Washington meridians

The Old Naval Observatory is a historic site at 23rd and E Street in Northwest, Washington, D.C. It is where the United States Naval Observatory was located from 1844 to 1893, when it moved to its present grounds. The original observatory building, built 1839-40, still stands, and is a designated National Historic Landmark. The Washington meridian of 1850 passes through the Observatory. The property for many years housed the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which moved out in 2012. The property has been taken over by the State Department. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other peace-building measures. Following years of proposals for a national "peace academy", the USIP was established in 1984 by Congressional legislation signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. It is officially nonpartisan and independent, receiving funding only through a congressional appropriation to prevent outside influence. The Institute is governed by a bipartisan board of directors with fifteen members—which must include the secretary of defense, the secretary of state, and the president of the National Defense University—who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Institute's headquarters is in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., situated at the northwest corner of the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It currently employs around 300 personnel and has trained more than 65,000 professionals since its inception.

Bernardo de Gálvez is a bronze equestrian statue of Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston, sculpted by Juan de Ávalos of Spain.

Virginia Avenue is a street in the Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. Like other state-named streets in Washington, it diagonally crosses the grid pattern formed by lettered (east-west) and numbered (north-south) streets. Many famous landmarks are adjacent to Virginia Avenue, including the Watergate complex, George Washington University's former Hall on Virginia Avenue (which, even earlier branded as a Howard Johnson's hotel, served as the lookout point for the Watergate break-in in 1972), the Pan-American Health Organization, the Harry S. Truman Building (Department of State headquarters), the Main Interior Building (Department of the Interior headquarters), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and West Potomac Park. The western terminus of Virginia Avenue NW is at the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. Virginia Avenue provides access from the Parkway to Interstate 66. The eastern terminus is at Constitution Avenue between 17th and 18th streets. Between those termini, there is a partial interchange with the E Street Expressway. Non-contiguous portions of Virginia Avenue are found in Southwest, paralleling the CSX railroad tracks, and Southeast, paralleling the Southeast Freeway. As of February 2021, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation proposes bicycle lanes for Virginia Avenue NW between Constitution Avenue and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway.

The American Institute of Pharmacy Building, also known as the Americal Pharmaceutical Association Building and the American Pharmacists Association Building is a late Beaux Arts style building in Washington, D.C., the headquarters of the American Pharmacists Association. The building, prominently located on Constitution Avenue, is on the only privately held lot in the area, surrounded by protected Federal lands. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the United States Department of State are forty-two principal rooms and offices where the United States Secretary of State conducts the business of modern diplomacy. Located on the seventh and eighth floors of the Harry S Truman Building in Washington, D.C., the diplomatic reception rooms include one of the nation’s foremost museum collections of American fine and decorative arts. Architect Edward Vason Jones designed several of the rooms between 1965 and 1980. Clement Conger, curator of the collections from 1961 to 1990, assembled many of the art, furniture, and decorative arts objects.

The National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD) is the first museum in the United States dedicated to telling the stories of American diplomacy. It's mission is to inspire discovery of how American diplomacy shapes the nation's prosperity and security. The museum is currently under development and is raising funds for the completion of the museum through a public-private partnership with the Diplomacy Center Foundation. NMAD is located at the 21st Street entrance of the Harry S Truman building in Washington, D.C. where the U.S. Department of State is headquartered. The National Museum of American Diplomacy falls under the Bureau of Public Affairs. Previously, it was called the United States Diplomacy Center and was renamed in November 2019.

The Harry S Truman Building is the headquarters of the United States Department of State. It is located in Washington, D.C., and houses the office of the United States Secretary of State.The Truman Building is located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood at 2201 C Street NW, bounded by C Street to the south, E Street, D Street, and Virginia Avenue to the north, 21st Street to the east, and 23rd Street to the west. It is located to the west of Edward J. Kelly Park and north of the National Academy of Sciences building and the National Mall. The Truman Building is named after Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, who was influential in the advancement of the State Department.

The Ralph J. Bunche Library, formerly the State Department Library, is the oldest federal government library in the United States. The library is currently located in room 3239 of the Harry S Truman Building.

The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nations, its primary duties are advising the U.S. president on international relations, administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties and agreements, and representing the U.S. at the United Nations. The department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building, a few blocks from the White House, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; "Foggy Bottom" is thus sometimes used as a metonym. Established in 1789 as the first administrative arm of the U.S. executive branch, the State Department is considered among the most powerful and prestigious executive agencies. It is headed by the U.S. secretary of state, who reports directly to the U.S. president and is a member of the Cabinet. Analogous to a foreign minister, the secretary of state serves as the federal government's chief diplomat and representative abroad, and is the first Cabinet official in the order of precedence and in the presidential line of succession. The position is currently held by Antony Blinken, who was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 26, 2021, by a vote of 78–22. As of 2024, the State Department maintains 271 diplomatic posts worldwide, second only to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. It also manages the U.S. Foreign Service, provides diplomatic training to U.S. officials and military personnel, exercises partial jurisdiction over immigration, and provides various services to Americans, such as issuing passports and visas, posting foreign travel advisories, and advancing commercial ties abroad. The department administers the oldest U.S. civilian intelligence agency, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and maintains a law enforcement arm, the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).

The Charles E. Smith Center is a 5,000-seat multipurpose arena in the United States' capital, Washington, D.C. Opened on November 17, 1975, it is home to the George Washington University Colonials men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the university's swimming, water polo, gymnastics, and volleyball teams. From 2014 to 2018, it was the home of the Washington Kastles of World TeamTennis. Smith Center also became the temporary home of the Washington Mystics as they made a run at a WNBA Championship in 2018. Smith Center is located on the main George Washington campus in Foggy Bottom, on the block bounded by 22nd and 23rd and F and G Streets NW. The arena also has hosted concerts and includes practice courts, a swimming pool, a weight room, and athletic department offices. The building was named for Charles E. Smith, who was a university trustee and chairman of the Committee on University Development. A $43 million update and expansion of the Smith Center began in February 2008, due in part to a $10 million gift from the family of Charles E. Smith. Renovations were finished before the start of the 2010-2011 Basketball season. Improvements include: New team locker rooms A new seating chart for students and Athletic Director's Club members The Colonials Club New scoreboards A new exterior design A new entranceway A new ticket boothOn September 11, 2018, the Smith Center's Jumbotron collapsed onto the court below while undergoing maintenance. No one was injured in the incident, possibly due to the Jumbotron's already-lowered position before the fall.

The Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial is under construction in Washington, D.C. near the Lincoln Memorial. It will honor members of the armed forces who participated in Operation Desert Storm or Operation Desert Shield. The National Desert Storm and Desert Shield War Memorial Act (H.R. 503) authorized the National Desert Storm Memorial Association to establish a memorial in the capital without use of federal funds. The bill was incorporated into Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (H.R. 3979) and was enacted in December 2014.