Washington, DC
Key
$ – Admission is charged
P – Parking
HA – Handicapped Accessible
SH – Shop
GT – Group or Coach tour available upon request
R – Rentals available
FS – Food Service
Anderson House – The Society of the Cincinnati – HA GT R SH
2118 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 785-2040
www.societyofthecincinnati.org
Experience the history and splendor of Gilded Age Washington at Anderson House, a 1905 Beaux Arts mansion built as the winter home of American ambassador Larz Anderson and his wife, Isabel. Anderson House, the headquarters of The Society of the Cincinnati since 1938, offers guided tours of the historic museum rooms, changing exhibitions, a research library, and public programs devoted to the history of Anderson House, the American Revolution, and the Society.
Dumbarton House – $ P HA R GT
2715 Q Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007-3071
(202) 337-2288
www.dumbartonhouse.org
Stately home of America’s first Register of the Treasury and Dolley Madison’s first stop while fleeing the British during the burning of Washington in 1814. Fine collection of Federal period decorative arts, textiles, fabrics, and furniture focused upon conveying a sense of life and values during the American Republic’s early years.
Fords Theatre – P HA SH GT FS
511 Tenth St, NW
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 347-4833
www.fordstheatre.org
The site of the April 14, 1865, assassination of President Lincoln, Ford’s Theatre holds a unique place in United States history. The theatre has enthralled millions of visitors since its reopening in 1968, and it is one of the most visited sites in the nation’s capital.
Ford’s Theatre’s mission is to celebrate the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and to explore the American experience through theatre and education. The Ford’s Theatre Society works to present the Theatre’s nearly one million visitors each year with a high quality historic and cultural experience. Their work is what makes this vibrant historic site an important tool for promoting the ideals of leadership, humanity and wisdom espoused by Abraham Lincoln.
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site – HA P SH GT
1411 W Street, SE
Washington, DC 20020
(202) 426-5961
www.nps.gov
Freed black slave and civil rights leader Frederick Douglass lived in this house from 1877 to 1895. Collections include family furnishings, documents, and personal artifacts related to Douglass’ work.
Heurich House Museum – HA R GT
1307 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 429-1894
www.heurichhouse.org
The Heurich House Mansion was built in 1892-1894 by German immigrant, brewer, real estate investor and philanthropist, Christian Heurich. The Heurich House Mansion is America’s Premier Late-Victorian House Museum.
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens – $ HA FS P SH GT R
4155 Linnean Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
202-686-5807
www.hillwoodmuseum.org
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, the grand estate of Post Cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, sits on 25 beautiful acres overlooking Rock Creek Park in northwest Washington, D.C. Bring friends and family to explore this fabulous gem—the art-filled Mansion, 13 acres of formal gardens, a greenhouse overflowing with orchids, and the HILLWOOD Café and Museum Shop. Free on-site parking.
The L. Ron Hubbard House Original Founding Church - P SH
1812 19th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009-5501
202-234-7490
http://www.lronhubbard.org/heritage-sites/dc.html
Historically restored landmark location of the first church of Scientology where writer, explorer and founder L. Ron Hubbard worked from 1957-1960 to establish a legacy that increasingly influences human rights, religion, literature, business and education as well as fields such as drug rehabilitation, criminal reform and literacy. See his early life and the development of his work through his personal photographs and artifacts and historically restored rooms. The location is actually two homes of a six-unit row house development in the Dupont Circle National Register historic area. The homes, designed by renowned architect Waddy Wood in 1904, are representative of turn of the century inventive beaux-arts ecelectism. Free admission. You may schedule a personal tour but it is not required. Call for more information.
President Lincoln’s Cottage at Soldiers’ Home - $ P HA SH GT R
Upshur Street at Rock Creek Church Road, NW
Washington, DC 20011
202-829-0436
www.lincolncottage.org
During the Civil War , President Lincoln and his family resided here from June to November of 1862, 1863, and 1864 making it the most historic site directly associated with Lincoln’s presidency aside from the White House. The site is open to the public for multi-media guided tours of the cottage. Galleries, interactive exhibits, and a museum store can be found in the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center.
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House NHS
1318 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 673-2402
www.nps.gov/mamc
This was the first official headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), founded in 1935 by Presidential Advisor, Educator and Activist, Mary McLeod Bethune and the last Washington DC residence of Mary McLeod Bethune. It commemorates Bethune’s leadership and legacy in the black women’s rights movement from 1943 to 1949. Appropriately, the house that once served as headquarters for the NCNW contains the National Archives for Black Women’s History, the only institution in the United States solely dedicated to this purpose. The archival holdings include the personal papers of African American women, records of their organizations, and a collection of more than 4000 photographs that document African American women’s activities in the 20th century. Designated a National Historic Site by Congress in 1982 the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House NHS became a unit of the National Park System in 1995.
Meridian International Center – P HA GT R
1624 Crescent Place, NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 939-5568
www.meridian.org
Meridian International Center is an educational and cultural institution, promoting international understanding through the exchange of people, ideas and the arts. The organization s three-acre site encompasses two historic mansions, Meridian House and White-Meyer House, and their surrounding gardens. Both houses, built in the early 1900s, were designed by noted architect John Russell Pope and are listed on the national Register of Historic Places. Originally serving as the retirement homes for Ambassadors Laughlin and White, White-Meyer was later purchased by Eugene Meyer, owner of The Washington Post.
The Octagon House
1799 New York Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20006-5207
202) 638-3105
When the British burned the White House, President and Mrs. Madison moved into one of the most beautiful homes in Washington, D.C. A short block from the White House stands the Octagon, a National Historic treasure. One of the first great homes built in the new nation’s capital, the Octagon is a landmark of America’s architectural, political, and cultural history. Completed in 1801 for the eminent Tayloe family and designed by William Thornton, the original architect of the U.S. Capitol, the Octagon is one of the most significant and elegant buildings to remain standing from the early federal city. It was in the upstairs parlor that President Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815 establishing peace with Great Britain. In 1899, The American Institute of Architects chose the severely deteriorated building as its new national headquarters, initiating a series of state-of-the-art restorations. After over two centuries of use, adaptation, renovation, and restoration, the Octagon continues to serve as a reminder of the great beauty of early American design and the lasting value of architectural excellence.
Beginning June 1, 2010, the Octagon House will be open for audio tours — Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. For additional information please contact events@aia.org
Sewall-Belmont House and Museum – R SH GT
144 Constitution Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 546-1210
www.sewallbelmont.org
Steps from the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court, the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, completed in 1799, is the headquarters of the historic National Woman’s Party and one of the premier women’s history sites in the nation. With more than 150 years of archives and artifacts from the suffrage and equal rights movement, this National Historic Landmark celebrates women’s long quest for citizenship and equality.
The Stephen Decatur House Museum – HA P SH GT R
1610 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 842-0920
www.decaturhouse.org
Designed by architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe for naval hero Stephen Decatur and located across from the White House, Decatur House has remained one of Washington’s most distinguished addresses since its construction in 1818.
Tudor Place Historic House & Garden – $ SH GT
1644 31st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007
(202) 965-0400
www.tudorplace.org
This 1816 neoclassical house, built by Martha Custis Peter, Martha Washington’s granddaughter, displays six generations of family furnishings, including a substantial collection of Mount Vernon objects and 5 ½ acres of gardens.
The White House – HA SH
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20502
(202) 456-7041
www.whitehouse.gov
Public tours of the White House are available for groups of 10 or more people. Requests must be submitted through one’s Member of Congress and are accepted up to six months in advance. These self-guided tours are available from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Fridays, and 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturdays (excluding federal holidays). Tour hours will be extended when possible based on the official White House schedule. Tours are scheduled on a first come, first served basis. We encourage you to submit your request as early as possible since a limited number of tours are available. All White House tours are free of charge. For the most current tour information, please call the 24-hour line at 202-456-7041. Please note that White House tours may be subject to last minute cancellation.
Woodley
3000 Cathedral Avenue
Washington, DC 20008
www.woodleysociety.org
Woodley, a Federal style manor house, was built in 1801 by Philip Barton Key, the only former Loyalist to achieve national prominence and win a seat in Congress. At various times in the 19th Century, Woodley served as the summer White House, and in the 20th, it was home to a number of prominent Americans including George Patton and Henry Stimson. In 1950 it was bought and incorporated into Maret School.
Woodrow Wilson House (National Trust) – $ HA SH R GT
2340 S Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 387-4062
www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org
Washington, D.C.’s only presidential museum is the home of Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) — educator, president, and world statesman — who founded the League of Nations and shaped the modern U.S. presidency. His public career and his life as a private citizen are traced in an impressive collection of White House objects, elaborate gifts of state from around the world, family items, and personal mementoes. Furnished as it was in Wilson’s time, the fashionable 1915 house just off Embassy Row is a living textbook of modern American life in the 1920s — from sound recordings to silent films, from flapper dresses to zinc sinks.