Portal:Washington, D.C.

The Washington, D.C. portal

Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia and commonly known as simply Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River across from Virginia and shares land borders with Maryland to its north and east. It was named after George Washington, a Founding Father and the first president of the United States. The district is named for Columbia, the female personification of the nation.

The U.S. Constitution in 1789 called for the creation of a federal district under exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. As such, Washington, D.C., is not part of any state, and is not one itself. The Residence Act, adopted on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of the capital district along the Potomac River, and is considered the city's founding date. In 1800, when the capital was moved from Philadelphia, the 6th Congress started meeting in the then-unfinished Capitol Building, and the second president, John Adams, moved into the newly finished White House. In 1801, the District of Columbia, formerly part of Maryland and Virginia and including the existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria, was officially made the federal district; initially, the city was a separate settlement within the larger district. In 1846, Congress reduced the size of the district when it returned the land Virginia had ceded, including the city of Alexandria. In 1871, it made the entire district into a single municipality. There have been several failed efforts to further reduce the district and admit the rest as a state since the 1880s, including a statehood bill that passed the House of Representatives in 2021 but was not adopted by the U.S. Senate.

Washington, D.C., anchors the southern end of the Northeast megalopolis. As the seat of the U.S. federal government, the city is an important world political capital. The city hosts buildings that house federal government headquarters, including the White House, U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court Building, and multiple federal departments and agencies. The city is home to many national monuments and museums, located most prominently on or around the National Mall, including the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Washington Monument. It hosts 177 foreign embassies and the global headquarters of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, and other international organizations. Home to many of the nation's largest industry associations, non-profit organizations, and think tanks, the city is known as a lobbying hub, which is centered on and around K Street. It is also among the country's top tourist destinations; in 2022, it had an estimated 20.7 million domestic and 1.2 million international visitors, the seventh-most among U.S. cities. (Full article...)

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Barack Obama takes the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States.

The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The 56th inauguration, which set a record attendance for any event held in the city, marked the commencement of the first term of Barack Obama as president and Joe Biden as vice president. Based on combined attendance numbers, television viewership, and Internet traffic, it was the most viewed inauguration since that of Ronald Reagan in 1981. (Full article...)
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Samuel A. Mulledy (/mʌˈleɪdi/ muh-LAY-dee; March 27, 1811 – January 8, 1866) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who served as president of Georgetown College in 1845. Born in Virginia, he was the brother of Thomas F. Mulledy, who was a prominent 19th-century Jesuit in the United States and a president of Georgetown. As a student at Georgetown, Samuel was one of the founding members of the Philodemic Society, and proved to be a distinguished student, which resulted in his being sent to Rome to complete his higher education and be ordained to the priesthood. Upon his return to the United States, he became the master of novices at the Jesuit novitiate in Maryland, before being named president of Georgetown. He sought to be relieved of the position after only a few months, and returned to teaching and ministry. (Full article...)
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David Hillhouse Buel in 1908

David Hillhouse Buel Jr. (July 19, 1862 – May 23, 1923) was an American priest who served as the president of Georgetown University. A Catholic priest and Jesuit for much of his life, he later left the Jesuit order to marry, and subsequently left the Catholic Church to become an Episcopal priest. Born at Watervliet, New York, he was the son of David Hillhouse Buel, a distinguished Union Army officer, and descended from numerous prominent New England families. While studying at Yale University, he formed an acquaintance with priest Michael J. McGivney, resulting in his conversion to Catholicism and joining the Society of Jesus after graduation. (Full article...)
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Charles Henry Stonestreet (November 21, 1813 – July 3, 1885) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who served in prominent religious and academic positions, including as provincial superior of the Jesuit Maryland Province and president of Georgetown University. He was born in Maryland and attended Georgetown University, where he co-founded the Philodemic Society. After entering the Society of Jesus and becoming a professor at Georgetown, he led St. John's Literary Institution and St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland. He was appointed president of Georgetown University in 1851, holding the office for two years, during which time he oversaw expansion of the university's library. The First Plenary Council of Baltimore was held at Georgetown during his tenure. (Full article...)
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William Feiner (born Wilhelm Feiner; December 27, 1792 – June 9, 1829) was a German Catholic priest and Jesuit who became a missionary to the United States and eventually the president of Georgetown College, now known as Georgetown University. (Full article...)
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William McSherry (July 19, 1799 – December 18, 1839) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of Georgetown College and a Jesuit provincial superior. The son of Irish immigrants, McSherry was educated at Georgetown College, where he entered the Society of Jesus. As one of the first Americans to complete the traditional Jesuit course of training, he was sent to Rome to be educated for the priesthood. There, he made several discoveries of significant, forgotten holdings in the Jesuit archives, which improved historians' knowledge of the early European settling of Maryland and of the language of Indian tribes there. (Full article...)
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Coveleski with the Washington Senators in 1925

Stanley Anthony Coveleski (born Stanislaus Kowalewski, July 13, 1889 – March 20, 1984) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for four American League (AL) teams between 1912 and 1928, primarily the Cleveland Indians. The star of the Indians pitching staff, he won over 20 games each year from the war-shortened 1918 season through 1921, leading the AL in shutouts twice and in strikeouts and earned run average (ERA) once each during his nine years with the club. The star of the 1920 World Series, he led the Indians to their first title with three complete-game victories, including a 3–0 shutout in the Game 7 finale. Traded to the Washington Senators after the 1924 season, he helped that club to its second AL pennant in a row with 20 victories against only 5 losses, including a 13-game winning streak, while again leading the league in ERA. (Full article...)
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Enoch Fenwick (May 15, 1780 – November 25, 1827) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who ministered throughout Maryland and became the twelfth president of Georgetown College. Descending from one of the original Catholic settlers of the Province of Maryland, he studied at Georgetown College in what is now Washington, D.C. Like his brother and future bishop, Benedict Joseph Fenwick, he entered the priesthood, studying at St. Mary's Seminary before entering the Society of Jesus, which was suppressed at the time. He was made rector of St. Peter's Pro-Cathedral in Baltimore by Archbishop John Carroll, and remained in the position for ten years. Near the end of his pastorate, he was also made vicar general of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which involved traveling to say Mass in remote parishes throughout rural Maryland. (Full article...)
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John William Beschter (born Johann Wilhelm Beschter; German: [ˈjoːhan ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈbɛʃtɐ]; May 20, 1763 – January 6, 1842) was a Catholic priest and Jesuit from the Duchy of Luxembourg in the Austrian Netherlands. He emigrated to the United States as a missionary in 1807, where he ministered in rural Pennsylvania and Maryland. Beschter was the last Jesuit pastor of St. Mary's Church in Lancaster, as well as the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He was also a priest at several other German-speaking churches in Pennsylvania. (Full article...)
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Isabel making landfall in North Carolina on September 18

In Maryland and Washington, D.C., the effects of Hurricane Isabel were among the most damaging from a tropical cyclone in the respective metropolitan area. Hurricane Isabel formed from a tropical wave on September 6, 2003, in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved northwestward, and within an environment of light wind shear and warm waters, it steadily strengthened to reach peak winds of 165 miles per hour (266 km/h) on September 11. After fluctuating in intensity for four days, Isabel gradually weakened and made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of 105 miles per hour (169 km/h) on September 18. It quickly weakened over land and became extratropical over western Pennsylvania the next day. (Full article...)
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William Matthews (December 16, 1770 – April 30, 1854), occasionally spelled Mathews, was an American who became the fifth Roman Catholic priest ordained in the United States and the first such person born in British America. Born in the colonial Province of Maryland, he was briefly a novice in the Society of Jesus. After being ordained, he became influential in establishing Catholic parochial and educational institutions in Washington, D.C. He was the second pastor of St. Patrick's Church, serving for most of his life. He served as the sixth president of Georgetown College, later known as Georgetown University. Matthews acted as president of the Washington Catholic Seminary, which became Gonzaga College High School, and oversaw the continuity of the school during suppression by the church and financial insecurity. (Full article...)
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Graham in 1959

Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. Graham is regarded by critics as one of the most dominant players of his era and one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, having taken the Browns to league championship games every year between 1946 and 1955, making ten championship appearances, and winning seven of them. With Graham at quarterback, the Browns posted a record of 105 wins, 17 losses, and 4 ties, including a 9–3 win–loss record in the AAFC and NFL playoffs. He was named Most Valuable Player seven times in his career. He holds the NFL record for career average yards gained per pass attempt, with 8.63. He also holds the record for the highest career winning percentage for an NFL starting quarterback, at 81.0%. Long-time New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, a friend of Graham's, once called him "as great of a quarterback as there ever was." (Full article...)
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On June 19, 1838, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus agreed to sell 272 slaves to two Louisiana planters, Henry Johnson and Jesse Batey, for $115,000 (equivalent to approximately $3.34 million in 2024). This sale was the culmination of a contentious and long-running debate among the Maryland Jesuits over whether to keep, sell, or free their slaves, and whether to focus on their rural estates or on their growing urban missions, including their schools. (Full article...)
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Doonan in 1890

James Aloysius Doonan (November 8, 1841 – April 12, 1911) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit, who was the president of Georgetown University from 1882 to 1888. During that time he oversaw the naming of Gaston Hall and the construction of a new building for the School of Medicine. Doonan also acquired two historic cannons that were placed in front of Healy Hall. His presidency was financially successful, with a reduction in the university's burdensome debt that had accrued during the construction of Healy Hall. (Full article...)
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Giovanni Antonio Grassi (anglicized as John Anthony Grassi; 10 September 1775 – 12 December 1849) was an Italian Catholic priest and Jesuit who led many academic and religious institutions in Europe and the United States, including Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., and the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide in Rome. (Full article...)
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Garfield c. 1881

James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 1881 until his death in September that year after being shot in July. A preacher, lawyer, and Civil War general, Garfield served nine terms in the United States House of Representatives and is the only sitting member of the House to be elected president. Before running for the presidency, he had been elected to the U.S. Senate by the Ohio General Assembly—a position he declined when he became president-elect. (Full article...)
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Francis Ignatius Neale (June 3, 1756 – December 20, 1837), also known as Francis Xavier Neale, was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who led several academic and religious institutions in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. He played a substantial role in the Jesuit order's resurgence in the United States. (Full article...)
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Portrait, c. 1849

James Knox Polk (/poʊk/; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and American expansionism. Polk saw Texas join the Union in his first year in office, one of the precipitating causes that soon led the U.S. into the Mexican–American War. The settlement of that war expanded American territory to the Pacific Ocean. During his term, the dispute over the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom was also resolved, creating the present U.S.-Canadian boundary. (Full article...)
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Whitney in 1906

John Dunning Whitney (July 19, 1850 – November 27, 1917) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of Georgetown University in 1898. Born in Massachusetts, he joined the United States Navy at the age of 16, where he was introduced to Catholicism by way of a book that accidentally came into his possession and prompted him to become a Catholic. He entered the Society of Jesus and spent the next twenty-five years studying and teaching mathematics at Jesuit institutions around the world, including in Canada, England, Ireland, and around the United States in New York, Maryland, Boston, and Louisiana. He became the vice president of Spring Hill College in Alabama before being appointed the president of Georgetown University. (Full article...)
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On April 29, 2006, American comedian Stephen Colbert appeared as the featured entertainer at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, which was held in Washington, D.C., at the Hilton Washington hotel. Colbert's performance, consisting of a 16-minute podium speech and a 7-minute video presentation, was broadcast live across the United States on the cable television networks C-SPAN and MSNBC. Standing a few feet from U.S. President George W. Bush, in front of an audience of celebrities, politicians, and members of the White House Press Corps, Colbert delivered a controversial satirical routine targeting the president and the media. He spoke in the persona of the character he played on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a parody of conservative pundits such as Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. (Full article...)
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James A. Ryder (October 8, 1800 – January 12, 1860) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of several Jesuit universities in the United States. Born in Ireland, he immigrated with his widowed mother to the United States as a child, to settle in Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. He enrolled at Georgetown College and then entered the Society of Jesus. Studying in Maryland and Rome, Ryder proved to be a talented student of theology and was made a professor. He returned to Georgetown College in 1829, where he was appointed to senior positions and founded the Philodemic Society, becoming its first president. (Full article...)
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Healy in 1882

Patrick Francis Healy (February 27, 1834 – January 10, 1910) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who was an influential president of Georgetown University, becoming known as its "second founder". The university's flagship building, Healy Hall, bears his name. Though he considered himself and was widely accepted as White, Healy was posthumously recognized as the first Black American to earn a PhD, as well as the first to enter the Jesuit order and to become the president of a predominantly White university. (Full article...)
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Portrait, c. 1890s

Joseph Havens Richards (born Havens Cowles Richards; November 8, 1851 – June 9, 1923) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became a prominent president of Georgetown University, where he instituted major reforms and significantly enhanced the quality and stature of the university. Richards was born to a prominent Ohio family; his father was an Episcopal priest who controversially converted to Catholicism and had the infant Richards secretly baptized as a Catholic. (Full article...)
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1816 portrait

James Madison (March 16, 1751 [O.S. March 5, 1750] – June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. (Full article...)
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The Nativity is a devotional mid-1450s oil-on-wood panel painting by the Early Netherlandish painter Petrus Christus. It shows a nativity scene with grisaille archways and trompe-l'œil sculptured reliefs. Christus was influenced by the first generation of Netherlandish artists, especially Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, and the panel is characteristic of the simplicity and naturalism of art of that period. Placing archways as a framing device is a typical van der Weyden device, and here likely borrowed from that artist's Saint John Altarpiece and Miraflores Altarpiece. Yet Christus adapts these painterly motifs to a uniquely mid-15th century sensibility, and the unusually large panel – perhaps painted as a central altarpiece panel for a triptych – is nuanced and visually complex. It shows his usual harmonious composition and employment of one-point-perspective, especially evident in the geometric forms of the shed's roof, and his bold use of color. It is one of Christus's most important works. Max Friedländer definitely attributed the panel to Christus in 1930, concluding that "in scope and importance, [it] is superior to all other known creations of this master." (Full article...)

Neighboorhoods

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Petworth is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. While largely residential, Petworth is home to a notable commercial corridor of shops and restaurants, primarily along Georgia Avenue and Upshur Street, as well as a portion of 14th Street. The neighborhood is accessible via the Georgia Ave–Petworth station on the Green Line of the Washington Metro. (Full article...)
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Map of Washington, D.C. with Swampoodle highlighted in red

Swampoodle was a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. on the border of Northwest and Northeast in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This neighborhood is no longer known as Swampoodle and has been replaced in large part by NoMa. (Full article...)
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Map of Washington, D.C., with Potomac Heights highlighted in red

Potomac Heights is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., overlooking the Potomac River from MacArthur Boulevard westward. Potomac Heights is the part of the Palisades bounded to the north by Loughboro Road and to the south by Chain Bridge and Arizona Avenue NW. It is part of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D in Ward 3, the far northwest corner of the Northwest Quadrant just north of Georgetown. (Full article...)
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Brookland in 2022 with the Brookland–CUA station Metro station in the foreground

Brookland, also known as Little Rome or Little Vatican, is a neighborhood located in the Northeast (NE) quadrant of Washington, D.C. Bounded by Fort Totten Metro Train tracks NE, and Brookland CUA Metro train tracks, Taylor Street NE, Rhode Island Avenue NE, South Dakota Avenue NE. It is best known for its numerous Catholic institutions, including schools, religious communities, shrines, institutes, and other organizations built and based around the Catholic University of America. (Full article...)
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Hillbrook within the District of Columbia

Hillbrook is a neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C. It is bounded by Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue to the north, Brooks Street to the south, 44th Street NE to the west, and Division Avenue to the east. (Full article...)
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An American Craftsman-style home in Berkley (2008)

Berkley is a neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. (Full article...)
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Chevy Chase (/ˈtʃɛviː tʃeɪs/) is a neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. It borders Chevy Chase, Maryland. (Full article...)
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Tudor-Style Row Houses in Foxhall (2014)

Foxhall, also known as Foxhall Village, is a neighborhood in northwestern Washington, D.C., bordered by Reservoir Road on the north side, Foxhall Road on the west, Glover-Archbold Park on the east, and P Street NW on the south (with some properties south of P Street). The first homes were constructed along Reservoir Road and Greenwich Park Way in the mid-1920s. By the end of December, 1927, some 150 homes had been erected, and the community given the name of Foxhall Village. (Full article...)
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Takoma Masonic Building

Takoma is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. It is located in Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4B, in the district's Fourth Ward. It borders the city of Takoma Park, Maryland. (Full article...)
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Hill East is a residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C. located in the Southeast quadrant of the city. It is bounded by the Kingman Park neighborhood at C Street to the north, by the Anacostia River to the east and south, and by Capitol Hill at 15th Street to the west. Hill East includes landmarks such as the Congressional Cemetery, the former RFK Stadium, and the D.C. Armory. It will be home to the future $3.7 billion New Commanders Stadium mixed-use development project. (Full article...)

Selected image

Image 1
^{Library of Congress}
The "Grand Avenue" or Mall as proposed by Pierre L'Enfant, 1791
(from National Mall)
Image 2An aerial view of Northwest Washington, D.C. in June 2018 (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 3A major bus strike in May 1974 caused huge traffic jams throughout the city (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 4Edgewood (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 5Eisenhower Memorial at night, 2021 (from National Mall)
Image 6The French ambassador's residence in the Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 7Civil rights marchers during the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 8Georgetown University, founded in 1789, the city's oldest university (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 9The National Mall viewed from the Lincoln Memorial, July 2023 (from National Mall)
Image 10General Dwight D. Eisenhower received a hero's welcome in the city in June 1945 following the Allied victory in World War II (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 11The Andrew Jackson Downing Urn in May 2012 (from National Mall)
Image 12The Washington Monument stood in this unfinished form for 25 years before being completed in 1884. Upon its completion, it was the tallest man-made structure in the world. (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 13Facing east on the National Mall, as viewed near the 1300 block of Jefferson Drive, S.W. in April 2010. Rows of American elm trees line the sides of a path traversing the length of the Mall. (from National Mall)
Image 14Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool before reconstruction (April 2010) (from National Mall)
Image 15Constitution Gardens in 2016 (from National Mall)
Image 16The Library of Congress, the world's largest library, has more than 173 million items. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 17Columbia Heights (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 18The National Mall, including a central pathway through it, the centerpiece of the 1901 McMillan Plan (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 191963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on the National Mall facing east from the Lincoln Memorial (from National Mall)
Image 20The Mall following a snow storm (from National Mall)
Image 21An aerial photo of Washington, D.C. in 2007 (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 22Pool after reconstruction (May 2016) (from National Mall)
Image 23An 1814 watercolor illustration of the United States Capitol after the burning of Washington during the War of 1812 (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 24The March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on August 28, 1963 (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 25The Sylvan Theater in 2011 (from National Mall)
Image 26The U.S. Capitol during the February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 27Pennsylvania Avenue, one of the city's most prominent streets, connects the U.S. Capitol and White House. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 28The National Museum of Natural History, the third-most visited museum in the U.S. in 2023, with 4.4 million visitors (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 29The April 9, 1939, concert by Marian Anderson, facing east from the Lincoln Memorial (from National Mall)
Image 30Map of racial distribution in the Washington metropolitan area, according to the 2010 U.S. census; each dot represents 25 people: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic or Other (yellow) (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 31Map of the District of Columbia in 1835, prior to the retrocession (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 32The Eisenhower Executive Office Building, built between 1871 and 1888, was the world's largest office building until 1943, when it was surpassed by The Pentagon. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 33Navy Yard (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 34City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard, an 1833 portrait by George Cooke in the Oval Office in the White House (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 35CNN reporting from the city during the 2016 U.S. presidential election (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 36Capital One Arena in the city's Chinatown section hosts the Washington Capitals, an NHL team (pictured), and the Washington Wizards, an NBA team (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 37Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia is the closest airport to the city among the three major Washington metropolitan area airports. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 38The Smithsonian station of the Washington Metro in 2021 (from National Mall)
Image 39Independence Day fireworks display on the National Mall, July 4, 2022 (from National Mall)
Image 40Memorial Bridge, connecting the city across the Potomac River with Arlington County (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 41One Franklin Square in Downtown houses the headquarters of The Washington Post, the nation's third-largest newspaper by circulation as of 2023 (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 42Chuck Brown performing go-go music (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 43Metrobus, operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 44A Capital Bikeshare rental station near McPherson Square (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 45Looking east from the top of the Washington Monument towards the Mall and the U.S. Capitol, 2023 (from National Mall)
Image 46Axis after restoration (September 2016) (from National Mall)
Image 47The American Enterprise Institute, one of the city's many think tanks (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 48The John A. Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, headquarters for much of the Government of the District of Columbia, including the offices of the mayor and D.C. Council (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 49The southern portion of the National Mall in 1863 during the American Civil War (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 50Axis undergoing restoration (October 2015) (from National Mall)
Image 51Bloomingdale (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 52Reserve area designated by the Commemorative Works Clarification and Revision Act (from National Mall)
Image 53The Cascading Waterfall at Meridian Hill Park in Meridian Hill (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 54The Washington Monument (forefront) and White House (center) in September 2003. Since 1961, the city's residents can vote for the U.S. president and vice president, who also serves as President of the Senate. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 55The Abraham Lincoln Statue at the Lincoln Memorial in September 2016 (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 56Dupont Circle (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 57This view from the top of the Washington Monument shows rows of elm trees lining the Reflecting Pool (November 2014). (from National Mall)
Image 58The city's license plate, which calls for an end to taxation without representation (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 59The World War II Memorial, one of many popular tourist sites located on the National Mall (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 60Federal Triangle, a historic hub of executive departments of the U.S. federal government (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 61President Abraham Lincoln insisted that construction of the United States Capitol continue during the Civil War. (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 62The Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue, home of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 63Demonstrators marching down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 64The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a two-acre (8,100 m²) site featuring two black granite walls engraved with the names of those service members who died or remain missing in the Vietnam War designed by Maya Lin, was initially controversial for its lack of heroic iconography, a departure from earlier memorial designs. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 65The Concert for Valor on the National Mall on November 11, 2014, looking west from the U.S. Capitol grounds (from National Mall)
Image 66In 1830, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was extended to Georgetown. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 67Westward view from the top of the Washington Monument in 1943 or 1944 during World War II. In the foreground, temporary buildings on the Washington Monument grounds house the Navy's Bureau of Ships. The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings stand to the right of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Temporary buildings to the left of the Reflecting Pool house the Navy's Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. (from National Mall)
Image 68The National Mall was the centerpiece of the 1902 McMillan Plan. A central open vista traversed the length of the Mall. (from National Mall)
Image 69Chinatown (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 70Washington Metro, the second-busiest rapid rail system in the U.S. based on average weekday ridership, is known for its iconic vaulted ceilings (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 71Protesters in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in June 2022 (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 72The National Building Museum (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 73Anacostia (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 74Newspaper Row on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1874 (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 75Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street, known for its half-smoke, a historic staple of the city's cuisine (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 76Muriel Bowser, the city's mayor since 2015 (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 77The L'Enfant Plan for the city (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 78Rock Creek Park, the city's largest park, stretches across Northwest. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 79The L'Enfant Plan for the city, developed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L'Enfant (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 80The U.S. Capitol dome was under construction during Lincoln's first inauguration on March 4, 1861, five weeks before the start of the American Civil War. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 81With over 30,000 participants as of 2024, the annual Marine Corps Marathon, held annually in October in Washington, D.C. and Arlington County, is the largest non-prize money marathon in the country. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 82A performance of Moulin Rouge! at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 83The Aqueduct Bridge crossing the Potomac River, with Northern Virginia in the background and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in the foreground (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 84The first inauguration of Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, facing west from the Capitol (from National Mall)
Image 85Reading Room at the Library of Congress (from National Mall)
Image 86A 2009 view from the United States Capitol facing west, over the Grant Memorial and Capitol Reflecting Pool in the foreground, and across the National Mall towards the Washington Monument (from National Mall)
Image 87After their victory at the Battle of Bladensburg in 1814, the British burned the White House and other federal buildings during a one-day occupation of Washington. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 88The United States Capitol in 1846, prior to the addition of the current rotunda (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 89The city's African American population has declined since the 1968 riots. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 90Duke Ellington School of the Arts, a public magnet school in the city (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 91The Northeast Boundary No. 4 marker stone of the original border between the District of Columbia and Prince George's County, Maryland (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 92The West side of the U.S. Capitol building, March 2019 (from National Mall)
Image 93Britney Spears performs during the "NFL Kickoff Live from the National Mall Presented by Pepsi Vanilla" concert, September 4, 2003 (from National Mall)
Image 94Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial in April 2017. (from National Mall)
Image 95John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (from National Mall)
Image 96A portrait of the Mall and vicinity looking northwest from southeast of the U.S. Capitol, circa 1846–1855. Stables are in the foreground, the Washington City Canal behind them, the Capitol on the right and the Smithsonian "Castle", the Washington Monument and the Potomac River in the distant left. (from National Mall)
Image 97In 1800, the United States Congress began assembling in the new United States Capitol after the nation's capital was moved from Philadelphia, which served as the capital during the American Revolution and again from 1790 to 1800. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 98The National Gallery of Art, the fourth-most visited art museum in the United States in 2023 with nearly four million visitors (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 99The Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in D.C. is the largest advanced wastewater treatment facility in the world. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 100Victorian houses in Dupont Circle (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 101Logan Circle (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 102On September 18, 1783, an engraving of George Washington, known as the First Cornerstone, was placed as the corner stone of the United States Capitol. (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 103National Mall, a landscaped park extending from the Lincoln Memorial to the United States Capitol (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 104Territorial progression of Washington, D.C. (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 105Construction of the Washington Metro on Connecticut Avenue in 1973 (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 106Washington, D.C., police on Harley-Davidson motorcycles escorting the March for Life protest on Constitution Avenue in January 2018 (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 107The Pentagon following the September 11 attacks with the Washington Monument visible in the background (from History of Washington, D.C.)
Image 108The National Mall proper and adjacent areas, April 2002. The Mall had a grassy lawn flanked on each side by unpaved paths and rows of American elm trees as its central feature. Numbers in the image correspond to numbers in the list of landmarks, museums and other features below. (from National Mall)
Image 109Due to limited dining options on the Mall, food trucks are often parked next to tourist-dense locations. (from National Mall)
Image 110Washington, D.C. is located on the north side of the Potomac River. It is bordered on three sides by Maryland and by Northern Virginia to its southwest. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 111The Jefferson Memorial and many of the city's other major monuments are built in the Neoclassical style. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 112Contemporary architecture at CityCenterDC in Downtown (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 113Eastward view of the National Mall from the top of the Washington Monument in 1918. The three structures and two chimneys crossing the Mall are temporary World War I buildings A, B and C and parts of their central power plant. (from National Mall)
Image 114Capitol Hill (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 115A map of the Mall in 1893 showing the Monument Grounds (with the Washington Monument), Agricultural Grounds (with the Dept. of Agriculture), Smithsonian Grounds (with the Castle and Arts and Industries museum), Armory Square, Public Grounds and Botanical Garden, and parts of the recently created "Tidal Reservoir" and "Proposed Park". (from National Mall)
Image 116Rows of young American elm trees on the National Mall, looking east from the top of the Washington Monument, circa 1942 (from National Mall)
Image 117The Washington Monument viewed from the Tidal Basin during the National Cherry Blossom Festival in April 2018 (from Washington, D.C.)

Did you know...

... that prior to attorney Stanley Woodward representing Donald Trump aide Walt Nauta and Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs, he represented tenants in D.C. who were facing eviction?
... that new employees of a business headquartered in the Editors Building chose their office decorations from a 7,000-piece collection of historic memorabilia of Washington, D.C.?
... that in one neighborhood commission district, the voters and officeholders are all inmates at the D.C. Jail?
... that Leonardo DiCaprio was set to star in the film adaptation of Leonardo da Vinci?
... that teenagers picketed The Washington Post to protest the sudden cancellation of The Milt Grant Show, a teen dance TV show in Washington, D.C.?
... that, under O'Donoghue v. United States, Washington, D.C.'s courts are the only tribunals in the United States that might be both constitutional and legislative courts at the same time?

In the news

9 December 2025 – M23 campaign, Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict: M23 enter Uvira, with at least 20,000 people fleeing across the Burundi–DRC border and reach Bujumbura. (Actualité in French) (TRT World)
4 December 2025 – Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict: Presidents Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda formally sign a peace agreement in Washington, D.C., hosted by U.S. president Donald Trump. (Newsweek)
4 December 2025 – Planning of the January 6 United States Capitol attack: A 30-year-old man is arrested and charged with transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials after planting pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic parties' headquarters in Washington, D.C., United States, a day before the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack in 2021. (NBC News)
4 December 2025 – 2025 Texas redistricting: The U.S. Supreme Court permits Texas to use its redrawn congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections, staying a lower court ruling that found the plan relied on racial considerations. (AFP via France 24)
27 November 2025 – 2025 deployment of federal forces in the United States: 2025 Washington, D.C., National Guard shooting; One of two U.S. National Guard troops who were shot in Washington, D.C., a day earlier dies. (BBC News)

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