US Capitol building ruins at the National Arboretum, Washington DC

[Cirrus]

In 1958 the US Capitol building was renovated. As part of that renovation, 24 of the building's Corinthian columns were removed. They sat in storage until the mid 1980s, when someone got the bright idea of putting them in a park. Thus, they are now arranged in the US National Arboretum, a large park in Northeast DC that's well removed from the National Mall.














A few other loose shots from the arboretum:














BONUS: If you're in DC and you see 3 large, identical helicopters fly overhead, you are looking at the President's flotilla. Obama is either in this picture, or they're on their way to pick him up.

[202_Cyclist]

I need to visit both the National Arboretum and the McMillan filtration site.

[Danny]

Nice walk! Thanks for your pictures, Cirrus.

I didn´t know the history of those columns. Very educational.

The US National Arboretum looks pretty. Curious last shot of the President's flotilla, thought I suppose it must be usual to see those helicopters living in D.C.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[peanut gallery]

Nice shots, Cirrus, and thanks for the history lesson. I had never heard about this before. One of these summers I'm taking the family to DC and it looks like the arboretum is a spot we'll want to visit. It looks beautiful.

[xzmattzx]

Wow, I had no idea that old Capitol columns existed like this and were just sitting in a park. Where on the Capitol were they? Why were they removed?

[202_Cyclist]

DC's own Ephesus!

[ethereal_reality]

I had no idea the old columns still existed. Thanks for the post Cirrus.

[brickell]

Surprised it took them so long to figure this out. Pretty nice setup. I'll definitely have to add the arboretum to my next trip.

[Ricopedra]

Thanks for this special tour...It looks like they changed the original columns, though, is this true? Here's a fluted look:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/CorinthOrdUsCap.jpg

Kudos to the local visionary!

[STLgasm]

Neato torpedo!

[arkitekte]

Nice. Reminds me of the Windsor Plantation ruins.

[Serenade]

I lived in DC for 2 years and never visited this place or knew much about it. Big mistake.

[bobdreamz]

Those columns are huge!

[KevinFromTexas]

That's interesting. I also did not realize they had removed them during the renovation. And I'm guessing they are solid marble, no? I know that the columns on the Texas Capitol are not solid and are actually made of iron. You can walk up and knock on one and hear the hollow drum sound.

[volguus zildrohar]

That's pretty dramatic. Something new for me to check out whenever I'm down there again.

[ColDayMan]

Who knew.

[photoLith]

They arent really ruins, as they were put there intentionally.

[giovanni sasso]

cool. like most of the others here, i've never heard of this before. good stuff.

[Cirrus]

Thanks for the comments, all.

Looking at these, I think I need a UV filter.

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Where on the Capitol were they? Why were they removed?

You can read more about them here.

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

And I'm guessing they are solid marble, no? I know that the columns on the Texas Capitol are not solid and are actually made of iron. You can walk up and knock on one and hear the hollow drum sound.

I would expect they are solid marble.

[Jeff]

this thread proves to me why I keep coming to this site! love this kind of stuff!