Table of Contents Monumental City 4 Important People Important Places 15 Miles of Museums 18 Sports Food and Fun 24 Timeline 29 Glossary 30 Index 31 Show What You Know 31 Websites to Visit 31 About the Author 32 Washington D C Facts Founded 1790 Land area 61 05 square miles 158 12 square kilometers Elevation 150 feet 45 72 meters above sea level Previous names None Population 658,893 Average Daytime Temperatures winter 45 7 degrees Fahrenheit 7 3 degrees Celsius spring 66 degrees Fahrenheit 18 7 degrees Celsius summer 86 3 degrees Fahrenheit 30 degrees Celsius fall 57 7 degrees Fahrenheit 20 degrees Celsius Ethnic diversity African-American 49 American Indian or Alaska Native 0 6 Asian 4 0 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 0 2 Hispanic or Latino 10 4 White 35 8 City Nicknames The Nation’s Capital Number of Visitors Annually 20 million United States MD Washington D C VA Washington D C Maryland
Monumental City George Washington the first United States president picked the location for Washington D C in 1790 His friend Pierre L’Enfant designed the city Pierre wanted the new city to have wide avenues He lined its streets with trees He liked open spaces Great views were his dream With his design you can see several monuments from one place D C Notes New York was the first U S capital Philadelphia was the second Washington D C was chosen as the capital in 1791 as a compromise with southern states They thought Philadelphia was too far north The National Mall and Memorial Parks manages park properties throughout downtown Washington D C including the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool 4
The National Mall is a large area of greenspace that stretches from the U S Capitol to the Potomac River The Mall has some of the most famous monuments in the world It’s like your history book opened and everything jumped out Do you like fireworks It’s a party on July 4th Fireworks light the night sky around the Washington Monument Monuments in the National Mall Monument Washington Monument Opened 1888 Lincoln Memorial Vietnam Veterans Memorial World War ll Memorial Washington Monument Lincoln Memorial D C War Memorial Jefferson Memorial Vietnam Veterans Memorial Korean War Veterans Memorial Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial World War II Memorial Martin Luther King Jr Memorial 1922 1931 1943 1982 1995 1997 2004 2011 Korean War Veterans Memorial Potomac River D C War Memorial Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Jefferson Memorial 5
