The Capitol Reflecting Pool is a

reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water with a reflective surface, undisturbed by fountain jets. Design Reflecting pools are o ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, United States. It lies to the west of the

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

and is the westernmost element of the Capitol grounds (or the easternmost element of the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...

, according to some reckonings). The Capitol Dome and the

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring American Civil War general and 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. It sits at the base of Capitol Hill (Union Square, the Mall, 1st Str ...

are reflected in its waters.

Description

The Capitol Reflecting Pool is located at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built above a tunnel of northbound Interstate 395 lanes. Six acres in size, it occupies over half of the area known as Union Square. It is set into a plaza that includes, on the east, the ''Ulysses S. Grant Memorial''; to its west is a tree-dotted grassy area that extends to Third Streets, NW and SW. Nearby tourist destinations include the Capitol, the U.S. Botanic Garden, and the

museums A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

and galleries along the Mall.

History

The Capitol Reflecting Pool was included in master plans for the Washington Mall area prepared by the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill in the 1960s and 1970s to reduce vehicular traffic on the Mall and facilitate pedestrian and recreational use. (Other elements of the plan were the creation of the Third Street Tunnel under the Mall and the relocation of a memorial to Civil War General George G. Meade from the northwest section of Union Square; that memorial now stands near the intersection of

Constitution Avenue Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the Northwest, Washington, D.C., northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and ...

and

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...

, NW). The new pool was designed to serve as a counterpart to the one at the western end of the Mall, between the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

and the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

. Since its completion in 1971, it has been a popular attraction. The broad, gently sloped limestone coping and the steps that lead down from ground level afford seating for visitors as they enjoy the reflections of the Capitol, the surrounding sights, and the sky as well as the ducks and seagulls that often swim in the pool.

References

Architect of the Capitol webpage on the CRP
{{coord, 38.8898, -77.0137, display=title Landmarks in Washington, D.C. Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C.

Description

History

See also

References