Frequently Asked Questions

The Indian Craft Shop is located across the hall from the Interior Museum on the first floor of the Main Interior Building.  Their website is www.indiancraftshop.com and the phone number is 202-208-4056.

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There are many murals in the Main Interior Building within the spaces that are open to the general public, please see Self Guided Tour in the Tour section of this website.  There are many more murals which are not accessible to the public unless you are part of a tour, please see Tour of Interior Building/Murals under the Tour section of this website.  The staff requests that tours be scheduled at least one week in advance to ensure that a guide will be available.  Please call 202-208-4743 to schedule a tour.

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We apologize, but we cannot identify or give values for any object privately or publicly owned.  Please contact a registered appraiser which may be found in your phone book or on the internet.

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While we do display Indian artifacts as well as documents and artifacts related to the history of the involvement of the United States government with the Indian tribes, there is a large Indian museum here in Washington, DC called the National Museum of the American Indian which is part of the Smithsonian Institution.  Their website is www.nmai.si.edu, please check with them for information.

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The Interior Museum has permanent and temporary exhibits which show the current work and the history of the Department of the Interior and its many Bureaus.  This includes hand made dioramas and wall panels created by the National Park Service for this museum in the 1930's as well as contemporary and vintage photographs and objects which tell the story of the Department of the Interior.

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Yes, the Interior Museum staff gives tours of the building and its murals, please see Main Interior Building/Murals Tour under the Tour section of this website.  The staff asks that requests be made at least one week in advance to ensure that there will be a guide available for you.  Please call 202-208-4743 to schedule a tour.

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Ranger guided tours of the monuments and important federal buildings including the White House must be scheduled through your congressman or senator.  If you have already secured a tour and need to find scheduling information please call Wanda Franklin in the Office of the Secretary, 202-208-7351.

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The Interior Museum is located on the first floor of the Main Interior Building at 1849 C Street, NW between 18th and 19th Streets.

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The Interior Museum is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm and from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm on the third Saturday of each month, except for all Federal holidays.  If you need to confirm whether a particular object or exhibit is on display please call, 202-208-4743.

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Why would anyone with an intimate knowledge of this building believe this story? People will often cite the number of water closets scattered through the offices & the presence of showers in the Immediate Office of the Secretary.

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What is true is that Secretary Harold Ickes worked long hours. He also had the disconcerting habit of wandering about Interior on his own, walking into offices unannounced. It must have seemed as if he was always here. He certainly wished to encourage his staff to the same practice by including ammenities in the building design that would make it possible to maintain a professional appearance. The South Interior Building was constructed to be the main headquarters of the Public Health Administration. It was obsolete for this function by the time it was completed. It is also true that frequent bathing, particularly washing one's hands, is one of the single most significant developments in thousands of years for preventing the spread of disease. Either of these, being cited without complete understanding, could lead to the apocryphal story.

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There was a radio recording studio in the North Penthouse for the preparation of public service programs concerning the wide responsibilities & activities of the Department of the Interior. Recordings were broadcast elsewhere. The North Penthouse was not wheelchair accessible in FDR's time which would make it unlikely that FDR ever visited it for any reason since he would have had to have been carried. FDR's fireside chats were recorded at the White House (the Green Room I believe).

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Such arrangements are made by a call from a congressman's office to the Immediate Office of the Secretary. It is a van tour operated by staff of the National Park Service.

The Interior Museum provides tours of the Main Interior Building.

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