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 World War I Memorial. I’d been here after it first opened in 2023.

The National Mall➤

The National Mall stretches from the Capitol to the Potomac River. It serves as “America’s Front Lawn” and its premiere civic and symbolic space. Originally in the L’Enfant plan for the city, the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit of the NPS protects iconic monuments and memorials and over 1,000 acres of greenspace. The WWI Memorial resides in Pershing Park outside the National Mall, but is administered as part of the NPS National Mall district.

World War I Memorial➤

The National World War I Memorial commemorates the United States Armed Forces in World War I. The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the World War I Centennial Commission to build the memorial in Pershing Park, located just across the street from the White House Visitor Center.

Congress passed legislation to designate this land as Pershing Square in 1957. John J. Pershing served as General of the Armies in World War I and the intention was to memorialize him. There was disagreement about the design so the project stalled for decades.

The World War I Commission accepted the new concept in 2016. It includes a bronze relief wall called A Soldier’s Journey. Sculptor Sabin Howard created the 58-foot long bas relief feature. The wall contains 38 figures and was installed in 2024. When I first visited in 2023, the wall was represented by an illustration.

2024 DC Trip Posts➤

• WWI Memorial
• The White House
• 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
• Library of Congress
• Theodore Roosevelt Island
• George Washington Parkway
• LBJ Memorial Grove
• Ford Theater
• Belmont-Paul
• Frederick Douglas

---

Location: Pershing Park, Washington, DC
Designation: National Memorial
Date designated/established: April 16, 2021
Date of my visit: October 24, 2024