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Photo, Print, Drawing National Zoological Park, Reptile House, 3001 Connecticut Avenue, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC Reptile Discovery Center

View 34 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS DC-777-B  ]

More Resources

View 14 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS DC-777-B  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS DC-777-B  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS DC-777-B  ]

About this Item

Title

  • National Zoological Park, Reptile House, 3001 Connecticut Avenue, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

Other Title

  • Reptile Discovery Center

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Smithsonian Institution
  • Mann, William M.
  • Harris, Albert
  • North-Eastern Construction Company, Engineers and Contractors
  • Morgal, T. E.
  • Hans Jensen Manufacturing Company
  • National Electrical Supply Company
  • Horsfall, R. Bruce
  • Cheverlange, Elie
  • Miller & Graham
  • H. B. Davis Company
  • Varcraft Works, Inc.
  • Vita-Glass
  • Bavis-Crawford Company
  • Earley, John Joseph
  • Knight, Charles R.
  • U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA)
  • Wilkes & Faulkner
  • Quinn Evans
  • Schara, Mark, project manager
  • Davidson, Paul, field team
  • Pierce, Ryan, field team
  • De Sousa, Daniel, field team
  • Melendez, Ruben, field team
  • Ortiz, Jarob J., photographer
  • Yancho, Katlyn Burns, historian
  • McWilliams, John, photographer
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  zoos
  • -  animal housing
  • -  brick buildings
  • -  cross gables
  • -  mosaics
  • -  zoology
  • -  District Of Columbia--District Of Columbia--Washington

Latitude / Longitude

  • 38.929759,-77.047527

Notes

  • -  Significance: During his tenure as Director of the National Zoological Park (1925-56), Dr. William M. Mann sought to transform the zoo from a menagerie-style collection of animals to a world-class zoo fitting of its status as a national institution. The first National Zoo buildings of the late nineteenth century, following its founding in 1889, were built at a time when little was known about how to properly care for exotic animals in captivity. However, by the time Mann became director of the zoo in 1925, zookeepers had introduced scientific approaches to their profession, and were carefully monitoring the environment of their animal charges. Therefore, when Mann constructed new buildings at the park, the architecture reflected these methods. The Reptile House, completed in 1931, provided then state-of-the-art environments for reptiles in captivity, in addition to optimal enjoyment for the Zoo's visitors. The design of the Reptile House evoked scientific progress, world exploration, and a fascination with the bizarre. Its grand brick facade was a departure from the earlier zoo buildings that blended into the Rock Creek Park landscape, but a continuation of the collaboration between Director Mann and the Washington, D.C. Municipal Architect Albert Harris, who together developed the Zoo's Bird House, in 1928). The Reptile House's exterior is decorated with cast stone snakes, lizards, and frogs, as well as a colorful prehistoric scene in concrete mosaic above the front door that blend with the brick Byzanto-Romanesque design. Noted naturalist artists and landscape designers created these features, as well as vignettes inside each cage of both far-off jungles and the local habitats of reptiles found in the mid-Atlantic. Each cage was designed not only to look like a diorama of the environment from where the reptile came, but to simulate the environmental conditions. The state-of-the-art design permitted the reptiles to receive ultraviolet light from skylights and halogen bulbs, while the visitors enjoyed heating and cooling separate from the reptiles. This attention to detail ensured that the building was as much about recreation and the pleasure of its visitors as it was about providing a quality environment for the reptiles. The Reptile House became a model for other American zoos throughout the 1930s, demonstrating that the National Zoological Park was indeed becoming a first-rate public institution.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2301
  • -  Survey number: HABS DC-777-B
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1929-1931 Initial Construction
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 73002104

Medium

  • Photo(s): 24
  • Color Transparencies: 10
  • Measured Drawing(s): 14
  • Data Page(s): 33
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 3

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS DC-777-B

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • dc1016

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS DC-777-B
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

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  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

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  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
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    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Smithsonian Institution, William M Mann, Albert Harris, Engineers And Contractors North-Eastern Construction Company, T. E Morgal, Hans Jensen Manufacturing Company, et al., Ortiz, Jarob J, and John McWilliams, photographer. National Zoological Park, Reptile House,Connecticut Avenue, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Washington D.C. Washington, 1933. translateds by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/dc1016/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Smithsonian Institution, Mann, W. M., Harris, A., North-Eastern Construction Company, E. A. C., Morgal, T. E. [...] Yancho, K. B., Ortiz, J. J. & McWilliams, J., photographer. (1933) National Zoological Park, Reptile House,Connecticut Avenue, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Washington D.C. Washington, 1933. McPartland, M., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/dc1016/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Ortiz, Jarob J, and John McWilliams. National Zoological Park, Reptile House,Connecticut Avenue, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. trans by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/dc1016/>.