Near the Reflecting Pool, between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, is Constitution Gardens. A small monument to the signers of the
Declaration of Independence can be found there. The gardens are a peaceful respite from sightseeing and provide a shady resting spot during the summer months.
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan has been honored with the airport that now bears his name and the addition of the Ronald Reagan Building to the grand government office buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue. Massive, yet graced by a soaring foyer, it houses museum exhibits as well as bureaucrats.
The lettered streets in the district, running perpendicular to the numbered streets, do not include the letters "J," "X," "Y" or "Z." The missing "J" is because of Chief Justice John Jay's treaty with Great Britain in 1794, which was considered the instigator of the XYZ Affair and nearly brought the U.S. and France to war.
Every U.S. president since Madison has sat at least once in Pew 54 at St. John's Church on Lafayette Square.
It was George Washington who commissioned Pierre Charles L'Enfant to draw plans for the city. Less well-known is the contribution of Benjamin Banneker, an African-American surveyor who helped make L'Enfant's grandiose designs practicable.
A tribe of albino squirrels inhabits the White House lawn.
