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Two men placing the Declaration of Independence into the new display case at the National Archives (Source: National Archives)

The Action-Packed History of the Declaration of Independence

Washington, D.C. has been the backdrop for a number of films and TV shows throughout its history. But, at least in my lifetime, one movie just about everyone has seen is National Treasure. Known for its witty characters and adventure-packed plot centered around a heist of the Declaration of Independence. But, perhaps more surprising than the quest to steal the Declaration is the fact that it was still around to nab when the movie came out in 2004. Indeed, the Declaration’s real-life 200+ year journey from its creation in 1776 to its current display in the National Archives Rotunda gives the plot of National Treasure quite the run for its money.

Historic map of Washington DC

Featured Posts

  • Ella Fitzgerald was a frequent participant in the Lorton Jazz Festival. (Credit: Reprinted with permission of the DC Public Library, Star Collection, © Washington Post.)

    In the 1960s, Prison Chaplains Created a Star Studded Music Festival at Lorton Reformatory

    In the 1960s, the D.C. area's most exclusive music scene may not have been in the city's downtown clubs. It may have been behind prison walls at Lorton Reformatory. Year after year, jazz royalty...

  • Two men standing in the foreground. The left person is playing a violin while the right person is playing an accordion.

    Remembering the First Smithsonian Folklife Festival

    In January 1967, after just a few months on the job as the Smithsonian's Director of Museum Services, Jim Morris had an idea. What if the Smithsonian were to put on an outdoor festival in Washington...

  • A Hippie walks on the National Mall on Honor America Day with "USA" painted onto his back

    In 1970, the July 4th Holiday Turned Into a Culture Clash on the National Mall

    On July 4th, 1970, nearly 1,000 hippies traveled to the National Mall to disrupt Nixon's Independence Day Celebration. The "culture clash" ended with naked hippies, an overturned truck, dozens of...

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  • Black and white portrait of Edward Payson Weston looking at the camera holding a cane and wearing a double breasted suit jacket, mid-calf length boots, and a wide brim hat.

    Edward Payson Weston: The Most Famous Athlete You’ve Never Heard Of

    In 1860, a 21 year old man named Edward Payson Weston made a wild bet: if Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election, he would walk the nearly 500 miles from Boston to Washington, D.C. This wager, initially a joke between two friends, turned into a real challenge that would spark national headlines and launch a new kind of celebrity. 

    June 24, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.
    • Maryland

    By Lily Applebaum

  • A large wooden pole with various years attached at differing heights in front of a flooded river

    The Great 1936 Flood of Great Falls... and Everywhere else

    In the spring of 1936, three torrential rainstorms, caused floodwaters to run straight off the Appalachian Mountains and into the Potomac. The swollen river rose over 30 feet in some places, submerging towns, and tearing bridges off their foundations. As reports of the devastation come from all across the Northeast, Washington, D.C. scrambled to defend itself.

    June 23, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.
    • Virginia

    By Noah Brushwood

  • Jerry Smith jumps and reaches to catch a pass over his head during a September 1969 game.

    After Becoming an NFL Star in Washington, Jerry Smith Battled AIDS

    Jerry Smith was a record setting tight end for the (then) Washington Redskins from 1965 - 1977. In 1986, Smith also became the first professional athlete to announce he was suffering from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, better known as AIDS. Smith’s decision to reveal his diagnosis did not come easy, nor did being a closeted gay player in an era when opening up about one’s sexuality could risk losing everything. 

    June 20, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.
    • Maryland

    By Ethan Ehrenhaft

  • Clipping from November 3, 2000 Washington Blade announcing launch of The History Project to document LGBTQ history in Washington, D.C.

    Celebrating 25 Years of the Rainbow History Project

    In the fall of 2000, D.C. resident Mark Meinke was working on a book about drag performers when he ran into a huge roadblock: there were no archives covering the history of his research subject or the District’s large and vibrant LGBTQIA+ community. “D.C., unlike other Gay centers, has no available and accessible community memory or archives,” he wrote in the Washington Blade. So, he did something about it.

    June 18, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.
    • Maryland
    • Virginia

    By Katherine Brodt

  • Black and white photo of young chimpanzee strapped in a capsule, with a white suit and NASA helmet.

    Remembering Ham: The National Zoo's Very Own "Astrochimp"

    Before Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard, there was Ham. America's first "astrochimp" rocketed into space and paved the way for the Moon landing before retiring to the National Zoo. His impact was undeniable but it also raised questions. 

    June 6, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.
    • Virginia

    By Casey Ruken

  • Man and woman posing and smiling for camera in front of flags while woman holds open certificate.

    The Investigation of Ana Montes: The Pentagon's Cuba Expert and Cuba's Favorite Spy

    Ana Montes was called the "Queen of Cuba" by her colleagues in the Defense Intelligence Agency for her expertise on Cuban affairs.  Little did her colleagues know, she hid a dangerous secret.  Ultimately, the DIA and the FBI teamed up to reveal what for years she had kept hidden: the Pentagon's top expert on Cuba was actually one of Cuba's top spies. 

    June 2, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.

    By Casey Ruken

  • Police reward poster with text reading "Up to $150,000 Reward 'Freeway Phantom' Murders" with pictures of six African-American girls.

    The Gruesome Murder Spree of the "Freeway Phantom": D.C.'s First Serial Killer

    From 1971 to 72, a serial killer abducted and murdered six African-American girls in D.C.  But over 50 years later, the "Freeway Phantom" has never been caught.      

    May 27, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.
    • Maryland

    By Casey Ruken

  • Photo of two-foot-tall bonsai pine tree on museum display against wooden fence

    From Hiroshima to Washington: A Beloved Bonsai's Journey from War to Peace

    On the eve of the American Bicentennial, bonsai master Masaru Yamaki donated his 350-year-old Japanese white pine to the U.S. National Arboretum.  No American knew of its true history until in 2001, when two brothers flew from Japan to find the tree their family had nurtured for generations.  The story they shared was nothing short of incredible. The Yamaki pine wasn't just an artistic masterpiece, it was a survivor of nuclear war, and one man's gesture of forgiveness to the country that almost killed him.    

    May 19, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.

    By Casey Ruken

  • sketch by Geddes of the Mothers Memorial

    The Ill-Fated Attempt to Build a Mother's Memorial in Washington

    By the time she set out to build monuments, Daisy Breaux was a woman accustomed to getting what she wanted. Unfortunately, her plans for a memorial to America's mothers never got off the ground. In a legal snarl, she accused the architect of blackmail and extortion. He charged her in turn with sabotaging the project from the start.

    May 8, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.

    By Isabel Sans

  • Cartoon of man with sign saying "Malaria is a Fashionable Disease"

    The Giant D.C. Mosquito Net That Could've Cured Malaria

    There’s a common saying (and belief) that Washington, D.C. was built on a swamp. While that’s not actually the case, it is true that the District’s rivers and tributaries—and the surrounding marshland—have caused some problems in the past. In the nineteenth century, the low-lying area around the National Mall and Tidal Basin was the perfect breeding ground for one of the largest public health concerns at the time: mosquitoes. One enterprising doctor had a very inventive solution.

    May 2, 2025

    • Washington, D.C.

    By Katherine Brodt

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Popular Content

  • Currier and Ives, The Assassination of Lincoln at Ford's Theater, April 14, 1865. (Photo Source: Library of Congress)

    Little Known Victims of the Lincoln Assassination

    The events of April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theatre in Washington are well known. Actor John Wilkes Booth went into President Lincoln's box and shot him. The President was mortally wounded and died the...

    February 22, 2013

    By Claudia Swain

  • Smokey Bear cub chewing on fire prevention sign at the National Zoo in 1950. (Reprinted with permission of the DC Public Library, Star Collection, © Washington Post.)

    How Smokey Bear Became an Icon... And a Real Life Neighbor in D.C.

    “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.” Many of us, especially former Boy Scouts like myself, probably associate that statement with campfire safety. Indeed, Smokey the Bear has been around for as long...

    March 2, 2018

    By Mark Jones

  • Lynn Arnold waves to onlookers from her glass apartment atop the Big Chair in Anacostia. (Reprinted with permission of the DC Public Library, Star Collection, © Washington Post.)

    Meet the Woman Who Lived Atop the Big Chair in Anacostia

    Creative advertising wasn’t just for Don Draper and the New York Mad Men. In 1959, Anacostia’s Curtis Bros. Furniture Company commissioned Bassett Furniture to construct a 19.5 foot tall Duncan Phyfe...

    November 26, 2012

    By Mark Jones

  • Rayful Edmond III's extensive cocaine network and ties to Colombian drug cartels marked a shift in D.C.'s drug trade, which had previously been dominated by small-time dealers in constant search of supplies. (Photo courtesy of May 3rd Films)

    1989: Bringing Down D.C.'s Drug King

    April 15, 1989 – almost “go time.” A joint force of DEA, FBI and D.C. Police officials had spent nearly two years building their case against the District's largest drug network, and a series of...

    November 14, 2014

    By Mark Jones


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Boundary Stones

Boundary Stones explores local history in Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland and northern Virginia. This project is a service of WETA and is supported by contributions from readers like you.

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