution.