President's Park

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President's Park South
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	District of Columbia, USA
Coordinates:	38°53′39″N 77°2′13″W / 38.89417°N 77.03694°W / 38.89417; -77.03694
Area:	18.07 acres (73,130 m²)
Built/Founded:	1791
Architect:	L'Enfant,Pierre C.; Downing,A.J.
Visitation:	1,333,967 (2004)
Governing body:	National Park Service
Added to NRHP:	May 06, 1980
NRHP Reference#:	80000347 [1]

President's Park, located in Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House, a visitor center, Lafayette Park, and The Ellipse. President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Park and Square. The current President's Park is administered by the National Park Service.

Contents 1 White House 2 Lafayette Park 3 The Ellipse 3.1 History 3.2 Features 4 White House Visitor Center 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

[edit] White House

Washington, D.C. was designated as the site for the United States capital in the 1790 Residence Act, with authority given to President George Washington to ready the capital for the government by 1800. Contests were held to solicit designs for both the United States Capitol and the Presidents House. James Hoban's design was selected, and he supervised the construction. Later on, the White House was expanded with the West Wing, which now houses the office of the president and staff. The White House grounds include the South Lawn, Rose Garden, Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, and North Lawn.

[edit] Lafayette Park

Lafayette Park is a seven-acre (30,000 m²) public park located directly north of the White House on H Street, bounded by Jackson Place on the west, Madison Place on the east, and Pennsylvania Avenue. The park and the surrounding structures were designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1970. Planned as part of the pleasure grounds surrounding the Executive Mansion, this park was originally called "President's Park", which is now the name of the larger National Park Service unit. The park was separated from the White House grounds in 1804, when President Thomas Jefferson had Pennsylvania Avenue cut through. In 1824, the park was officially renamed in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the Frenchman who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Lafayette Park has been used as a racetrack, a graveyard, a zoo, a slave market, an encampment for soldiers during the War of 1812, and many political protests and celebrations. Andrew Jackson Downing landscaped Lafayette Park in 1851 in the picturesque style. Today's plan, with its five large statues, dates from the 1930s. In the center stands Clark Mills' equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson, erected in 1853. In the four corners are statues of foreign Revolutionary War heroes: the Marquis de Lafayette and Comte de Rochambeau of France, Tadeusz Kościuszko of Poland, and the Baron von Steuben of Prussia.

Lafayette Park has the "densest squirrel population known to science."^[2]

Concepcion Picciotto has lived in Lafayette Square on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue since August 1, 1981 in protest of nuclear arms.

[edit] The Ellipse

President's Park South (commonly called the Ellipse) is a 52-acre (210,000 m²) park located just south of the White House fence. Properly, the Ellipse is the name of the five-furlong (1 km) circumference street within the park. The entire park is open to the public, and features various monuments. The Ellipse is also the location for a number of annual events.

[edit] History

In 1791, the first plan for the park was drawn up by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. The Ellipse was known as "the White Lot" due to the whitewashed wooden fence that enclosed the park.

During the American Civil War, the grounds of the Ellipse and incomplete Washington Monument were used as corrals for horses, mules, and cattle, and as camp sites for Union troops.

The Army Corps of Engineers began work on the Ellipse in 1867. The park was landscaped in 1879, and American Elms were planted around the existing portion of roadway. In 1880, grading was begun and the Ellipse was created from what had been a common dump. In 1894, the Ellipse roadway was lit with electric lamps.

In the 1890s, Congress authorized the use of the Ellipse grounds to special groups, including religious meetings and military encampments. As late as 1990, baseball fields and tennis courts existed in the park. Sporting events and demonstrations are still held on the Ellipse. President's Park South came under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1933.

On Christmas Eve 1923, President Calvin Coolidge started an unbroken tradition by lighting the first "National Christmas Tree". The first tree, a cut balsam fir, was placed on the Ellipse by the District of Columbia Public Schools. From 1924 to 1953, live trees in various locations around and on the White House grounds were lit on Christmas Eve. In 1954, the ceremony returned to the Ellipse and with an expanded focus: the "Christmas Pageant of Peace". From 1954 through 1972, cut trees were used, but in 1973 a Colorado blue spruce from York, Pennsylvania was planted on the Ellipse. A replacement was planted in 1978.

On August 10, 1933, the Ellipse was transferred to the National Park Service, the legal successor of three federal commissioners appointed by the President under an act of July 16, 1790, which directed initial construction. Their authority developed through acts of May 1, 1802; April 19, 1816; March 3, 1849; March 2, 1867; July 1, 1898; February 26, 1925; March 3, 1933; and Executive Order of June 10, 1933. Under act of September 22, 1961, "the White House shall be administered pursuant to the act of August 25, 1916" and supplementary and amendatory acts. This NPS area was originally referred to simply as "The White House".

In 1942, during World War II, the National Park Service granted permission for the construction of barracks as a special emergency war-time measure. The temporary barracks were erected on the south side of the Old Executive Office Building and the entire First Division Monument grounds. The "White House Barracks" were demolished in 1954.

The Ellipse Visitor Pavilion was opened for visitors in May 1994. The facility is used to distribute free tickets for special events at the White House such as the Easter Egg Roll and the fall and spring Garden Tours. There also is an information window, concession area, restrooms, telephones, water fountains, and a first aid area, all accessible.

[edit] Features

• Visitor pavilion (location of visitor facilities staffed by National Park Rangers and National Park Service volunteers)
• Boy Scout Memorial by Donald De Lue
• Bulfinch Gatehouses by Charles Bulfinch
• Butt–Millet Memorial Fountain by Daniel Chester French
• Enid Haupt Fountains
• First Division Monument by Daniel Chester French
• Second Division Memorial by James Earle Fraser
• Original Settlers of the District of Columbia Memorial by Carl Mose
• National Christmas Tree
• Zero Milestone

Annual events on the Ellipse include the Christmas Pageant of Peace, the "Twilight Tattoo" military pageant, and the graduation ceremony for The George Washington University. It is also the queueing location for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll and the White House garden tours. Under the auspices of the National Park Service, the Capital Alumni Network and a number of neighborhood and military sports leagues play softball and flag football games on the grounds of the Ellipse. A number of ultimate competitions are also held by various groups throughout the warmer months.

The Ellipse Meridian Stone, located slightly under the surface near the center of the Ellipse, commemorates President Thomas Jefferson's idea of an American prime meridian.

[edit] White House Visitor Center

The White House Visitor Center is located in the north end of the Herbert C. Hoover Building (the Department of Commerce headquarters between 14th Street and 15th Street on Pennsylvania Avenue NW). The visitor center serves as a starting point for those going on a reserved tour of the White House. The various exhibits also provide an alternate visitor experience for those who did not schedule a tour. The themes of the six permanent exhibits are First Families, Symbols & Images, White House Architecture, White House Interiors, Working White House, and Ceremonies and Celebrations. Other exhibits change throughout the year.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• The National Parks: Index 2001-2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: President's park

• The White House
• White House Historical Association
• The Shape and History of The Ellipse in Washington, D.C. by Clark Kimberling

v • d • e White House Complex White House Executive Residence Basement Basement Ground floor China Room  • Office of the Curator  • Diplomatic Reception Room  • Chief Floral Designer  • Library  • Map Room  • Vermeil Room State floor Blue Room  • Cross Hall  • East Room  • Entrance Hall  • Family Dining Room  • Grand Staircase  • Green Room  • Red Room  • South Portico  • State Dining Room  • Chief Usher Second floor Center Hall  • Dressing Room  • East Bedroom  • East Sitting Hall  • Family Kitchen  • Lincoln Bedroom  • Lincoln Sitting Room  • President's Bedroom  • President's Dining Room  • Private Sitting Room  • Queens' Bedroom  • Queens' Sitting Room  • Treaty Room  • Truman Balcony  • West Bedroom  • West Sitting Hall  • Yellow Oval Room West Wing Cabinet Room  • Executive Office  • Oval Office  • Press Briefing Room  • Roosevelt Room  • Situation Room East Wing Office of the First Lady  • Graphics and Calligraphy Office  • Presidential Emergency Operations Center  • Social Secretary Old Executive Office Building Ceremonial Office of the Vice President  • Executive Offices Grounds The Ellipse  • Jacqueline Kennedy Garden  • Lafayette Park  • North Lawn  • President's Park  • Rose Garden  • South Lawn Streets 15th Street  • 17th Street  • Constitution Avenue  • E Street  • East Executive Avenue  • H Street NW  • Hamilton Place  • Jackson Place  • Madison Place  • Pennsylvania Avenue  • State Place  • West Executive Avenue

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