Opened in 1874, the Renwick Gallery is a place where American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century come to life. Originally, it was designed by James Renwick Jr. to house William Wilson Corcoran's collection of art. The U.S. Army seized the building during the Civil War and converted it into a temporary military warehouse in 1861. In 1864, General Montgomery C. Meigs converted the building into his headquarters office. The building was returned to Corcoran in 1869, and five years later, the Corcoran Gallery of Art opened its doors to the public.
However, the gallery soon outgrew its space and moved to a new building nearby in 1897. From 1899, the building housed the federal Court of Claims. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of the Smithsonian S. Dillon Ripley proposed that the building be handed over to the Smithsonian Institution. Renamed as a gallery of arts, craft, and design, the Renwick Gallery reopened in 1972 as a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, showcasing its collection of decorative art and crafts.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
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