President's Park
The President's Park in Washington, DC , United States , includes the White House , a visitor center, Lafayette Park and the park The Ellipse . President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Park and Square. Today President's Park is administered by the National Park Service .
White House
The White House address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue , NW.
The White House complex includes:
- The White House, the official residence of the President of the United States. To visit the White House, you need to make a reservation for the tour. This must be done by a congressman 1 to 6 months in advance of the appointment.
- The West Wing: This is where the Oval Office and his staff are located. The west wing is not open to the public.
- The east wing: The offices of the "First Lady" and other administrative offices are located here. The east wing is also not open to the public.
- The White House garden includes the North Lawn , Rose Garden , Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, and South Lawn . The garden can be viewed by appointment by a Senator or Congressman.
The White House Visitor Center
The visitor center is located at the north end of the Herbert C. Hoover Building ( United States Department of Commerce between 14th Street and 15th Street on Pennsylvania Avenue NW). The visitor center is the starting point for the guided tours of the White House. There are various exhibitions for visitors who have not booked a tour. The themes of the 6 permanent exhibitions are:
- Presidential families
- Symbols and images
- White House architecture
- Establishment of the White House
- Working in the White House
- Ceremonies and celebrations
Changing exhibitions are also shown.
Lafayette Park
The Lafayette Park is a 30,000 square meter public park that borders in the north on the grounds of the White House. The park and its surroundings were designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1970. Originally planned as a recreation area around the government building, this park was formerly called "President's Park".
The park was separated from the White House grounds in 1804 when President Thomas Jefferson built Pennsylvania Avenue. In 1824 the square was renamed in memory of the Marquis de Lafayette , the French who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
The park was used as a race track , cemetery , zoo , slave market, and soldiers' camp during the British-American War . Many political demonstrations and celebrations also took place here. Andrew Jackson Downing designed the park in a picturesque style in 1851. The park got its current appearance with 5 large statues in the 1930s. In the middle, the equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson was built by Clark Mills in 1853. In the four corners are the monuments of the foreign heroes of the War of Independence: Marquis de Lafayette and Comte de Rochambeau from France; Tadeusz Kościuszko from Poland , and Baron von Steuben from Prussia
Andrew Jackson equestrian memorial
Comte de Rochambeau statue
Tadeusz Kościuszko statue
General von Steuben statue
St. John's Episcopal Church is on the corner of 16th and H Street. For 35 years, starting August 1, 1981 , Concepcion Picciotto camped in the park opposite the entrance to the White House in protest against nuclear weapons.
The Ellipse (President's Park South)
President's Park South (colloquially the Ellipse ) is a 210,000 square meter park south of the White House. "The Ellipse" is actually the name of a 1 km long ring road that lies in the middle of the park.
history
In 1791 the first park was designed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant . The Ellipse was named the "White Lot" because of the whitewashed wooden fence that enclosed the park.
During the American Civil War, the ellipse and part of the area of the Washington Monument served as pasture for horses, mules and cattle and as a camp for the Union troops.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers began work on the ellipse in 1867. The park was landscaped in 1879 and American elms were planted along the existing road. In 1880 what was previously known as the garbage dump became Park Ellipse. In 1894, the street was fitted with electric lighting.
In the 1890s, Congress allowed the ellipse to be used by special groups, particularly for religious meetings and military encampments. Baseball fields and tennis courts existed in the park until the late 1990s. Sports events and demonstrations still take place in the park today. In 1933, President's Park South was placed under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.
On Christmas Eve 1923, President Calvin Coolidge began a tradition that has remained unbroken since then by lighting the first National Christmas Tree . The first tree, a felled balsam fir , placed on the ellipse at the District of Columbia Public Schools. From 1924 to 1953, different trees were set up in changing locations around the White House. In 1954 the ceremony returned to the ellipse and was extended to the "Christmas Festival of Peace". From 1954 to 1972 felled trees were used. In 1973 a black spruce was planted on the ellipse, which was replaced by a new spruce in 1978.
During the Second World War , in 1942, the National Park Service allowed barracks to be built as a special wartime emergency measure. The makeshift barracks were built on the south side of the Old Executive Office Building and the entire area of the First Division Monument. The "White House Barracks" were demolished in 1954. On May 6, 1980, the southern part of President's Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a garden monument .
The Ellipse visitor pavilion opened in May 1994. It is used to distribute free tickets for the various White House events. These are e.g. B. Easter egg rolling and garden tours in spring and autumn.
Attractions
- Visitor pavilion
- Boy Scout Memorial by Donald De Lue
- The gatehouses of Charles Bulfinch
- Butt - Millet memorial fountain by Daniel Chester French
- Enid main fountain
- First Division Monument by Daniel Chester French
- Second Division Memorial by James Earle Fraser
- District of Columbia Settlers Monument, by Carl Mose
- National Christmas tree of the USA
- Zero Milestone , all road distances should be measured from the 0 milestone.
Boy Scout Memorial
Zero Milestone
Annual events include Christmas Peace, the Twilight Tattoo military parade, and the George Washington University graduation ceremony . The White House's annual Easter Egg Roll also takes place here. The ellipse is also used as a sports facility.
Approximately in the middle of the ellipse, just below the surface of the ellipse, there is meridian stone. It is reminiscent of President Thomas Jefferson's idea of an American prime meridian.
Children at the Easter egg roll
Ellipse meridian stone
credentials
- ↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed May 1, 2016
Web links
- The White House
- White House Historical Association
- The shape and history of the ellipse in Washington, DC by Clark Kimberling (PDF; 523 kB)
Coordinates: 38 ° 53 ′ 39 ″ N , 77 ° 2 ′ 13 ″ W.