Former United States Court of Claims - Washington, D.C.
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 38° 53.936 W 077° 02.348
18S E 323169 N 4307537
Former location of the United States Court of Claims, now the Renwick Gallery, a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.
Waymark Code: WMJNCE
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 12/08/2013
Views: 6
The former United States Court of Claims was built originally to serve as the Corcoran Gallery of Art beginning in 1859 and due to the outbreak of the Civil War was not completed until 1874. In 1861 when the building was near completion it was seized by the U.S. Army and converted to a warehouse for the Quartermasters Corps and later served as headquarters for General Montgomery C. Meigs. In 1869 to Corcoran and the Corcoran Gallery of Art opened in 1874. It served as the museum until 1899 when the museum moved to a larger location. The United States Court of Claims moved into the building in 1899. The United States Court of Claims was a federal court which decided on cases against the United States government. The court remained in the building until 1964 when it outgrew the building. The building was threatened with demolition but was saved through the efforts of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1965 by an executive order of President Lyndon Johnson. The Smithsonian renovated the building and the Renwick Gallery in 1972. The building is listed as a National Historic Landmark.