We’ve had another couple of days in DC, before leaving and heading off into Virginia.
Yesterday we visited first the National Archive and later the Postal Museum! Both were actually very interesting. At the National Archive we first joined the queue and looked at the key documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constition, and the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution, all of which major on individual liberties). The Declaration especially is very faded and pretty much illegible, but that’s not only because it’s nearly 250 years old but also because it’s spent a lot of that time not being very well looked after. Today of course it’s kept in a sealed case in a darkened room. Fortunately not only was the text copied but additionally an engraving was made of it in the 1820’s which is generally regarded as being very accurate.
The other documents on display in the National Archive were also interesting, and were presented in their historical context with lots of historical information, so in fact it’s a history museum and not just a document archive.
The Postal Museum was fun – very tightly focused on the history of the US Postal Service but very interesting. Did you know that the Pony Express lasted less than two years? Early 1860 to late 1861, in fact. In that time it lost huge amounts of money, several times the revenue it earned. It was created because the existing overland route was very much in the south, and even in 1860 the US Postmaster General was concerned about the security of the route in the event of secession (which happened, of course). It was replaced by a stage coach service first and later (after the civil war) by the trans-continental railway.
This morning we met the Daughters of the American Revolution (the DAR)! Actually we visited their museum in central Washington, very close to the White House. The highlight is a set of 31 period rooms, furnished as they might have been in the first 50 years or so after the Revolution. At the moment (until April 2017) there’s a special exhibition of (mainly) original fashions, placed on mannequins in the rooms. We didn’t have time to visit everywhere, but what we saw was interesting, The DAR Museum itself is a fine building, so the exhibits have a good setting.
This afternoon we collected our hire car from Dulles and drove over the Front Royal. We’re already having a good time here at Woodward House.
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