Subject
Museums
Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building (Washington, D.C.)
Museum buildings
Mall, The (Washington, D.C.)
Historic buildings
Description
Photographs of the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall. The Arts and Industries Building was built in 1879 to house the first Smithsonian museum,The United States National Museum, which opened in 1881. Around 1911 the building was renamed the Arts and Industries Building and displayed historical collections of all types till the opening of the National Museum of American History in January 1964. The building was then used to display the collections of the National Air Museum until 1976 when the Air and Space Museum opened. It housed various collections until 2006 when the building was closed for renovations. In 2015 the building reopened for use for special events. Major renovations of the interior occured in the 1960s, historic conservation and restoration of the building in the 1970s, and repairs and renovations of the HVAC, electrical systems, and general building structure from 2006-2014.