Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!

DC Trip 2024➤

Our congressman came through with tickets to visit the White House in October of 2024. So my husband and I took a long weekend to visit Washington, DC. He hadn’t been to many of the sites, so we spent a few days visiting the various National Park Service units. We toured several memorials, monuments and other sites, including the Library of Congress.

Library of Congress➤

The Library of Congress is one of the most magnificent buildings in Washington, D.C., both for its architecture and its mission to preserve knowledge. Established in 1800, it originally served as a small reference library for Congress. When the British burned the Capitol in 1814, the library’s entire collection was lost. Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library as a replacement, selling more than 6,000 of his books to Congress in 1815. His donation became the foundation of the Library’s vast and diverse collection today. The building we visited, the Thomas Jefferson Building, opened in 1897 and is celebrated as one of the most beautiful public structures in America.

After finishing our Capitol tour, we noticed a sign pointing toward the Library of Congress and decided to see if we could go inside. Guided tours were already full, but we scanned a QR code at the entrance to get self-guided admission tickets. I’m so glad we took the chance.

Self-Guided Tour➤

From the moment we stepped through the doors, we were awestruck by the grandeur of the Great Hall. Marble columns rose to meet a ceiling covered in vibrant mosaics and gilded decorations. Every surface seemed to celebrate learning—names of famous thinkers and writers were etched into the walls, while colorful murals depicted scenes representing art, science, and literature.

We climbed the sweeping staircase to the overlook of the Main Reading Room, one of the Library’s most iconic spaces. From above, we could see the circular room filled with desks and glowing lamps, all beneath an enormous dome. Around the base of the dome stood statues symbolizing fields of human achievement such as Philosophy, Art, Law, Science, and History. Above them, painted figures represented ideals like Courage, Wisdom, and Truth. The room felt almost like a temple to knowledge—a quiet, reverent space where centuries of learning seemed to come together.

On the mezzanine level, we explored the exhibit featuring Thomas Jefferson’s personal library. His books, now protected behind glass to prevent deterioration, reflected his endless curiosity. Subjects ranged from politics and philosophy to architecture, agriculture, and natural science. Reading the titles felt like peering into the mind of one of America’s most intellectual founders.

Beyond Jefferson’s collection, the Library’s exhibits displayed remarkable artifacts that illustrated humanity’s long relationship with communication and learning. One of the most striking items was an illuminated vellum Passover Haggadah from 1478, its pages glowing with delicate gold and brilliant color. Nearby, we saw the Interstellar Record carried aboard NASA’s Voyager spacecraft in 1977—a golden disc meant to share the story of Earth with any life it might encounter beyond our solar system. In another case rested a humble fourth-grade arithmetic textbook from 1902, showing how the principles of education endure through the ages, even as the world changes around them.

We spent a while admiring the details—the marble staircases, stained glass skylights, and ornate carvings that seemed to fill every corner of the building. Each room held another surprise, another story connecting art, history, and the pursuit of knowledge. Of all the places we visited in Washington, the Library of Congress was the most awe-inspiring, a true monument to the power of learning and imagination.

2024 DC Trip Posts➤

• WWI Memorial
• The White House
• White House Tour Pt 1
• White House Tour Pt 2
• Lockkeeper’s House
• Martin Luther King Memorial
• FDR Memorial
• Jefferson Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• Lincoln Memorial
• Constitution Gardens
• Washington Monument
• Mary McLeod Bethune Council House
• Rock Creek Park
• Supreme Court
• Capitol Rotunda
• Capitol Statuary Hall
• Library of Congress
• Theodore Roosevelt Island
• George Washington Parkway
• LBJ Memorial Grove
• Ford Theater
• Belmont-Paul
• Frederick Douglas

---

Location: 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC
Designation: National Historic Landmark
Date designated/established: 1975
Date of my visit: October 25, 2024