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Visitors take in the the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. The museum is larger than 18 football fields and is home to the largest natural history collection in the world.
Kyle Mills / Post Independent
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Natural light floods into a corridor of the Freer Gallery of Art. The gallery houses one of the premier collections of Asian art, with objects dating from Neolithic times to the early 20th century.
Kyle Mills / Post Independent
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The 1903 Wright Flyer is on eof the many higlights of the National Air and Space Museum. Other highlights include the Spirit of St. Louis, Space Ship One and the Hubble Space Telescope test vehicle.
Kyle Mills / Post Independent
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Weighing 45.53 carats, the Hope Diamond is one of the most famous jewels in the world. The jewel is on display at the National Museum of Natural History.
Kyle Mills / Post Independent
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The fine detail of a brass basin inlaid with Silver from Syria circa 1240 on display at the Freer Gallery of Art.
Kyle Mills / Post Independent
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Nickenamed ‘The Castle’ the Smithsonian Institution Building is the home to the Smithsonian Visitor Center. Completed in 1855 the building originally was used for museum space displaying artifacts and art.
Kyle Mills / Post Independent
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The National Air and Space Museum main building on the National Mall contains 23 galleries exhibiting hundreds of aircraft, spacecraft, missles, rockets and other flight-related artifacts.
Kyle Mills / Post Independent
Filled with treasures, the Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex.
The institution was founded in 1846 with help from the founding donor and the museum’s namesake James Smithson.
Eleven of the 19 museums and galleries in the Smithsonian are located on or near the National Mall, and all free to the public.
Museums include the African American, Air and Space, American History, Arts and Industries, Freer Gallery of Art, Natural History Museum, Portrait Gallery and many more.
Thirty million visitors annually tour the mammoth museums that are home to treasures from the nation and the world.