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The building is closed for an extensive renovation. Completed in 1881 as the first U.S. National Museum, this red-brick and sandstone structure was the first Smithsonian museum on the Mall. President Garfield's Inaugural Ball took place here. (It looks quite similar to the Castle, so don't be confused; from the Mall, the Arts and Industries Building is the one on the left.) From 1976 to the mid-1990s it housed exhibits from the 1876 U.S. International Exposition in Philadelphia -- a celebration of America's centennial that featured the latest advances in technology. Weather permitting, a 19th-century carousel operates across the street, on the Mall.
Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Washington, D.C. 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.
Washington, D.C.
, USA
Arts and Industries Building
The building is closed for an extensive renovation. Completed in 1881 as the first U.S. National Museum, this red-brick and sandstone structure was the first Smithsonian museum on the Mall. President Garfield's Inaugural Ball took place here. (It looks quite similar to the Castle, so don't be confused; from the Mall, the Arts and Industries Building is the one on the left.) From 1976 to the mid-1990s it housed exhibits from the 1876 U.S. International Exposition in Philadelphia -- a celebration of America's centennial that featured the latest advances in technology. Weather permitting, a 19th-century carousel operates across the street, on the Mall.
Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Washington, D.C. 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.
Washington, D.C.
, USA
