A manual on the origin and development of Washington

by H. Paul Caemmerer

DEVELOPMENT OF THE MALL

That section of the Mall between Third and Four-and-a-half Streets has been laid out and planted with elms in accordance with the plan of 1901, and Congress has provided for putting in the roadways. The temporary buildings in the Mall were so located that upon removal the roadways will be in accordance with the Mall plan, and as fast as the buildings are razed the planting of trees can be made. The space between Four-and-a-half and Sixth Streets was so improved and restored during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1921.

Congress has authorized the occupation of the north side of the Mall between Third and Seventh Streets (former site of the Pennsylvania Station) by the National Gallery of Art, designed by John Russell Pope. Plans for the building approved by the Commission of Fine Arts are classical in style of architecture.

Auditoriums, both large and small, designed for the uses of conventions, inaugural exercises, and meetings of patriotic societies are among the prime necessities of Washington. Such gathering places would meet governmental and semipublic needs and be advantageous to the growth of American feeling.

MALL AND MONUMENT GARDENS, PLAN OF 1901

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.