BG's Photo Library: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle)

DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) -- Notes:

Photo Library Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie's Photo Library home page.

Partially Reviewed: Rough draft. I've gone through these pictures once, removing the worst ones, some duplication, etc. I usually take sequences of 4 or 5 pictures at a time and there are lots of near duplicates. I'll be doing a final review later which allows me compare the pictures that survived the first cut and make final determinations of what pictures to keep.

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Copyrights: Standard stuff. All pictures were taken by Bruce Guthrie who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use. If used in a publication or web site, please give appropriate attribution (such as "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie"). If they're used in a publication, I'd love to receive a free copy of the publication. You are not authorized to resell these pictures or make a profit from them. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from official signs on location; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Help? The 0640x0480 links are for screen viewing and emailing. The 2048x1536 (older ones may be different sizes than this) links are mostly for downloading and printing (they can be used to do reasonable-quality prints up to about 8x10). [Click here for additional help]

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Limiting Text: You can turn off all of this text by clicking this link: [Thumbnails Only]
Signage: You'll see a lot of signs in this group. Eventually, I'll type the text of the signs into the subject description and get rid of the signs themselves. This is pretty slow and tedious work though.
Description of Subject Matter: The Smithsonian Institution Building (usually called "The Castle"), designed by James Renwick, was built in 1855 and is the first of the Smithsonian buildings. James Smithson, a British subject who had never visited the United States, died in 1826. His will specified that his money was to go to his nephew. But if his nephew didn't produce an heir, the money was to go to the United States "...to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The nephew died childless in 1835 and the money came to the United States where it was hotly debated between Congressmen who didn't trust anything British to others who had no idea what vision to use for the new Smithsonian Institution. The money could have been spent to buy textbooks for all of the colleges in the country. Instead, Joseph Henry was appointed as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian and he used it to create an institution of scientific inquiry and exploration. Henry actually lived in the Castle from 1847 to 1878. A great fire in 1865 destroyed much of the Smithsonian collection although the building remained. Smithson's body was dug up in Scotland and reinterred in a crypt in the Castle itself.
Wikipedia Description: Smithsonian Institution Building
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Smithsonian Institution Building, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., houses the Smithsonian Institution's administrative offices and information center. The Building is constructed of red sandstone in the faux Norman style (a 12th-century combination of late Romanesque and early Gothic motifs) and is appropriately nicknamed The Castle.

History:

It was the first Smithsonian building, begun in 1847 by architect James Renwick, Jr., whose other works include St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, also in Washington D.C. In August 1853, the Smithsonian's Board of Regents declared that the work of the original architect, James Renwick, Jr., was done. Lieutenant Barton S. Alexander of the U.S. Army Topographic Engineers was asked to take up the architect's responsibilities for the slowly progressing Smithsonian Building. Under his supervision, the building was finished in 1855.

Over the years, several reconstructions have taken place. The first followed a disastrous fire on January 24, 1865, which destroyed most of the upper story of the main segment and the north and south towers. In 1884, the east wing was fireproofed and enlarged to accommodate more offices. Remodeling from 1968 to 1969 restored the building to the Victorian atmosphere reminiscent of the era during which it was first inhabited.

This building served as a home for the first Secretary of the Smithsonian, Joseph Henry, and his family and for many years housed all aspects of Smithsonian operations, including an exhibit hall from 1858 until the 1960s. In 1901, Washington's first children's room was installed in the Castle's South Tower Room where the original decorated ceiling and wall stencils were restored in 1987. Located inside near the north entrance is the crypt of James Smithson, benefactor of the Institution, while outside on the Mall, a bronze statue of Jo ...More...
Directly Related Pages: Other pages here that have content directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos]
- 1997_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (8 photos from 1997)
- 1998_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (4 photos from 1998)
- 1999_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (1 photos from 1999)
- 2002_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (14 photos from 2002)
- 2003_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (8 photos from 2003)
- 2004_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (6 photos from 2004)
- 2005_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (14 photos from 2005)
- 2007_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (12 photos from 2007)
- 2008_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (63 photos from 2008)
- 2009_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (66 photos from 2009)
- 2010_07_09A_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (24 photos from 07/09/2010)
- 2010_DC_SI_Castle: DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (2 photos from 2010)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: Smithsonian -- Museums
2010 photos: Equipment this year: I was using mostly the Fuji S100fs until the third one broke and I started sending them back for repairs. Then I used either the Fuji S200EHX or the Nikon D90. Trips this year: I've got so many local commitments that I'm having trouble getting away. I drove out to Lexington, Kentucky to cover the Civil War Preservation Trust's annual conference in June. I flew out to California and Nevada for two weeks in July for the San Diego Comic-Con. Ego strokes: Nothing major so far. Photos taken this year: 260,000 through August -- down about 5 percent from last year's frenetic pace.
Photo Contact: Email Bruce Guthrie.