Washington, D.C. Travel

Washington, D.C. — officially called the District of Columbia — was created as a result of the signing of the Residence Act on July 16, 1790. The act called for the creation of a capital district for the United States which would be under the jurisdiction of the United States Congress rather than under the jurisdiction of any state. The state of Maryland donated (ceded) 69 square miles of land (179 square kilometers) for the creation of the federal capital, and the state of Virginia donated 31 square miles (80 square kilometers).

The City of Washington, the national capital of the United States, was founded in 1791 from the 100 square miles of land donated by the two states. In 1846, Congress—in a process known as retrocession—returned to Virginia the 31 square miles the state had originally donated.

The residents of the District of Columbia do not have full voting rights and representation in Congress. Because of this, there is a movement under way to return the 69 square miles originally donated by Maryland to the state. The City of Washington—the national capital—would then become part of the state of Maryland, and the residents of the city would gain full voting privileges and local control of their city.

Washington, D.C. has many buildings, museums, memorials, statues, and monuments which are of interest to visitors to this great city. This article includes photographs of many of these venues and showcases two of them — the White House and the National Air and Space Museum.

The National Gallery is discussed in detail in another of my articles and will not be covered in this Hub. The International Spy Museum is also discussed in another article.

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20500

Phone: 202-456-2121

Tour Hours
Sunday and Monday: closed
Tuesday to Thursday: 7:30 to11:00 am
Friday: 7:30 am to 12:00 Noon
Saturday: 7:30 am to 1:00 pm

The White House — located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest in Washington, D.C. — is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. It is a National Heritage Site, owned by the National Park Service, and is part of the President’s Park.

Self-guided public tours of the White House are available. Tickets requests may be made from three weeks to six months in advance of your visit. Citizens of the United States should contact their Member of Congress. Citizens of other countries should contact their embassy in Washington, D.C.

Joyce Boghosian photographed Marine One, with George and Laura Bush onboard, departing the White House South Lawn on March 8, 2007 en route to Andrews Air Force Base. In the background, on the right, is the Executive Residence of the White House. On the left are the Colonnade and the West Wing with the Oval Office windows visible. Behind that is the Old Executive Office Building.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a photograph taken by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.

National Air and Space Museum

National Mall Building
Independence Avenue at 6th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20560
202-633-2214

Hours
10:00 am to 5:30 pm —
every day except December 25

Admission
Free

The Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex, consists of 19 museums and 9 research facilities. Eleven of the museums are located at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. — a national park situated between the US Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial.

My favorite museum in the Smithsonian complex is the National Air and Space Museum. This museum has the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world

The entrance hall at the National Air and Space Museum contains the Apollo 11 command module, the Spirit of St. Louis, SpaceShipOne, Sputnik 1, and the X-1 rocket plane.