NATIONAL MUSEUM BUILDINGS. 187 



Goode, as recorded in his paper on the Sii'.iflisoniaii Building- and 

 Grounds.'* 



After the present site had l)een selected there appears to have heen some dissatis- 

 faction in regard to it; nor is this to be wondered at, since at that time the Mall was 

 remote from the inhabited portion of the city, being a part of what was then known 

 as "The Island," now called South Washington. This portion of the city was cut 

 off by an old and unsightly canal running to the Potomac and crossed by simple 

 wooden bridges at four 2)oints lietween the Capitol and the Potomac River. It was 

 unfeneed and waste, occupied from time to time by military encampments and by 

 traveling sho^nnen. After the completion of the east wing in 1850, when the first 

 lectures were held in the Institution, the Regents were oljliged to build plank walks 

 for the accommodation of visitors. Indeed, with the exception of the Capitol 

 grounds and those surrounding the Executive Mansion, the open places in the city 

 were entirely unimproved. 



Soon after the selection of the present site the question was reconsidered by the 

 Board, and a committee appointed to obtain, if possible, another location. In the 

 bill as it finally passed Congress permission had been given to locate the building 

 on the space between the Patent Office and Seventh street, now occupied by the 

 building used for the offices of the Interior Department. This was partly to enable 

 the Institution to utilize for its collecti(ins the large hall in the Patent Office then 

 assigned to the "National Cabinet of Curiosities," partly, no doubt, to secure a more 

 central location. To obtain this ground, however, it was necessary to have the 

 approval of the President of the United States and other public officials, which was 

 not found practicable. The committee fixed upon Judiciary Square, an open space 

 of rough ground, in which at that time the city hall (a portion of the present struc- 

 ture), the infirmary, and the city jail were located. Though the adjoining streets 

 were entirely vacant, this site was regarded as much more accessible than the ]\Iall. 



A proposition was submitted to the common council of the city of "Washington, 

 that the site of the city hall should be resigned for the use of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution upon its offering to pay to the city $50,000, a sum deemed sufficient to erect a 

 building for the use of the city government upon the site south of Pennsylvania 

 avenue, between Seventh and Ninth streeis, now occupied by the Center Market. 

 A bill was introduced into Congress, authorizing the Regents to purchase the city 

 hall, but the common council refused to consider the proposition and the site of the 

 Mall was used. 



That part of the Mall appropriated to the Institution has been known 

 as the Smithsonian reservation, while to the entire square between 

 Seventh street and Twelfth street, west, includino- the reservation, 

 the name Smithsonian Park has been commonly applied. 



At their meetings of December 4, 184:6, and January 28, 1847, the 

 Regents appropriated a total sum of $1,000 for grading, la3dng out, 

 and planting the grounds of the Institution, tinder the direction of the 

 building committee, which was also authorized to expend not over 

 $10,000 in the construction of a permanent fence around the grounds. 

 The latter, however, was erected for less than $500. 



In 1818, the building committee entered into a contract with John 

 Douglas, of Washington, to the extent of $1,050 for inclosing the 

 reservation with a hedge and for planting trees and shrubs. The 



^'The Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1896. The History of its First Half Century, 

 pp. 247-264. 



