Treasury+museum

=The Treasury Building= Francisco A.

One of the oldest federal structures in Washington, the Treasury building is also among the most colorful in terms of its past. Legend has it that President Andrew Jackson, angry with Congress, deliberately chose the building's site to obscure the view from the White House to Capital Hill. During the Civil War soldiers were lodged in the south wing, while the building itself was the point of last defense for the federal government in case of attack. After President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865 his successor, Andrew Johnson, used a suite of offices in the treasuy building until Mrs. Lincoln moved out of the White House. In 1869 President Ulysses S. Grant's inaugural ball was held in the structure's ornate Cash Room and during World War II the building's underground vaults once home to opium and precious metals were turned into a bomb shelter for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today visitors to the massive Greek Revival building, located next door to the White House, can see Johnson's office, the Cash Room and the office where Lincoln and his treasury secretary Salmon P. Chase, met during the Civil War. A burglar-proof vault circa 1864 is also open to the public along with the treasury secretary's conference and diplomatic reception room.(The offices of the treasury secretary and the deputy secretary are located in the building.) Outside, statues of Alexander Hamilton, the country's first treasury secretary and albert Gallatin, the nation's longest-serving treasury secretary (1801-1814) can be found on the building's south and north patios.

Tourist Information:
Hours: Saturday mornings 10:40 am and 11 am