When completed in 1920, the Museum of Natural History was the second largest building in the city after the Capitol, providing more than ten acres of floor space. It was the first classical building constructed along the Mall within the 19th-century. Additional wings were added to the east and west of the building in the 1960s. Exhibitions include dinosaur skeletons, the famed (and some say cursed) Hope Diamond, various animal specimens, and many other natural history specimens of all types. In 1918 the museum was closed and turned into office space for clerks working for the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. Many of the museum's collections were later transferred to other museum buildings as they were constructed for the Smithsonian beginning in the 1960s.
More information on the history of the museum and its exhibits can be found on the Smithsonian Natural History Web Home Page and at the alternate National Museum of Natural History Web Page.
