A manual on the origin and development of Washington

by H. Paul Caemmerer

OTHER IMPORTANT BUILDINGS

Lack of space in this book makes it necessary merely to mention the more important of the other monumental buildings in the National Capital. Detailed information concerning them may be found in the author’s Washington the National Capital and in other books on Washington. They should be studied in connection with the buildings described in this chapter.

Attention is called first to the group of monumental semipublic buildings, classical in design, on Seventeenth Street north of Constitution Avenue and along that Avenue from Seventeenth Street west to the Potomac River. It has been said that nowhere else in the world is there such a fine group of marble buildings.

THE CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART

This Gallery had its beginning in the year 1869. It ranks as one of the great art galleries in the United States. The present building (at New York Avenue and Seventeenth Street) was designed by Ernest Flagg, architect, and completed in 1897. It is built of Georgia marble. It houses rare masterpieces of painting and sculpture.

THE AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS

Adjacent to the Corcoran Gallery on the south, the American National Red Cross occupies three large buildings constructed of Vermont marble. They were designed by Trowbridge & Livingston, architects, of New York City. The Red Cross had its beginning during the Civil War. In 1905 the organization was chartered by Congress along its present lines. There are 5,500,000 adult members and 8,500,000 Junior members (as of June 30, 1938).

MEMORIAL CONTINENTAL HALL

The next building to the south is the headquarters of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. It faces Seventeenth Street, was designed by Edward Pearce Casey, architect, built of Vermont marble, and completed in 1905. The cornerstone was laid April 19, 1904, the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington. On that date the organization holds its convention in Washington each year. It was founded October 11, 1890, and on February 1, 1938, numbered 142,744 members, with about 2,500 chapters in all parts of the United States.

CONSTITUTION HALL

Another of the Society’s buildings, facing Eighteenth Street, in this square, is the leading auditorium of the city. It was designed by John Russell Pope, architect, built of Alabama limestone, and completed in October, 1929. The auditorium seats 4,000 persons. On [page 278] there is a picture of the building. The mural decorations of the interior are by J. Monroe Hewlett, architect.

THE PAN AMERICAN BUILDING

This building, at the corner of Seventeenth Street and Constitution Avenue, is considered by some to be the most beautiful in Washington. It was designed by Albert C. Kelsey and Paul P. Cret, architects, in the Spanish-classical style of architecture. It was built of Georgia marble and was dedicated April 26, 1910. It is the headquarters of the 21 Republics of the Pan American Union. In it is the famous Hall of the Americas. Andrew Carnegie contributed $850,000 toward the building, and the United States Government contributed the 5-acre tract, on which stood the Van Ness Mansion (1815) and the David Burnes cottage, which stood there in the days of George Washington.

THE NEW DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUILDING

Designed by Waddy B. Wood, architect, the new Department of the Interior building occupies two squares between C and E and Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets. It is built of Indiana limestone and is the largest air-conditioned office building in the world.

PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE BUILDING

This building, designed by J. H. deSibour, architect, is classical in design and built of white Georgia marble. It was completed in 1933. It is four stories in height and houses the large and growing office of the Surgeon General of the United States and his staff of assistants. In its location on Constitution Avenue it forms a part of the frame for the Lincoln Memorial.

FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD BUILDING

Completed in 1937, this building forms the center of the group of monumental marble buildings along Constitution Avenue west of Seventeenth Street. The design, by Paul P. Cret, architect, is based on classical motives. It is built of white Georgia marble. It is the headquarters building for the Federal Reserve Board. In it is a large mosaic map of the United States by Ezra Winter, mural painter, showing the location of the 12 Federal Reserve branch banks in the different sections of the country.

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

This building, designed by Bertram G. Goodhue, architect, is immediately east of the Federal Reserve Board building. It is classical in design and built of white marble from Dover, N. Y. The building was dedicated by President Coolidge in April, 1924. The interior is decorated with paintings and decorations by Hildreth Meiere and Albert Herter; the sculptural decorations are by Lee Lawrie.

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHARMACY

Immediately north of the Lincoln Memorial stands the American Institute of Pharmacy. It was designed by John Russell Pope, architect, and built of white Vermont marble. It is classical in its style of architecture, and in its location west of the National Academy of Sciences completes the group of buildings on Constitution Avenue that form a frame for the Lincoln Memorial. The building is the headquarters of the druggists in the United States. More than 14,000 druggists subscribed toward the building fund. The Pharmacopoeia of the United States, under which prescriptions and drugs are standardized, is supervised by the Institute.

SCOTTISH RITE TEMPLE

This building, at Sixteenth and P Streets NW., is the headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third Degree, of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction. It is modeled after the tomb of Mausolus, at Halicarnassus, in Asia Minor, which was regarded by the ancients as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Its 33 Ionic columns are 33 feet tall, suggesting the 33 degrees of Masonry. On each side of the main entrance is a colossal sphinx, symbolic of Divine Wisdom and Power, executed by A. A. Weinman, sculptor. The building was designed by John Russell Pope, architect.

CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON

At 16th and P Streets NW. is the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The building was designed by Carrére and Hastings, and shows an influence of the French classical style of architecture.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES

Dedicated in 1925, this building, at Connecticut Avenue and H Streets NW., is classical in its style of architecture and is adapted to modern office requirements. It was designed by Cass Gilbert, architect. Fully 13,000 business men representing almost 200 cities of the United States contributed toward the building.