Reptile House, National Zoo
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Creator: Unknown
Form/Genre: Photographic print
Date: 1940
Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives Record Unit 95 Box 35 Folder 11
The Reptile House, opened to the public in 1931, was designed by Albert Harris and was the centerpiece of Director William M. Mann's new zoo. Mann sought to make the National Zoological Park the finest and most modern in the world. To that end, he and Municipal Architect Albert Harris traveled to Europe in the Spring of 1929 to study the latest in zoo design, focusing in particular on Reptile Houses. When completed, it was the largest building in the zoo, and was awarded the Best Brick Building of the year (by the AIA?). The building featured a highly ornamental marble porch entrance, decorated with reptilian figures.
Historic Images of the Smithsonian
Original negative number is 2085, but that negative has been lost.
Smithsonian Institution Archives Record Unit 95 Box 35 Folder 11
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
1940
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2002-10616
Color: Black and White; Type of Image: Architectural; Medium: Photographic print