James Smithson's Crypt - The Founder Who Never Came
A stop on Washington DC National Mall Walking Tour, a free self-guided tour.
Just inside the Castle's north entrance, the one facing the Mall, is a small room that holds the tomb of James Smithson. While the Castle is closed for renovation you cannot visit it, but its story explains why the Smithsonian is here at all.
Smithson, the son of an English duke, was born outside marriage and never used his father's name. He died in Genoa, Italy, in 1829 and was buried there. In 1903 the Italian cemetery was due to be moved, and Alexander Graham Bell, then a Smithsonian regent, went to Genoa to bring his remains back. They arrived in Washington in January 1904 with a military escort.
The tomb itself is the monument that stood over his grave in Genoa. When the Castle reopens, it is one of the first things you can see inside.
Next, walk around behind the Castle to the Enid A. Haupt Garden.
More on Wikipedia: James Smithson · Alexander Graham Bell · Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland
Stops on this tour
- Washington Monument
- National Museum of African American History and Cu
- National Museum of American History
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
- National Gallery of Art
- United States Capitol
- United States Botanic Garden
- National Museum of the American Indian
- National Air and Space Museum
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- The Smithsonian Institution Building - The Castle
- Freer Gallery of Art
- Jefferson Memorial
- World War II Memorial
- Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
- Korean War Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- White House Ellipse
- White House
- Lafayette Square