Washington D.C. is the capital city of the United States. It is next to the District of Columbia (abbreviated as "D.C.") and has a population of 588,292 people. The city was name after George Washington, who was the first president of the U.S.A. It is sometimes referred to as Washington, The District or simply D.C. In the 19th century, it was called the Federal City or Washington City.
Washington is home to numerous national landmarks and is one of the
most popular tourist destinations in the United States.
The Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial it is a United States Presidential memorial built
to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. The
architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor was Daniel Chester French, and
the painter of the interior murals was Jules Guerin.
The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large
seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known
speeches by Lincoln. The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches,
including Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered
on August 28, 1963, during the rally at the end of the March on Washington
for Jobs and Freedom.
Like other monuments on the National Mall, including the nearby Vietnam
Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and National World
War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial is administered by the National
Park Service under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group. The National
Memorial has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
since October 15, 1966. It is open to the public 24 hours a day.
The White House
The White House is the official home and principal workplace of the
President of the United States of America. Built between 1792 and 1800
of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style, it has
been the executive residence of every U.S. President since John Adams.
When Thomas Jefferson moved into the home in 1801, he, with architect
Benjamin Henry Latrobe expanded the building outward, creating two colonnades
which were meant to conceal stables and storage. In 1814, during the
War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by British troops, destroying
the interior and charring much of the exterior walls. Reconstruction
began almost immediately and President James Monroe moved into the partially
reconstructed house in October 1817. Construction continued with the
addition of the South Portico in 1824 and the North in 1829. Due to
crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt
had nearly all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West
Wing in 1901. Eight years later, President William Howard Taft expanded
the West Wing, and created the first Oval Office which was eventually
moved and the section was expanded. The third floor attic was converted
to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with
long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception
area for social events; both new wings were connected by Jefferson's
colonnades. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946 creating additional
office space. By 1948, the house's load-bearing exterior walls and internal
wood beams were found to be close to failure. The interior rooms were
completely dismantled, resulting in the construction of a new internal
load-bearing steel framework and the reassembly of the interior rooms.
Today, the White House Complex includes the Executive Residence, as
well as East and West Wings. The White House is made up of six stories:
the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, and Third Floor, as well
as a two-story basement. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
in Washington, D.C. As the Executive Office of the President of the
United States, the term "White House" is regularly used as
a metonym for a United States president's administration. The property
is owned by the National Park Service and is part of the President's
Park.
