A manual on the origin and development of WashingtonCaemmerer, H. Paul (Hans Paul)
History
A manual on the origin and development of Washington
Caemmerer, H. Paul (Hans Paul)
Washington (D.C.) -- Description and travel; Washington (D.C.) -- History
The space between Third and Seventh Streets, on the south side of the
Mall is being considered for the Smithsonian Gallery of Art, authorized
by Congress, to house the collections of works of art that have been
given to the Nation. The planting and roadways continuous with those
already in place on the Mall can then be put in.
The new National Museum Building was the first structure to be located
and erected according to the plan of 1901, having been aligned in
conformity to the new Mall axis. On the south side of the Mall the
new Freer Gallery also conforms to the revised axis. This gallery is
a constituent portion of the National Gallery of Art. It represents
one of the largest gifts ever made by an individual to the Government.
Although comparatively small in extent, both the building itself and
the collections now being arranged within it represent the very highest
standards of art. Moreover, the Freer Gallery is a type of the small,
adequately housed, and well-endowed gallery which doubtless will be
established from time to time by private individuals and given to
the Nation to be administered by the Smithsonian Institution for the
instruction and gratification of the people.
The section of the Mall between Twelfth and Fourteenth Streets is
occupied by the Department of Agriculture. The location of the two
wings of the building designed to accommodate the administrative
offices of the department precipitated a contest, on the result of
which depended the fate of the plan of 1901. It was due to the firm
stand taken by President Roosevelt and Secretary of War Taft that the
location was made in accordance with the plan. That crisis having been
met satisfactorily, the future of the Mall scheme was assured, and
since then the plan for park connection between the Capitol and the
White House has become an established fact.
While L’Enfant had planned a driveway through the center of the Mall,
the Mall Plan of 1901 consists of an expanse of undulating green park,
a mile in length and 300 feet wide, extending from the Capitol to the
Monument. This central green space is bordered by park roads, flanked
by four rows of American elms, under the shade of which are walks and
resting places. Back of these rows of trees are other roads furnishing
access to public buildings like the National Museum, the Department of
Agriculture Building, the Freer Gallery, and the National Gallery of
Art, which have been located according to the plan.
RESTORING THE MALL AXIS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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