National Archives
- Architect
- John Russell Pope
- Year
- 1931
- Style
- Neoclassical
- City
- Washington, DC
- Collection
- the city beautiful
The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the National Archives and Records Administration, designed by John Russell Pope and built in the 1930s just north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Its rotunda, entered from Constitution Avenue, displays the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights as the Charters of Freedom; the Emancipation Proclamation and the 19th Amendment joined the display in 2026.
the building
The Charters of Freedom. The rotunda houses the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, displayed together as the Charters of Freedom. The Emancipation Proclamation and the 19th Amendment were added to the display in 2026.
Two entrances, two purposes. The building has a rotunda entrance on Constitution Avenue for visitors and a separate research entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue. A second, larger facility, Archives II, in College Park, Maryland, holds the bulk of the collection.
the style
The National Archives Building is built in the Neoclassical style.
More on Neoclassicalsignificance
The National Archives Building became a contributing property to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site in 1966, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in December 2023. It is also a DC Historic Landmark and listed in the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites.
nearby
- Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building
- Central National Bank
- Federal Trade Commission Building
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
- National Gallery of Art
- J. Edgar Hoover Building