Old Patent Office Building
| Old Patent Office Building | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| National Register of Historic Places | |||
| National Historic Landmark | |||
 Front view of the building |
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| location | Washington, DC | ||
| Coordinates | 38 ° 53 '52.3 " N , 77 ° 1' 22.6" W | ||
| Built | 1832-65 | ||
| architect | Robert Mills , Thomas Ustick Walter | ||
| NRHP number | 66000902 | ||
| Data | |||
| The NRHP added | October 15, 1966 | ||
| Declared as an NHL | January 12, 1965 | ||
The Old Patent Office Building ( German: Altes Patentamtsgebäude ) is a building in Washington, DC The building housed the American Patent Office from its completion in 1865 to 1932, and then the Civil Service Commission until the Second World War . Only a word of power by President Dwight D. Eisenhower was it able to save it from demolition in 1958, and the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum have now moved into the building .
The building is in the Chinatown neighborhood in Washington, about halfway between the Capitol and the White House . The building takes up an entire block between F and G Streets and 7th and 9th Streets NW. Originally, the American patent law stipulated that a model had to be submitted for every patented invention, the large building should serve to accommodate all models.
Construction began in 1832 under Robert Mills , who envisaged a bold design with wide arches and stone halls. After disputes in Congress, Mills' rival Thomas Ustick Walter succeeded in 1851 to take over the execution and to build in other supporting structures made of wood. The Old Patent Office is one of the largest government buildings of the 19th century in the style of the Greek Revival . In 1877 the west wing burned down and the fire destroyed around 87,000 models from patents.
On January 12, 1965, the Old Patent Office Building became a National Historic Landmark . In October, the building was entered on the National Register of Historic Places . Since 1968 the building has housed two institutes of the Smithsonian Institute. The American Art Museum is in the north part of the building, the National Portrait Gallery in the south. The last extensive renovation and extension work took place in 2006/2007.
literature
- Adam Goodheart: Back to the Future. In: Smithsonian Magazine July 2006, pp 40-47.
- Charles J. Robertson: Temple of Invention . A history of the Patent Office.
- Visitor's Guide and Map. Smithsonian Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, 2006
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: District of Columbia. National Park Service , accessed July 19, 2019.
- ^ National Portrait Gallery in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed August 6, 2017.