The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden was established by an Act of Congress in 1966, and opened, on the National Mall, in 1974. The name AND SCULPTURE GARDEN was written into the name of the museum – that’s how important sculptures were to Hirshhorn. Joseph Hirshhorn was born in 1899 in Latvia and immigrated to…
Category: SW

Wharf and East Potomac Park Jitney
The other day I was riding my bike around Hains Point when a helpful NPS Ranger asked if I knew about the ferry. When I told him I didn’t, he shared the details with me. Thanks, #NPSRanger. Throughout the summer (April – November), the Wharf runs a jitney across the Washington Channel to East Potomac…

Lobsterman
Statue: Maine LobstermanLocation: Southwest waterfrontPlacement: 1983Sculptor: Victor KahillCost to Taxpayers: $0, $30,000 raised by Camp Fire Girls of Cundys Harbor, Maine A bronze statue of a Maine lobsterman is located on Maine Avenue in Southwest on the Potomac waterfront in Washington. This statue is a gift from Maine. In 1939 Victor B. Kahill, a Lebanese…

John Ericsson
Statue: John Ericsson Location: West Potomac Park, 23rd Street and Ohio Drive, SW Sculptor: James Earle Fraser Dedication: May 29, 1926 Cost to Taxpayer: $35,000 One year after the death of John Ericsson a bill requesting $30,000 for a memorial to him was proposed in the Senate and referred to the House Library Committee. Apparently…

Bartholdi Fountain
Bartholdi‘s Renaissance-style fountain of cast iron was first exhibited at the International Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Congress bought it a year later for $6,000. Its first location was at the base of Capitol Hill to the south of where the Grant Memorial is located. Later it was removed and stored. And in 1932…