Museums
There are numerous museums and attractions near the Carlyle District.
Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens is the oldest national historic preservation organization in the country, and it has always been in the forefront of the restoration field. Mount Vernon is the most popular historic estate in America and is open 365 days a year. Mount Vernon was the home of our first President George Washington. The grounds are well-preserved as is the home itself.
Alexandria Lyceum is a grand hall built in the late 1800's to provide a place for lectures, scientific experiments and quiet reading. Since that time, it has been a Civil War hospital, a private home, an office building and the nation's first Bicentennial Center. In 1985, The Lyceum became Alexandria's History Museum, providing exhibitions, school programs, lectures and concerts, volunteer opportunities and space for rental functions for the community. The Lyceum Museum Shop carries a wide variety of maps, books, note cards and special items related to Alexandria's history. The present-day Lyceum Company serves the museum as a membership and fund-raising organization.
Walk to Old Towne! Old Towne is filled with
historic landmarks, carriage rides and walking history tours.
Just a few miles down George Washington Parkway is the nationally renown collection of museums called the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian National Zoological Park is a wonderful zoo.
Civil War enthusiasts might want to inspect Fort Willard just as President Lincoln did. Fort Willard has long since abandoned its military use and is now a quiet park like Fort Hunt.
If you are interested in architecture and local history visit Frank Lloyd Wright's Pope-Leighey House or the Woodlawn Plantation. The Collingwood Library and musuem is dedicated to providing information about our national heritage to the American Public. Collingwood is available to anyone who cares to learn of the heroic efforts made by American Patriots, particularly members of the Masonic Fraternity, in founding and developing this, the greatest nation on earth.
Collingwood is a resource as a local library but also interesting place to visit in it's own right.
US Patent and Trademark Museum
Founded in 1995, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Museum serves the public need to understand the importance intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. As you might imagine, intellectual property effects nearly every aspect of our daily life. The musuem also underscores some of the innovations that have aided mankind by improving medicine, motor vehicles, and modern technology. The museum encourages and promotes future inventors to strive for excellence in invention.
If you're looking for the latest and greatest inventions get to the museum before Labor Day. Until then, twenty-five of the best inventions of 2007 can be viewed at the Modern Marvels Exhibit.
Art of Invention - Invention of Art Exhibit includes 70 works that serve a practical purpose. The first section is dedicated to inventors who pursued (or were inspired by) beauty. The section section of this exhibit features inventions that were a major factor and importance in science and industry. A few of these inventions are a part of both groups. For example the Hubble Space Telescope is an important scientific machine of discovery, but it also takes beautiful pictures of space. The museum also showcases inventions from throughout history chronicling some of the important steps we have taken in innovation.
The museum would not be complete without its own invention. The USPTO Museum features a new system of video LED strip monitors. These can be arranged at will by changing display captions. In 2005 this innovative way to display content in a museum was issued its own patent.
The USPTO museum is open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm; on Saturday from noon to 5 pm. The USPTO museum is closed on Sundays and federal holidays.
For metro riders, the USPTO is best accessed by the King St. Metro on the Yellow Line. The museum is located at the atrium of the Madison Building of the US Patent & Trademark Office at 600 Dulany Street which is on the periphery of Old Town, near the King St. Metro, in the Carlyle District. The Carlyle District is home to many upscale condos which have views of the USPTO, the Alexandria Lighthouse and more. For information about these condos in Alexandria please contact Will Nesbitt of Condo Alexandria / Will Nesbitt Realty LLC.
