Completed in 1855, the Castle is our signature building and home to the Smithsonian Visitor Center. As such, it makes a great starting point for your journey—here you can get a grasp of the scope and scale of the Smithsonian, see collections highlights from each of our museums, tour the Castle’s 19th-century architecture, see what’s going on today at all the museums, and consult with our in-house experts about what to see and do.
The Smithsonian offers eleven museums and galleries on the National Mall plus six other museums and the National Zoo in the greater National Capital Area. (
visit link)
In the District of Columbia the Smithsonian has;
African American History and Culture Museum
Air and Space Museum
Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
American Art Museum
American History Museum
American Indian Museum
Anacostia Community Museum
Arts and Industries Building
Freer Gallery of Art
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
National Zoo
Natural History Museum
Portrait Gallery
Postal Museum
Renwick Gallery
Sackler Gallery
All of these museums, galleries and locations are free to visit.
James Smithson (c. 1765–June 27, 1829), scientist and philanthropist, was born James Louis Macie in Paris, where his mother gave birth to him in secret. His father, Hugh Smithson, was the first Duke of Northumberland and one of the great patrons of the 18th century.
Smithson died in 1829, at approximately 64 years old, while living in Genoa, Italy. Smithson added a peculiar last clause to his will, stipulating that if his nephew died without heirs, legitimate or illegitimate, his estate was to go to the United States “to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”
Six years later, June 5, 1835, Hungerford, Smithson's nephew, died of unknown causes in Pisa, Italy, leaving no heirs and the United States inherited $500,000 [equivalent in purchasing power to about $14.7 million in 2020].
Information from Smithsonian Institution