District of Columbia
10 historic landmarks in District of Columbia, across six eras of American history. Start with The White House, Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument.
- Landmarks
- 10
- Eras
- 6
Pictured The White House
Matt H. Wade · CC BY-SA · via Wikimedia Commons
Landmarks in District of Columbia
- Early Republic
The White House
Washington, DC
The White House has been the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States since 1800, making it one of the most recognizable symbols of the American presidency and of the nation itself.
The 20th CenturyLincoln Memorial
Washington, DC
The Lincoln Memorial honors Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president, who led the United States through the Civil War and the end of slavery.
The 19th CenturyWashington Monument
Washington, DC
The Washington Monument is the towering marble obelisk at the heart of the National Mall, built to honor George Washington — commander of the Continental Army and first President of the United States.
Early RepublicUnited States Capitol
Washington, DC
The United States Capitol is the seat of the U.S. Congress and one of the most recognizable symbols of American democracy.
Civil WarFord's Theatre
Washington, DC
Ford's Theatre is where the course of American history turned on the night of April 14, 1865.
The 19th CenturySmithsonian Institution Building
Washington, DC
The Smithsonian Institution Building, universally known as 'the Castle,' is the founding home of the world's largest museum, education, and research complex — built on the gift of a British scientist who never once set foot in the country he endowed.
Gilded AgeLibrary of Congress
Washington, DC
Born from a wartime loss and rebuilt on Thomas Jefferson's own library, the Library of Congress grew into the largest library in the world — a monument to the Enlightenment conviction that a democracy depends on an informed citizenry.
The 20th CenturyJefferson Memorial
Washington, DC
The Jefferson Memorial is the only presidential memorial modeled on a building its subject actually designed himself — a fitting tribute to the architect-president whose own words on liberty and religious freedom are carved into its walls.
The 20th CenturyVietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington, DC
A stark, unornamented wall of names that broke every rule of heroic war memorial design — and, in doing so, became one of the most visited and emotionally powerful memorials in the world.
The 21st CenturyMartin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Washington, DC
The first National Mall memorial to honor a Black American and someone who never held the presidency, standing on a direct sightline between the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials as a deliberate claim on the nation's founding promises.
Historical Essays
Civil WarFrom Sumter to Appomattox: The Civil War in Five Places
Four years of war, from the first shots in Charleston Harbor to a surrender in a Virginia parlor and a gunshot in a Washington theater — told through five landmarks you can still visit.
Old USA Editors · 2 min read · September 28, 2026
Civil RightsLandmarks of the Civil Rights Movement
A high school in Little Rock, the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a bridge in Selma and a street in Atlanta — places where the movement for civil rights changed the country.
Old USA Editors · 2 min read · September 28, 2026
- The 20th Century · The 19th Century
Reading the National Mall: Five Memorials and What They Remember
An obelisk that took almost four decades to build, a temple to Lincoln, a rotunda for Jefferson, a black wall of names and a stone of hope — how the memorials of the Mall were made, and what they ask of visitors.
Old USA Editors · 2 min read · September 28, 2026