Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview
Not many museums collect houses. The National Museum of American History has four, as well as two outbuildings, 11 rooms, an elevator, many building components, and some architectural elements from the White House. Drafting manuals are supplemented by many prints of buildings and other architectural subjects. The breadth of the museum's collections adds some surprising objects to these holdings, such as fans, purses, handkerchiefs, T-shirts, and other objects bearing images of buildings.
The engineering artifacts document the history of civil and mechanical engineering in the United States. So far, the Museum has declined to collect dams, skyscrapers, and bridges, but these and other important engineering achievements are preserved through blueprints, drawings, models, photographs, sketches, paintings, technical reports, and field notes.
"Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview" showing 306 items.
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Fresnel Lighthouse Lens
- Description
- In the early nineteenth century, lighthouses in the United States were considered inferior to those in France and England. American mariners complained about the quality of the light emanating from local lighthouse towers, arguing that European lighthouses were more effective at shining bright beams of light over long distances. While American lighthouses relied on lamps and mirrors to direct mariners, European lighthouses were equipped with compact lenses that could shine for miles.
- In 1822, French scientist Augustin-Jean Fresnel was studying optics and light waves. He discovered that by arranging a series of lenses and prisms into the shape of a beehive, the strength of lighthouse beams could be improved. His lens—known as the Fresnel lens—diffused light into beams that could be visible for miles. Fresnel designed his lenses in several different sizes, or orders. The first order lens, meant for use in coastal lighthouses, was the largest and the strongest lens. The sixth order lens was the smallest, designed for use in small harbors and ports.
- By the 1860s, all of the lighthouses in the United States were fitted with Fresnel lenses. This lens came from a lighthouse on Bolivar Point, near Galveston, Texas. Galveston was the largest and busiest port in nineteenth-century Texas. Having a lighthouse here was imperative – the mouth of the bay provided entry to Houston and Texas City, as well as inland waterways. The Bolivar Point Light Station had second and third order Fresnel lenses over the years; this third order lens was installed in 1907. Its light could be seen from 17 miles away.
- On 16-17 August 1915, a severe hurricane hit Galveston. As the storm grew worse, fifty to sixty people took refuge in the Bolivar Point Light Station. Around 9:15 PM, the light’s turning mechanism broke, forcing assistant lighthouse keeper J.B. Brooks to turn the Fresnel lens by hand. By 10 PM, the vibrations from the hurricane were so violent that Brooks began to worry the lens might shatter. He ceased turning the lens, trimmed the lamp wicks and worked to maintain a steady light through the night. The next morning, Brooks left the lighthouse to find Bolivar Point nearly swept away by the water.
- Bolivar Point Light Station used this Fresnel lens until 1933. It was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by the National Park Service.
- date made
- 1822
- late 1800s
- all United States lighthouses outfitted with Fresnel lenses
- 1860s
- lens used during a severe hurricane at Bolivar Point
- 1917-08-16 - 1917-08-17
- donated to Smithsonian
- 1933
- inventor
- Fresnel, Augustin Jean
- ID Number
- TR*335567
- catalog number
- 335567
- accession number
- 1977.0626
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Navigational Bell Buoy
- Description
- Unlike car drivers on land, navigators at sea have no road signs to indicate speed limits, dangers, or routes. Navigational buoys are floating objects anchored to the bottom that serve as aids to navigation. Their distinctive shapes, colors, and other markings provide information indicating their purpose and how to navigate around them.
- The placement and maintenance of navigational buoys are essential to shipping, since they often provide the only guidance for channel locations, shoals, reefs, and other hazards. If damaged by collisions, extinguished, or broken loose from their moorings, the Coast Guard will repair, replace, refuel, or relocate the failed buoy.
- Designated an 8X20 LBR, this particular type of buoy was used by the U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouse Service on the East Coast from around 1930 until the early 1950s. It measures 8 feet in width and 20 feet high, and the letters mean Lighted, Bell, and Radar Reflector. It originally weighed ca. 15,600 pounds, including the 225-lb bell. The bottom of this example was removed to fit into the gallery.
- It was designed to be deployed in shallow, protected coastal waters and could be seen about two miles away in daylight. The light on the top was powered by batteries stored under the round hatches in the large bottom compartment. The bell was rung by the rocking of the buoy in the waves.
- ID Number
- TR*336771
- accession number
- 1978.2285
- catalog number
- 336771
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraving Of Steam Snag Boat A. H. Sevier
- Description
- Snags—submerged or partially submerged trees and roots—were one of the main obstructions to navigation, particularly in the Mississippi River below St. Louis and in its larger western tributaries. A majority of the steamboat accidents up to 1849 were the result of collisions with snags. In 1828, steamboat builder Henry M. Shreve was appointed Superintendent of the Western Rivers, and the next year he completed the first steam snag boat, specially built to dislodge river debris. This mid-19th-century engraving taken from the Taylor & Crooks sketch book, St. Louis, 1858, provides an image of the 1840s generation of snag boats.
- These double-hulled craft incorporated an iron-sheathed snag beam at the bow, joining the two hulls. During operations, the boat was run full speed at the projecting snag, forcing it up and out of the water. The snag was then hauled onto the boat deck and cut into pieces. Snag boats were capable of removing snags weighing up to 75 tons.
- The A. H. Sevier, Snag Boat No 4, worked under the direction of the Superintendent of Western River Improvements, within the War Department. Built during the 1840s, each hull of the Sevier was about 150 feet long and 22 feet wide, with 12 feet between the twin hulls.
- In July 1855, the Sevier was auctioned off with all equipment and furnishings at St. Louis for $6,050. It was then chartered by the government in November for $50 per day, with the government responsible for repairs and damage above and beyond ordinary wear and tear. The Sevier continued to work on the Mississippi between the mouth of the Missouri to a point about 18 miles south of Vicksburg—almost 900 miles of operations.
- ID Number
- TR*336779
- catalog number
- 336779
- accession number
- 1979.0415
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Shipyard Volunteers Button
- Description
- A push to recruit 250,000 additional shipyard workers for the Hog Island shipyard in early 1918 led the Emergency Fleet Corporation to create the “U.S. Shipyard Volunteers.” Men who signed up to work in the yards were exempted from the military draft.
- In May 1918, shortly after the initiative began, New York led the drive with more than 81,800 volunteers, followed by Illinois and Massachusetts.
- date made
- ca 1919
- ID Number
- TR*63540.02
- accession number
- 63540
- catalog number
- 308554
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Hurricane Clean-up Sign
- Description
- No sooner had Katrina departed New Orleans in August 2005 than waves of hurricane clean-up signs went up in neighborhoods hard-hit by the storm, offering house-gutting services, mold removal, drywall replacement, and even building removal. The work was hazardous, involving the mucking out of homes and the handling of mountains of demolition debris and sodden household belongings. Many homeowners undertook their own clean-up, but much was performed by immigrant laborers attracted to the region by the promise of hard work and good wages.
- The scrubbing away of the tell-tale oily high-water mark was one of the most visible challenges of the clean-up effort. Some property owners regarded this mark as a badge of survival and protect it as evidence of what they endured in 2005. Most, however, opted for the cleansing away of this stain, a bitter reminder of the terrible tide that rose in New Orleans when the levees fell.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Associated Date
- 2005-08-2005-09
- ID Number
- 2006.3059.11
- catalog number
- 2006.3059.11
- nonaccession number
- 2006.3059
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Hurricane Clean-up Sign
- Description
- No sooner had Katrina departed New Orleans in August 2005 than waves of hurricane clean-up signs went up in neighborhoods hard-hit by the storm, offering house-gutting services, mold removal, drywall replacement, and even building removal. The work was hazardous, involving the mucking out of homes and the handling of mountains of demolition debris and sodden household belongings. Many homeowners undertook their own clean-up, but much was performed by immigrant laborers attracted to the region by the promise of hard work and good wages.
- The scrubbing away of the tell-tale oily high-water mark was one of the most visible challenges of the clean-up effort. Some property owners regarded this mark as a badge of survival and protect it as evidence of what they endured in 2005. Most, however, opted for the cleansing away of this stain, a bitter reminder of the terrible tide that rose in New Orleans when the levees fell.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Associated Date
- 2005
- ID Number
- 2006.3059.10
- catalog number
- 2006.3059.10
- nonaccession number
- 2006.3059
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center