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Since the White House was first occupied by President John Adams in 1800, influential people and organizations—or those who hoped to have influence—have bought property and built homes and offices along the streets surrounding the White House.
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Since the White House was first occupied by President John Adams in 1800, influential people and organizations—or those who hoped to have influence—have bought property and built homes and offices along the streets surrounding the White House. For more than two centuries, this neighborhood has been the setting for political decision-making and diplomacy, social gatherings and protests, wartime expediencies and
The 18th century uses of Lafayette Square included a family graveyard, an apple orchard, a racetrack, and a market. The federal government eventually purchased the land as part of the White House grounds and workers, including numerous enslaved African Americans, camped there during its construction. To create a grand avenue in front of the White House, President Thomas Jefferson ordered
Peter Waddell's painting re-creates the historic square north of the White House in 1902, the year President Theodore Roosevelt remodeled the house. To the right of the White House, one can see that the conservatories have been removed from the roof of President Thomas Jefferson's west terrace. At the end of this terrace the Temporary Executive Office is under construction. It
A slave helps craft this statue and the Capitol's statue of freedom... A statue of Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans occupies the center of Lafayette Square. Erected in 1853, it was the first bronze statue cast in the country and the first equestrian statue in the world to be balanced solely on the horse's hind legs. The sculptor,
Featuring Katherine Malone-France, Vice President for Historic Sites at National Trust for Historic Preservation and Osborne Mackie, author and antiques & fine arts expert
The White House Historical Association has released At Home in the President’s Neighborhood: A Photographic Tour. Gold medal winner of the 2016 Independent Publishers Book Awards, the book presents a contemporary view of the city through the lens of acclaimed photographer Bruce M. White’s camera. The 200 never before published photographs are introduced with commentary by historian William Seale and capt
The White House Historical Association has announced its forthcoming book, To Live on Lafayette Square: Society and Politics in the White House Neighborhood, by historian and author Dr. William Seale, out May 15, 2019. This publication details the lives of those who once lived in Lafayette Square, just across from Pennsylvania Avenue and the White House, when the fashionable neighborhood was a
The White House Historical Association (WHHA), in partnership with the National Park Service, today unveiled historical markers in Lafayette Square and commemorated the birthday of its founder First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. These events were the latest in a series of programs marking the Association’s 60th anniversary since its founding by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961.“We are proud to commemorate the vita
The White House Historical Association (WHHA), in partnership with the National Park Service, today unveiled the addition of new, recorded audio components to the historic wayside markers installed earlier this summer in Lafayette Square. This event is the latest in a series of programs marking the Association’s 60th anniversary since its founding by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961.These audio recordings of
