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Smithsonian Institution Building

The Smithsonian Institution Building, more commonly known as the Smithsonian Castle or simply The Castle, is a building on the National Mall housing the Smithsonian Institution's administrative offices and information center. Built as the first Smithsonian museum building, it is constructed of Seneca red sandstone in the Norman Revival style (a recalling of a 12th-century combination of late Romanesque and early Gothic motifs; built in the Gothic and Romanesque revival styles). It was completed in 1855 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.[1]

Location

1849–1855

October 15, 1966[2]

January 12, 1965[1]

Current use[edit]

The Smithsonian Castle houses the administrative offices of the Smithsonian. The main Smithsonian visitor center is also located here, with interactive displays and maps. Computers electronically answer most common questions. A crypt just inside the north entrance houses the tomb of James Smithson.[13]

Architecture of Washington, D.C.

resident who kept detailed observations of events at the Castle during the Civil War.

Mary Anna Henry

the source of red sandstone for the Smithsonian Castle, listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Seneca Quarry

Mark Auslander, "," Southern Spaces, December 12, 2012.

Enslaved Labor and Building the Smithsonian: Reading the Stones

Geographic data related to at OpenStreetMap

Smithsonian Institution Building

Official website

(HABS) No. DC-141, "Smithsonian Institution Building, 1000 Jefferson Drive, between Ninth & Twelfth Stre, Washington, District of Columbia, DC", 128 photos, 4 color transparencies, 27 measured drawings, 7 data pages, 11 photo caption pages

Historic American Buildings Survey

Smithsonian Institution Building, The Castle at Google Cultural Institute

C-SPAN Tour of the Smithsonian Castle