Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="Behind the Smithsonian Institution Building (SIB), the "Castle," is the site of the Smithsonian's museum complex on Independence Avenue, 1987, by Jeff Tinsley, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 410 Box 3 Folder Quad with Street, Negative Number: 87-7964-1."][/caption]
Description: During debates about the Smithsonian’s founding, the idea of using James Smithson’s bequest for a botanic garden was included in several drafts of the bill considered by Congress. In 1850, President Millard Fillmore commissioned America’s preeminent landscape designer Andrew Jackson Downing to design plans for the National Mall, including grounds around the Smithsonian Castle,