From 1791 to 2016, the National Mall evolved from plan to reality—and it is still evolving to this day. Following George Washington's selection of DC as the location for the nation's new capital, French engineer Pierre L'Enfant was commissioned to build the city. After his death in 1793, Congress hired another French architect, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, to finish what L'Enfant had started. When President James Monroe decided to move the federal government back to Washington, D.C., after its previous home, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1825, he ordered that the old federal city be demolished and that a new one be built on the mall. The current Smithsonian Institution buildings were also part of this project.
In addition to these structures, the National Museum of American History, National Gallery of Art, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial are all located on the National Mall.
The National Mall is a public park located in downtown Washington, D.C. It is an extensive green space occupying the valley between Capitol Hill and the Potomac River. The mall is almost always full of people, either walking or running. It features many monuments and museums that highlight key events in U.S. history as well as some of our greatest artists.
How an idea of a Frenchman become our capital city. Today's Washington, D.C. owes much of its distinctive design to Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a Frenchman who came to America to fight in the Revolutionary War and climbed from obscurity to become George Washington's trusted city architect. When Washington appointed L'Enfant to the task, he had no experience with architecture but he did have a plan for an orderly grid of streets lined with trees and labeled with numbers. The president-elect also knew nothing about architecture, but he did know how to hire talented people for important jobs and so L'Enfant hired assistants to help him carry out his plan.
After hearing about the plan from Washington and visiting the country home of one of his employees, L'Enfant began work on the project. He traveled around the country looking at other cities' plans and drawings and used their ideas to create a design that would be the most efficient use of space possible. He also took into account the natural features of the land, including the location near a large river that could be used for water management and transportation. After two years of hard work, L'Enfant presented his plan to Congress; it was accepted over competing proposals by President Washington himself. Work on the city began soon after with the leveling of farmland and removal of trees for open space until, in 1791, the federal government moved its operations inside the walled city limits.
Plan de Ville de L'Enfant According to legend, Mathew Carey's 1802 map was the first to refer to the region west of the United States Capitol as the "Mall." The name is taken from The Mall in London, which was a famous promenade near Buckingham Palace where the city's aristocracy walked throughout the 1700s. In 1791, when the area was developed into public parks and gardens, it became known as "The Mall" even though it was not open to the public until 1851.
L'Enfant planned the mall with avenues running north-south and cross streets running east-west. It included a town center with a federal courthouse, a market house, and other buildings that were to be demolished after L'Enfant's death in 1790.
In 1824, President James Monroe signed legislation authorizing the construction of a new federal capital on land donated by Virginia and Maryland. The new city was to be located twenty miles south of Washington, D.C., and its plans called for a mall similar to L'Enfant's but on a smaller scale. The federal government took over maintenance of the mall from 1829 to 1883 when it was transferred back to the control of individual states. By 1900, only about a quarter of the mall was still under development, with the rest built up with offices, museums, and monuments dedicated to the nation's history.
The Mall at Nationals Park is a major shopping center located in Washington, D.C. The mall is within walking distance of both the National Zoo and Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.
It opened on April 7, 2001 with 150 stores and restaurants, including such high-end names as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent.
The mall is owned by Washington Prime Group, who also own several other malls across the country. It is the second-largest mall in Washington, after Westfield Georgetown.
Its main competitor is the Smithsonian Museums' neighborhood of shops and restaurants called "Museum Row". Both malls feature high-end department stores plus other shops and restaurants.
Outside the entry gates are several monuments and museums, including the National Zoo, the National Museum of American History, and the International Spy Museum. A streetcar line runs between the two malls, connecting many of the area's attractions.
A free shuttle bus service is offered from the mall to the Smithsonian museums every 15 minutes during business hours.
The National Mall is a manicured park that is part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, which is an official unit of the United States National Park System. It is maintained by the National Park Service (NPS) of the United States Department of the Interior and is located near the downtown region of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. The mall runs along the Potomac River for approximately 2 miles from the Lincoln Memorial to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History at 12th Street.
It is a popular destination for tourists and locals and contains many monuments and museums. The mall is also host to many festivals such as the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
The National Mall was created when President Abraham Lincoln signed an act of Congress on May 30, 1816. The bill was introduced by Senator James Clark and referred to as "A Bill for the Public Good." The legislation took effect on October 1, 1816. At the time it was written, the bill intended to create "a place of public resort for exercise and amusement" near the newly constructed Capitol building.
Over the years, the purpose of the mall has changed several times. In 1847, it was used as a cemetery for veterans of the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. In 1870, after the passage of the Reservation of Land for Sites of National Value, what is now known as the World War II Memorial was established as part of the mall.