Thomas Jefferson Memorial: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, National Park Service
NPS National Capital Regional Office, Prothero S, Tepper A. 2009. Thomas Jefferson Memorial: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 600004. National Capital Regional Office/CLI Database
The Jefferson Memorial landscape is comprised of 19.2 acres of land immediately south of the Tidal Basin. With the neo-classical white marble memorial modeled after the Roman Pantheon as its focal point, this component landscape forms the southern end of the kite-shaped design plan for the city proposed by the McMillan Commission in 1902. The planting within the encircling roadway, now used solely by pedestrians, is predominantly evergreen with some small flowering trees and shrubs. Beyond the circular roadway, there are tall shade trees and cherry trees that are part of the ring of flowering cherries that encircles the Tidal Basin. The ring of cherry trees are the characteristic for which the landscape is most noted, and that which attracts thousands of visitors each spring. The period of significance for the landscape spans the years from 1934 to 1943. During this period the design for the memorial and landscape was developed, the memorial was constructed, and the landscape was installed. The period ends with the dedication of the memorial on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth. Because the land has been continuously used as a memorial site since the period of significance, the integrity of this historic landscape is generally high. Lack of alteration to natural systems, spatial organization, land use, topography, and structures preserves the integrity of these characteristics, but changes in vegetation and circulation have resulted in their loss of integrity. Work recently completed or scheduled for completion by the end of 2000 addresses the need to restore the vegetation and circulation to a condition more closely resembling the original. Views and vistas, with the exception of the view to the Lincoln Memorial, have been retained. Additional research is needed to determine the level of integrity of the small scale features on the site.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- NPS National Capital Regional Office; Prothero, Sally; Tepper, Audrey
- Date of Issue
- 2009-09-14
- Units
- JEFM , NCR
- Keywords
- Architecture, art, Beaux Arts style, bronze, Community Planning and Development, Eggers and Higgins, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., Henry V. Hubbard, Historic Designed Landscape, John Russell Pope, Landscape architecture, L'Enfant Plan, McMillan Commission, monument, Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, Period Revivals, Plaza, Potomac Flats, Public Space, Recreation, sculpture, The City Beautiful Movement, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission, Tidal Basin, Urban Planning in the Nineteenth Century