Historic Things to Do in the Washington, D.C. Area

Ford’s Theatre Gallery of Art National Zoo Memorial Parks Chinatown

Historic buildings and sites abound in Washington, D.C. When you stay at the conveniently located Quality Inn & Suites in College Park, Maryland, you’ll be within 10 miles of many of them, including Ford’s Theatre, Constitution Hall and the Smithsonian Institution. Below, you can read about these American classics along with other prominent places of interest that make our neighborhood truly unique.

Ford’s Theatre. Opened in August 1863 by entrepreneur John T. Ford, the downtown Washington, D.C. theatre closed nearly two years later after President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. The government purchased the property in 1866 and over the next 90 years it was an office building, warehouse and museum. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a Congressional act to restore the theatre. Reconstruction began ten years later. In 1968, a beautifully restored Ford’s Theatre reopened with the play “John Brown’s Body.” Today, this national historic and cultural site continues to be a live, working theatre. For more information, visit www.fordstheatre.org 

National Air and Space Museum. Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Air and Space Museum maintains the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world. Discover hundreds of artifacts, including the original Wright 1903 Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 command module, a lunar rock sample, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay and Space Shuttle Enterprise. For more information, visit www.nasm.si.edu/museum  [Top]

National Gallery of Art. The National Gallery of Art houses one of the finest collections in the world illustrating major achievements in painting, sculpture, decorative arts and works on paper from the Middle Ages to the present. Before you even enter the museum, you can view more than 110,000 objects and images online. Search the entire collection by specific artist, title or a combination of criteria. For more information, visit www.nga.gov

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s permanent exhibition, “The Holocaust,” spans three floors of the Museum building. It presents a narrative history featuring more than 900 artifacts, 70 video monitors and four theaters that include historic film footage and eyewitness testimonies. The exhibition is divided into three parts: “Nazi Assault,” “Final Solution,” and “Last Chapter.” For more information, visit www.ushmm.org  [Top]

National Zoo. The National Zoological Park is a part of the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex. Set on 163 acres amid Rock Creek Park in the heart of Washington, D.C., the zoo is home to more than 2,400 individual animals of 400 different species. The best known residents are the giant pandas, Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and their cub, Tai Shan. For more information, visit www.nationalzoo.si.edu

Maryland Science Center. The Maryland Science Center in Baltimore is the state’s oldest scientific institution and one of the oldest in the entire nation. A major expansion and renovation of the entire facility was completed in May of 2004. One of the highlights was the addition of a permanent hall showcasing dinosaurs and earth sciences. For more information, visit http://www.mdsci.org  [Top]

National Mall & Memorial Parks. The National Mall is the public promenade extending from 3rd Street near the Capitol to 14th Street. It is the continuation of that space where congressionally authorized park icons, such as the Washington Monument, WWII and Lincoln Memorials, stand. In addition to the memorial core, the park includes some 156 circles, fountains and other open spaces. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/nama

Mormon Temple & Visitors Center. The design of the Washington D.C. Temple in Kensington, Maryland follows the pattern of  the Salt Lake Temple with six spires adjoining the building at either end. It is located on a wooded hill overlooking Rock Creek Park. The Washington D.C. Temple was the first since the Los Angeles Temple to include an assembly hall. Learn all about the temple through one of the most technologically advanced religious exhibits at the Washington D.C. Temple Visitors Center. This multimedia presentation includes interactive exhibits, videos and a stunning reproduction of the Christus statue. Free guided tours are available. Plus, many concerts and lectures are held at the center throughout the year. For more information, visit www.lds.org/placestovisit/location/0,10634,1836-1-1-1,00.html  [Top]

Chinatown. The world’s largest single-span Chinese arch forms the gateway to an array of colorful restaurants and shops. Designed by Alfred Liu at the behest of Washington, D.C. and Beijing, Washington’s sister city, the huge seven-roofed, wooden archway features the words “zhongguo cheng,” which translates to Chinese city or Chinese quarters.

Each winter, the Chinese New Year is celebrated in grand fashion with a parade and firecrackers, drawing crowds from the entire metropolitan area. For more information, visit http://www.culturaltourismdc.org

DAR Constitution Hall. Each year, more than 600,000 people pass through the doors of DAR Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C.’s largest concert hall. The Hall, owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution and originally built in 1929 to house its annual convention, is a Registered National Historic Landmark. Past performers and speakers have included comedians Jay Leno and Bill Cosby, newsmen Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw and singers Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston. For more information, visit www.dar.org/conthall/default.cfm  [Top]