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Better known as the castle the Smithsonian institution began its construction in 1846 and was designed by architect James Renwick Jr, who had won the design competition held for said building. Renwick was known for his work I the Romanesque and Gothic styles and had also designed the gothic revival church in New York City. As it was being designed the original requests specified that it had to look very different from the other surrounding buildings in Washington at the time and for that reason it was built in the Medieval Revival Style. The materials were also to be locally sourced. The Building itself is constructed from red sandstone from Seneca Creek, Maryland. The eastern part of the building was the first to be complete and a majority of the work went into this piece until it was complete in 1855. Once it reached completion in 1855 the Castle was on a lone piece of land due to it being cut off from downtown Washington, DC, by a canal. In the following years the Castle sat as the ...

Washington Monument Robert Mills originally designed the Washington Monument which was later completed by Thomas Casey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project was designed during the Greek Revival period as a memorial in order to honor George Washington in the center of our nation's capital. Robert Mills began the first phase of construction in 1848 and finished in 1854. The first phase of construction by Robert Mills was under private funding, where they had difficulties raising funds. The cornerstone was laid on July 4th 1984. “ Builders commenced work on the blue gneiss foundation, an 80-foot square step pyramid. With the substructure completed, the builders then proceeded to the above-ground marble structure, 55 feet, 1.5 inches square at the base, using a system of pulleys, block and tackle systems, and a mounted derrick to hoist and place the stones, inching the structure skyward. By 1854, the monument had reached a height of 156 feet above ground”. The Archite...