Constitution Gardens

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Constitution Gardens

Constitution Gardens is a National Park in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, popularly understood as part of the National Mall

National Mall

The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the Capital of the United States. Officially termed by the National Park Service the National Mall & Memorial Parks, the term commonly includes the areas that are officially part of West Potomac Park and Constitution Gardens to the west, and often is taken to...
though actually adjacent to its officially designated area. The park is located in between the Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is a Presidential memorials in the United States built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C....
and the Washington Monument

Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is a large, tall, sand-colored obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It is a United States Presidential Memorial constructed to commemorate the first U.S....
, bounded on the north by Constitution Avenue

Constitution Avenue

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Encyclopedia

Constitution Gardens is a National Park in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

National Mall

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument

Constitution Avenue

In Washington, D.C., Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street running just north of the United States Capitol in the city's Northwest, Washington, D.C....
and on the south by the Reflecting Pool. Constitution Gardens has a small lake, which contains an island open to pedestrians.

The land that became Constitution Gardens was originally submerged beneath the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States. The river is approximately 383 statute miles long, with a Drainage basin of about 14,700 square miles ....
and was dredged at the beginning of the 20th century by the Army Corp of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military personnel, making it the world's largest public services engineering, design and construction management agency....
. The U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the navy of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy currently has approximately 331,682 personnel on active duty as of 31 December 2008 and 124,000 in the United States Navy Reserve....
built the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings

Main Navy and Munitions Buildings

The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings were constructed, along Constitution Avenue on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall in 1918, to provide temporary quarters for the United States Military....
as temporary offices on the land during World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. The buildings were demolished in 1970 due in part to lobbying by President

President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the only president to resign the office....
, who had served in the offices as a navy officer. President Nixon subsequently ordered that a park be established on the land, and in 1976, Constitution Gardens was finally dedicated as a "living legacy American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution refers to the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies of North America overthrew the governance of the British Empire and then rejected the British monarchy to become the sovereign United States of America....
Bicentennial

United States Bicentennial

The United States Bicentennial was celebrated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence....
tribute." It has been a separate park unit in the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the List of United States federal agencies that manages all List of areas in the United States National Park System, many U.S....
since 1982, administered under the National Capitol Parks-Central (NACC).

In July 1982, the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Declaration of independence

This article is about declarations of independence in general. Specific declarations of independence are listed below in alphabetical order. For the painting of this name, see Trumbull's Declaration of Independence....
Memorial was dedicated on the small island in the lake. On November 13 of the same year, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national war memorial in Washington, D.C. It honors members of the Military of the United States who fought in the Vietnam War and who died in service or are still unaccounted for....
was also dedicated within Constitution Gardens. President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
proclaimed the park a "living legacy tribute" to the Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
on September 17, 1986 in honor of the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution that year.

From March 17 to March 19, 2003, Constitution Gardens was the site of a bizarre standoff between federal police and a disgruntled tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines....
farmer, Dwight Watson

Dwight Watson

Dwight Ware Watson , dubbed the "Tractor Man" in the media, is a tobacco farmer from Whitakers, North Carolina, who brought much of Washington, DC to a standstill for two days when he drove a tractor into a pond on the National Mall and claimed to have explosives....
. Watson had driven his tractor into the center of the lake and claimed he had explosives, prompting the evacuation of the area and holding the FBI

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the primary unit in the United States United States Department of Justice, serving as both a Law enforcement agency body and a domestic intelligence agency....
and U.S. Park Police

United States Park Police

The United States Park Police is the oldest uniformed federal police agency in the United States. It functions as a full service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, California, and New York City areas and certain other go...
at bay for 48 hours before he surrendered. During the standoff, Watson dug up part of the island and damaged a retaining wall

Retaining wall

A retaining wall is a structure that holds back soil or rock from a building, structure or area. Retaining walls prevent downslope movement or erosion and provide support for vertical or near-vertical grade changes....
(for which he received a conviction for destroying federal property) but apparently did not harm any of the monuments.

As home to famous monuments, Constitution Gardens continues to have millions of visitors every year. It is also the site of an annual naturalization

Naturalization

Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship or nationality by somebody who was not a citizen or national of that country when he or she was born....
ceremony for new U.S. citizens hosted by the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the List of United States federal agencies that manages all List of areas in the United States National Park System, many U.S....
.

External links

, National Park Service