Arts and Industries Building - one of the Smithsonian’s original museum buildings

Completed in 1881, the Arts and Industries Building at 900 Jefferson Drive SW was the Smithsonian Institution’s second dedicated museum building and served as the National Museum for many decades. The Romanesque Revival structure is notable as one of the earliest purpose-built museum buildings in Washington and has hosted major exhibitions and special programs since its periodic reopenings. The building’s historic role in the early public display of scientific and cultural collections makes it a singular early landmark in the Smithsonian’s institutional history.