Constitution Gardens is a park area in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, located within the boundaries of the National Mall

National Mall

The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Mall is a unit of the National Park Service , and is administered by the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit...

. The 50 acres (202,343 m²) park is bounded on the west by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C. It honors U.S. service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for during the War.Its...

, on the east by 17th St NW, on the north by Constitution Avenue

Constitution Avenue

In Washington, D.C., Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street running just north of the United States Capitol in the city's Northwest and Northeast quadrants...

, and on the south by the Reflecting Pool. Constitution Gardens has a small pond, which contains an island open to pedestrians.

The land that became Constitution Gardens was originally submerged beneath the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

 and was dredged at the beginning of the 20th century by the Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

. The U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 built the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings

Main Navy and Munitions Buildings

The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings were constructed in 1918 along Constitution Avenue on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall , to provide temporary quarters for the United States Military. Both buildings were constructed by the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, with the United States Department...

 as temporary offices on the land during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The buildings were demolished in 1970 due in part to lobbying by President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

, who had served in the offices as a navy officer. President Nixon subsequently ordered that a park be established on the land, and in 1976, Constitution Gardens was finally dedicated as a "living legacy American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 Bicentennial

United States Bicentennial

The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to the historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic...

 tribute." It has been a separate park unit in the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

 since 1982, administered under the National Capitol Parks-Central (NACC).

In July 1982, the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Declaration of independence

A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...

 Memorial was dedicated on the small island in the lake. On November 13 of the same year, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C. It honors U.S. service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for during the War.Its...

 was also dedicated within Constitution Gardens. President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 proclaimed the park a "living legacy tribute" to the Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

 on September 17, 1986 in honor of the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, one year after that date.

From March 17 to March 19, 2003, Constitution Gardens was the site of a bizarre standoff between federal police and a disgruntled tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 farmer, Dwight Watson

Dwight Watson

Dwight Ware Watson , dubbed the "Tractor Man" in the media, is a tobacco farmer from Whitakers, North Carolina, who brought much of Washington, D.C. to a standstill for two days when he drove a tractor into the pond in the Constitution Gardens area of the National Mall and claimed to have explosives...

. Watson had driven his tractor into the center of the lake and claimed he had explosives, prompting the evacuation of the area and holding the FBI

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

 and U.S. Park Police

United States Park Police

The United States Park Police is one of the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agencies in the United States. It functions as a full service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San...

 at bay for 48 hours before he surrendered. During the standoff, Watson dug up part of the island and damaged a retaining wall

Retaining wall

Retaining walls are built in order to hold back earth which would otherwise move downwards. Their purpose is to stabilize slopes and provide useful areas at different elevations, e.g...

 (for which he received a conviction for destroying federal property) but apparently did not harm any of the monuments.

As home to famous monuments, Constitution Gardens continues to have millions of visitors every year. It is also the site of an annual naturalization

Naturalization

Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....

 ceremony for new U.S. citizens hosted by the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

.

External links

• "Constitution Gardens", National Park Service
• "Trust for the National Mall: Constitution Gardens"