Mar

Today in Smithsonian History: March 2, 1889

Secretary Samuel P. Langley with others survey the grounds of the newly established National Zoological Park, ca. 1888. In the photograph, left to right, are Mr. Olmsted’s assistant; James W. Traylor; C. W. Schuermann; Frederick Law Olmsted; Dr. Frank Baker; Secretary Langley; William Temple Hornaday; Harry W. Dorsey; and W. C. Winlock. The George Brown Goode house appears in the far right of the photograph on the former Columbia Road. (Photographer unknown, via Smithsonian Institution Archives)

March 2, 1889 Following debate in its 1888 and 1889 sessions, the United States Congress passes a bill for the acquisition of land for a National Zoological Park in the District of Columbia. A commission is appointed to establish the location of the park, composed of the Secretary of the Interior, president of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The commission is authorized to choose a tract of land not less than 100 acres along Rock Creek deemed suitable and appropriate for a zoological park, appraise its value, and return this value to the Congress who will pay the owners thus establishing a valid title to the land.