President's Park, located in Downtown Washington, D.C., encompasses the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

and includes the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Treasury Building, and grounds; the

White House Visitor Center The White House Visitors Office is responsible for public tours of the White House, for maintaining a facility where the public can obtain information about the White House, and for other White House events such as the White House Easter Egg Roll ...

; Lafayette Square; and

The Ellipse The Ellipse (sometimes referred to as President's Park South) is a park south of the White House fence and north of Constitution Avenue and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Ellipse is also the name of the circumference street within th ...

. President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Square. The current President's Park is administered by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government within the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of ...

. The park is officially referred to as President's Park or The White House and President's Park.

White House and adjacent buildings

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 June 1800. Contests were held to solicit designs for both the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...

and what was then called the President's House. James Hoban's design was selected, and he supervised the construction. Later on, the future "

" was expanded with the West Wing and

East Wing The East Wing of the White House is a two-story structure that serves as office space for the First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non ...

, which now houses the office of the president and staff. The White House grounds include the

South Lawn The South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., is directly south of the house and is bordered on the east by East Executive Drive and the Treasury Building, on the west by West Executive Drive and the Old Executive Office Building, ...

, Rose Garden, Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, and

North Lawn The North Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, is bordered on the north by Pennsylvania Avenue with a wide view of the mansion, and is screened by dense plantings on the east from East Executive Drive and the Treasury Building, and on th ...

. To the west of the White House, across from the West Wing is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (formerly State, War, and Navy) and to the east is the Treasury Building.

Lafayette Square

Lafayette Square is a 6.97 acre (28,191 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 Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD ...

to the south. The square and the surrounding historic townhouse structures were designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

District in 1970. Planned as part of the pleasure grounds surrounding the Executive Mansion, this square was originally called "President's Park", which is now the name of the larger

unit. The park was separated from the White House grounds in 1804, when third President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the nati ...

had Pennsylvania Avenue cut through east–west. In 1824, the park was officially renamed in honor of the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

, the Frenchman and military officer who fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

(1775–1783). Lafayette Square has been used as a racetrack, a graveyard, a zoo, a slave market, an encampment for soldiers during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

, and many political protests and celebrations. Andrew Jackson Downing landscaped Lafayette Square in 1851 in the picturesque style.

The Ellipse

President's Park South (commonly called the Ellipse) is a 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. D.C. locals can often be heard to say they are "on the Ellipse", which is understood to mean that the individual is on the field that is bounded by Ellipse Road. The park was conceived in 1791, the first plan for the park was drawn up by Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant, and during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

(1861–1865), the grounds of the Ellipse and incomplete

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and ...

were used as corrals for horses, mules, and cattle, and as camp sites for Union troops. The Army Corps of Engineers began landscaping work on the Ellipse in 1867 and worked on it through the late 1880s.

White House Visitor Center

The White House Visitor Center is located in the north end of the

Herbert C. Hoover Building The Herbert C. Hoover Building is the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the United States Department of Commerce. The building is located at 1401 Constitution Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., on the block bounded by Constitution Avenue NW t ...

(the Department of Commerce headquarters off The Ellipse, between 14th Street and 15th Street on Pennsylvania Avenue NW). Since

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, the visitor center no longer serves as a starting point for those going on a reserved tour of the White House. The various exhibits provide an alternative visitor experience for those not able to go on 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.

References

External links

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The White House

White House Historical Association

The Shape and History of The Ellipse in Washington, D.C.
by Clark Kimberling {{authority control White House Parks in Washington, D.C. National Park Service areas in Washington, D.C. Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette