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National Visitor Center

1976 establishments in Washington, D.C.1978 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.Buildings and structures in Washington, D.C.National Park Service visitor centersUnited States Bicentennial

The National Visitor Center was an ill-fated attempt to repurpose Washington, D.C.'s Union Station as an information center for tourists visiting the United States Capitol and other Washington attractions. It opened for the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976, but it never was able to attract enough crowds to sustain its operating costs, and it closed in 1978.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article National Visitor Center (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

National Visitor Center
Union Station Drive Northeast, Washington

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Latitude Longitude
N 38.89731 ° E -77.00626 °
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Washington Union Station

Union Station Drive Northeast
20549 Washington
District of Columbia, United States
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Washington Union Station
Washington Union Station

Washington Union Station, known locally as Union Station, is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's headquarters, the railroad's second-busiest station, and North America's 10th-busiest railroad station. The station is the southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor, an electrified rail line extending north through major cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston, and the busiest passenger rail line in the nation. In 2015, it served just under five million passengers.An intermodal facility, Union Station also serves MARC and VRE commuter rail services, the Washington Metro, the DC Streetcar, intercity bus lines, and local Metrobus buses. It carries the IATA airport code of ZWU.At the height of its traffic, during World War II, as many as 200,000 passengers passed through the station in a single day. In 1988, a headhouse wing was added and the original station renovated for use as a shopping mall. As of 2014, Union Station was one of the busiest rail facilities and shopping destinations in the United States, visited by over 40 million people a year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors caused a sharp decline in retail and dining; by late 2022, more than half its commercial space was vacant, but Amtrak is attempting to regain control of the station and plans a major renovation and expansion.

Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building
Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building

The Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building (TMFJB) at the crossroads of the Capitol Hill and NoMA neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., houses offices that support the work of the United States Courts, including the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, the United States Sentencing Commission, and the Office of the Clerk of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The building was named after Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court; and is part of the United States Capitol Complex under the Architect of the Capitol's Supreme Court Building and Grounds jurisdiction which it shares in common with the United States Supreme Court Building that houses the Supreme Court of the United States.It is located at One Columbus Circle NE in Washington D.C. adjacent to Union Station, a few blocks from the United States Capitol. It was completed in 1992 and was designed by architecture firm Edward Larrabee Barnes and partner John Ming Yee Lee. It features a dramatic five-story tall glass atrium at its main entrance with a signature indoor bamboo forest. A jury unanimously selected the firm of Barnes/Lee & Partners as the architects and Boston Properties as the developer. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist approved the selection on January 13, 1989.The Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building is an administrative center for the federal court system located next to Union Station. Its construction completed the Columbus Circle area and was considered a long overdue addition to the Washington DC's Union Station and post office.

Postal Square Building
Postal Square Building

The Postal Square Building (formerly the City Post Office) served as the main post office for the city of Washington, D.C., from the building's completion in 1914 to 1986. It now houses the National Postal Museum, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and offices of the United States Senate. Architect Daniel Burnham designed the building in the Beaux-Arts style—the same style Burnham used for the neighboring Union Station. Construction for the Postal Square Building began in 1911 on a lot near the Capitol. Planning began with a 1901 proposal by the Senate Parks Commission. The commission called for three buildings to mark the northern end of the Capitol complex. While the first two buildings in the plan, Union Station and the Postal Square Building, were completed early in the 20th century, the 1901 plan would not be fully implemented until the completion of the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building in 1992. A major renovation from 1929 to 1935 expanded the building for increased mail processing and service capacity. By the 1950s, renovations had removed many of the Beaux-Arts features of the building. The main hall and lobby area only showed traces of their former grandiose design with modernist elements replacing the Beaux-Arts style. The building received another major renovation in the early 1990s, during which the original appearance of the lobby and main hall area was restored. The National Postal Museum moved into the building in 1993 following the renovations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Capitol City Brewing Company also moved into the building during the 1990s. (Capitol City Brewing Company closed in 2011 to make room for an expansion of the National Postal Museum.)