Andrew Jackson Downing

Andrew Jackson Downing (HMVDF)

Location: Washington, DC 20560
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 53.301', W 77° 1.527'

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Inscription
[Inscription on urn pedestal, 1856]:
This vase was erected by his friends in memory of

ANDREW JACKSON DOWNING

who died July 28, 1852, aged 37 years.

He was born, and lived, and died upon the Hudson River. His life was devoted to the improvement of the national taste in rural art, an office for which his genius and the natural beauty amidst which he lived had fully endowed him.
His success was as great as his genius, and for the death of few public men was public grief ever more sincere.
When these grounds were proposed, he was at once called to design them; but before they were completed he perished in the wreck of the steamer, Henry Clay.
His mind was singularly just, penetrating, and original. His manners were calm, reserved, and courteous. His personal memory belongs to the friends who loved him; his fame to the country which honors and laments him.

[Inscription on marker panel, placed in 1989]:
Andrew Jackson Downing Urn

Designed in memory of Andrew Jackson Downing by Calvert Vaux, Downing's architectural partner, 1856 Carrera marble urn & American marble base and pedestal.

In 1850, Andrew Jackson Downing transformed the Mall into the nation's first landscaped public park using informal, romantic arrangements of circular carriage drives and plantings of rare American trees. Downing's design endured until 1934, when the mall was restored to Pierre L'Enfant's 1791 plan. Downing (1815-1852), the father of American landscape architecture, also designed the White House and Capitol grounds.

The memorial urn stood on the Mall near the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History for 109 years (1856-1965). In 1972, it was restored and placed on the lawn east of the Smithsonian Building ("Castle") flag tower. In 1987, it was relocated to the rose garden at the Castle's east door. The urn was moved to its location in the Enid A. Haupt Garden in 1989.
Details
HM NumberHMVDF
Tags
Year Placed1856
Placed ByHis Friends and the Smithsonian Institution
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, October 9th, 2014 at 12:39am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 324329 N 4306336
Decimal Degrees38.88835000, -77.02545000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 53.301', W 77° 1.527'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 53' 18.06" N, 77° 1' 31.62" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)202
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 950 Independence Ave SW, Washington DC 20560, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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