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49-787: In December 2023, the National Archives Building was designated a National Historic Landmark . It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and is a contributing property to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site . The National Archives building holds original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence ,

98-596: A plumed helmet in the Roman style . His pedestal says, "Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty,” which comes from Thomas Jefferson , around which are different symbols of war. There are additional sculptures in the pediments of the building showing figures that represent history, inspiration, destiny, and guardianship. Investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy , the Warren Commission met formally for

147-601: A few blocks north. In 1797, President George Washington designated two acres in Washington City to be used as a public marketplace. On October 6, 1802, a City Council Ordinance is approved by Mayor Robert Brent to establish Center Market south of Pennsylvania Avenue NW , between 7th and 9th Streets NW. Section 5 of the Ordinance states "That no person shall sell or expose for sale in said market any unsound, blown, or unwholesome meat or articles of provision, under

196-606: A massive public buildings program designed to beautify the center of Washington, DC, and provide office space for the growing federal bureaucracy. This program led to the design and construction of buildings within the Federal Triangle . Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon gave the responsibility for designing the Triangle grouping to a Board of Architectural Consultants. Louis A. Simon , an architect of

245-547: A place of business for African Americans who owned some of the stalls and sold goods. By 1850, the market was a mixture of frame buildings with no coherence though located in such a prestigious location between the White House and the Capitol. Despite its popularity and major importance in the local economy, Congress and the public considered the market a health and safety hazard with its 700 vendors in 1870. A new building

294-728: A second National Archives building in College Park, Maryland , added 1.8 million square feet (170,000 m) to the National Archives, providing the nation with the most modern archives facility in the world. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights have been displayed to the public in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building since 1952. That year National Bureau of Standards placed

343-816: A small fee, street dealers could place their stands outside, under the market canopy. A small park with trees stood between the buildings and Pennsylvania and Louisiana Avenue. From 1880 to 1931, the Rawlins Statue stood in the triangular lot where the two avenues intersect. Inside the building, customers could buy all their groceries in Center Market. Stalls of meats, fish, vegetables, condiments as well as flowers were available to serve them. Cold rooms provided storage of meats and other perishables and all dealers had storage on site for their produces. Good for sale were put on display on stands tiled with white subway tiles for cleanliness. Customers could also use

392-400: A woman with a child, a bundle of wheat, and an urn in her arms. These "[symbolize] the government's role in preserving the home." Inscribed in her pedestal is "The heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of the future," a quote from Wendell Phillips , around which are symbols that represent "the importance of home." Guardianship is of a muscular man who holds a sword and

441-740: Is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500, or roughly three percent, of over 90,000 places listed on the country's National Register of Historic Places are recognized as National Historic Landmarks. A National Historic Landmark District sometimes called a National Historical Park may include more than one National Historic Landmark and contributing properties that are buildings, structures, sites or objects, and it may include non-contributing properties. Contributing properties may or may not also be separately listed or registered. Prior to 1935, efforts to preserve cultural heritage of national importance were made by piecemeal efforts of

490-712: The Constitution , and the Bill of Rights . These are on display for the public in the main chamber's rotunda, known as Charters of Freedom , at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The Emancipation Proclamation will be added to the permanent display in 2026. The building hosts additional important American historical items, including the Continental Association , the Articles of Confederation ,

539-895: The Historic American Buildings Survey amassed information about culturally and architecturally significant properties in a program known as the Historic Sites Survey. Most of the designations made under this legislation became National Historic Sites , although the first designation, made December 20, 1935, was for a National Memorial , the Gateway Arch National Park (then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) in St. Louis , Missouri. The first National Historic Site designation

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588-552: The Louisiana Purchase Treaty , and collections of photography and other historically and culturally significant American and international artifacts, including an original version of the 1297 Magna Carta confirmed by Edward I . Between 2003 and 2004 the National Archives also held special exhibits to the public for the Gettysburg Address and Emancipation Proclamation . Inside the Rotunda for

637-600: The Office of the Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury , drafted a preliminary design for the Archives, placing it along Pennsylvania Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets, NW. (This was prior to Simon's appointment as Supervising Architect in 1933.) In late 1927, preliminary drawings of the individual Triangle buildings were incorporated into a formal presentation of the entire project. The drawings became

686-633: The United States Congress . In 1935, Congress passed the Historic Sites Act , which authorized the interior secretary authority to formally record and organize historic properties, and to designate properties as having "national historical significance", and gave the National Park Service authority to administer historically significant federally owned properties. Over the following decades, surveys such as

735-842: The 50 states. New York City alone has more NHLs than all but five states: Virginia , California , Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, the latter of which has the most NHLs of all 50 states. There are 74 NHLs in the District of Columbia . Some NHLs are in U.S. commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states . There are 15 in Puerto Rico , the Virgin Islands , and other U.S. commonwealths and territories ; five in U.S.-associated states such as Micronesia ; and one in Morocco . Over 100 ships or shipwrecks have been designated as NHLs. Approximately half of

784-459: The Archives as a temple of history has been preserved through maintenance and periodic restoration work on the building since the mid-1930s. Over the years, however, more records filled the building and even the courtyard expansion proved to be inadequate. By the late 1960s, the building reached its storage capacity of 900,000 cubic feet (25,000 m) and the agency began renting large amounts of storage and administrative space. The 1993 completion of

833-596: The Charters of Freedom, there are no lines to see the individual documents and visitors are allowed to walk from document to document as they wish. Photography with natural light is permitted in research rooms. From its founding, the U.S. federal government has documented its policies and decisions, but for almost 150 years it had virtually no method or place to safeguard historically important records. During those years, officials occasionally decried federal neglect, or too often, fires destroyed important documents, reinforcing

882-523: The Cold Storage Department to use the fur room where items such as dressed furs, carpets, rugs and other garments could be stored in order to protect them from moths and other insects that could destroy them. Artesian wells provided fresh pure water for refrigerating purposes as well as the manufacturing of ice. This was extremely important considering houses did not have refrigerators at the time and used ice to preserve food. Outside

931-684: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. In an electronic inspection of the documents in 1995, conservators noticed changes in the glass encasements of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Glass experts from Libby-Owens-Ford (the original manufacturer of the encasement glass) and the Corning Glass Museum determined that the case glass components were showing signs of deterioration. Both

980-672: The National Historic Landmarks are privately owned . The National Historic Landmarks Program relies on suggestions for new designations from the National Park Service, which also assists in maintaining the landmarks . A friends' group of owners and managers, the National Historic Landmark Stewards Association, works to preserve, protect and promote National Historic Landmarks. If not already listed on

1029-810: The National Register of Historic Places, an NHL is automatically added to the Register upon designation; about three percent of Register listings are NHLs. Washington, D.C. is home to three specifically legislated exceptions to this rule: the White House , the United States Capitol , and the United States Supreme Court Building . All are designated as NHLs, but are not on the National Register. Center Market, Washington, D.C. Center Market

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1078-555: The National Register, or as an NHL) often triggered local preservation laws, legislation in 1980 amended the listing procedures to require owner agreement to the designations. On October 9, 1960, 92 places, properties, or districts were announced as eligible to be designated NHLs by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton . Agreements of owners or responsible parties were subsequently obtained, but all 92 have since been considered listed on that 1960 date. The origins of

1127-583: The Past," quoting Confucius , and the woman's with "What is Past is Prologue," from The Tempest . At the base of the woman's feet are symbols representing "arts and sciences" and at the man's feet, "symbols of strength and unity," according to a historian who works for the National Archives. The statues guarding the south entrance of the building are named Heritage and Guardianship . These were carved by James Earl Fraser , assisted by David Rubins , Sidney Waugh and carver Gino A. Ratti . Heritage depicts

1176-404: The Rotunda and other public spaces. More significantly, earlier estimates about the need for future stack space proved to be quite insufficient. Almost as soon as Pope's original design was complete, a project to fill the Archives' interior courtyard began, doubling storage space from 374,000 square feet (34,700 m) to more than 757,000 square feet (70,300 m). John Russell Pope's vision of

1225-548: The United States secretary of the interior because they are: More than 2,500 NHLs have been designated. Most, but not all, are in the United States. There are NHLs in all 50 states and the national capital of Washington, D.C. Three states ( Pennsylvania , Massachusetts , and New York ) account for nearly 25 percent of the nation's NHLs. Three cities within these states, Philadelphia , Boston , and New York City , respectively, all separately have more NHLs than 40 of

1274-423: The area left vacant on the lot. A Plaque posted in front of the building provided extensive details on the building: All the buildings were two stories high and the 7th Street Wing and the 9th Street Wing were both flanked with two towers and a metal awning over the main entrances. Another metal awning ran the entire length of B Street NW and 9th Street NW. These protected shoppers visiting the outdoors stalls. For

1323-566: The basis for a three-dimensional scale model that was publicly unveiled in April 1929. The next month, after examining the model, the Commission of Fine Arts was highly critical of Simon's design for an archives. Commissioners suggested that the noted architect John Russell Pope be added to the Board of Architectural Consultants and that he design the National Archives. Pope was asked to join when

1372-402: The boiler room. The architect unconventionally designed the market building without alleys or driveways for traffic; by doing so, he hoped to encourage customers to stroll leisurely around the market. The building had three wings connected to one another with a total of 666 stalls: These three wings formed a U. An additional structure stood separate with 12 wholesale stores and a bank in

1421-484: The building's archival storage requirements. The building's exterior took more than 4 years to finish and required a host of workers ranging from sculptors and model makers to air-conditioning contractors and structural-steel workers. In November 1935, 120 National Archives staff members moved into their uncompleted building. Most of the exterior work was complete, but many stack areas, where records would be stored, had no shelving for incoming records. Work also continued on

1470-601: The building, other vendors sold similar produces but did not have access to the same storage facilities as inside. The Market was sitting on prime land along what was to become Constitution Avenue. It was incompatible with the McMillan Plan , a comprehensive planning document to redevelop the National Mall by removing the Victorian landscaping and building low Neoclassical museums and taller Federal buildings on

1519-481: The death of a board member created a vacancy. Pope's architectural vision transformed both the location and design of the National Archives Building. He successfully proposed relocating the Archives to the block between Seventh and Eighth Streets, a site he believed demanded a monumental building such as the National Archives. In place of Simon's design, Pope's National Archives was to be a neoclassical temple befitting an institution dedicated to American history. The site

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1568-481: The documents into hermetically sealed encasements filled with inert helium gas, which the Bureau believed would preserve the Charters well into the next century. Since the 1952 installation, National Archives conservators have conducted regular visual inspections of the encased documents. Since 1987, these inspections have been greatly enhanced through the use of an electronic imaging monitoring system developed for NASA by

1617-499: The east, Constitution Avenue on the south and 9th Street NW on the west. The Center Market was a hub for public transportation, since several of D.C.'s trolley lines converged there: In addition, street parking was available for the few cars of the time. Today, the National Archives Building stands in its place. Louisiana Ave NW has been renamed Indiana Ave NW east of 7th Street NE and no longer exists on

1666-593: The first National Historic Landmark was a simple cedar post, placed by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their 1804 outbound trek to the Pacific in commemoration of the death from natural causes of Sergeant Charles Floyd . The cedar plank was later replaced by a 100 ft (30 m) marble obelisk. The Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City, Iowa , was officially designated on June 30, 1960. NHLs are designated by

1715-471: The first time on December 5, 1963 in a hearing room on the second floor of the National Archives Building. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Archives and Records Administration . National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark ( NHL ) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that

1764-616: The glass experts and the National Archives Advisory Committee on Preservation recommended that the Charters be reencased within seven years (by 2002) to ensure the continued safety and preservation of the documents. In July 2001, the Charters were taken off display in the Rotunda to be removed from their deteriorating cases. National Archives conservators removed the documents from their cases and analyzed their condition. Appropriate conservation measures were taken on each document and they have been installed in

1813-589: The government use their stone. Ultimately, as in the other Federal Triangle buildings, limestone was used for the exterior superstructure and granite for the base. The limestone was provided by Ingalls Stone Company of Bedford, Indiana. Constructing the National Archives was a monumental task. Not only was the building the most ornate structure on the Federal Triangle, but it also called for installation of specialized air-handling systems and filters, reinforced flooring, and thousands of feet of shelving to meet

1862-419: The need for an archives. By the end of the 19th century, a few architects had even submitted plans to the government for an archives or a hall of records. By the early 20th century an organized effort aimed at creating the National Archives began, but not until 1926 did Congress finally approve the National Archives Building. That year, Congress authorized construction of the National Archives Building as part of

1911-523: The new encasements, returning to public display in September 2003. Outside of the National Archives building stands four statues, carved from 1934-1935. The sculptors were most likely chosen by the designer of the National Archives building, Pope and the Commission on Fine Arts . They were carved from large slabs of limestone, shipped to DC from Indiana on specifically designed flatcars . Two are on

1960-528: The penalty of five dollars for every offence." The first Center Market opened soon after on this land by the Washington City Canal (now Constitution Avenue ). It was a hub of commercial activity for the city and it is said that President Thomas Jefferson visited the market. Until the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia in 1862, slaves were sold at the market. It then became

2009-401: The project as Congress had not authorized the building. It was torn down but the walls were already up and showed what a modern market could look like. A new Center Market building was chartered and the company incorporated by an Act of Congress on May 20, 1870 and opened for business on July 1, 1872. It was designed by the same architect (Adolph Cluss) as the demolished building of 1864. It

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2058-498: The sides. Center Market closed on January 1, 1931 after over 130 years of activity at the site. Many of the vendors moved to the new Center Market on 5th Street NW and K Street NW. That market was originally known as the Northern Liberty Market and later as Convention Hall Market. The Center Market occupied an entire block with Pennsylvania Avenue NW on the northern side and Louisiana Ave NW, 7th Street NW on

2107-400: The south side of the building and two are on the north at the two main entrances of the building. These statues weigh 65-tons each and measure 10 feet tall, 25 feet with the pedestals. The statues to the north are of an old man, titled Past , and a young woman, titled Future or Present by Robert Aiken , assisted by Attilio Piccirilli . The man's pedestals is inscribed with "Study

2156-465: Was a market hall in Washington, D.C. designed by architect Adolph Cluss which operated in Washington, DC from 1872 to 1931. The building was demolished in 1931 to be replaced by the National Archives Building . A market called Center Market had been in operation on the same block of land since 1802. In 1931, the name of Center Market was transferred over to the Northern Liberty Market located

2205-663: Was already occupied by a prominent landmark, the Center Market . The building was demolished to make way for the archives building. Ground was broken for the National Archives on September 5, 1931, by the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Ferry K. Heath. By the time President Herbert Hoover laid the cornerstone of the building in February 1933, significant problems had arisen. Because the massive structure

2254-684: Was made for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on March 17, 1938. In 1960, the National Park Service took on the administration of the survey data gathered under this legislation, and the National Historic Landmark program began to take more formal shape. When the National Register of Historic Places was established in 1966, the National Historic Landmark program was encompassed within it, and rules and procedures for inclusion and designation were formalized. Because listings (either on

2303-471: Was needed with better ventilation and drainage. In 1863, Mayor Richard Wallach had Adolf Cluss and Joseph Wildrich von Kammerhueber design a brick structure on B Street NW (Constitution Avenue). A two-story building was designed and construction started. By June 1864, a unanimous vote from both the members of the House of Representatives District Committee and then the entire House of Representatives stopped

2352-673: Was operated by the Washington Market Company with as first principal Officers: At the time of its construction, it was the largest market hall in the country (57,500 square feet)—large enough to supply the rapidly growing urban population of D.C. with fresh groceries. The 9th Street Wing and Arcade were added in 1888 nearly doubling the capacity of the structure. In the process, it also added mechanical refrigeration with 400,000 cubic feet of cold storage rooms for meats using 10 miles of heavy two-inch brine pipes and electric lighting machinery. A very tall chimney stood above

2401-550: Was to be constructed above an underground stream, the Tiber Creek , 8,575 piles had been driven into the unstable soil, before pouring a huge concrete bowl as a foundation. Another difficulty arose over the choice of building materials. Both limestone and granite were authorized as acceptable, but construction began during the darkest days of the Great Depression, and suppliers of each material lobbied fiercely to have

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