National Museum of American History
The original Star-Spangled Banner lives here in a purpose-built climate chamber.
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The Smithsonian's record of American social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history drew 2.1 million visitors in 2023, making it the eighth-most visited museum in the country. A 2008 renovation added a five-story sky-lit atrium that frames the scale of what's inside before you've taken a step.
What to look for
- The original Star-Spangled Banner inside its environmentally controlled preservation chamber
- The five-story sky-lit atrium surrounded by displayed artifacts, added in the 2008 renovation
- The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Hall of Invention
On the National Mall at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW; part of the Smithsonian Institution.
National Museum of American History is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Washington, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Washington pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Washington
- White HouseBritish forces torched it in 1814. It has been the U.S. president's home and office ever since.
- The PentagonDesigned and built in 16 months during World War II — 17.5 miles of corridors, a five-acre central courtyard, and a 9/11 memorial at the exact point of impact.
- United States CapitolEvery street address in Washington DC radiates outward from this building — it is literally the zero point of the city.
- Washington MonumentThe faint color seam partway up the shaft marks where construction stopped for 23 years.
- Smithsonian InstitutionBritish scientist James Smithson left a bequest that became 157 million objects, 21 museums, and a zoo — almost all free to walk into.
- Arlington National CemeteryThe ground holding 400,000 graves was seized from Robert E. Lee's own family over an unpaid tax bill in 1864.