In the United States, the National Archives facilities are facilities and buildings housing the research and agency services of the country's National Archives and Records Administration. Within the organization of the National Archives, the upkeep of its facilities falls under the National Archives Facilities and Property Management Office.
National Archives Building
The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, located north of the National Mall on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., opened as its original headquarters in 1935. It holds the original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. It also hosts a copy of the 1297 Magna Carta confirmed by Edward I. These are displayed to the public in the main chamber of the National Archives, which is called the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. The National Archives Building also exhibits other important American historical documents such as the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, the Emancipation Proclamation, and collections of photography and other historically and culturally significant American artifacts.
Once inside the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, there are no lines to see the individual documents and visitors are allowed to walk from document to document as they wish. For over 30 years the National Archives have forbidden flash photography but the advent of cameras with automatic flashes have made the rules increasingly difficult to enforce. As a result, all filming, photographing, and videotaping by the public in the exhibition areas has been prohibited since February 25, 2010.
An Innovation Hub provides facilities for the public to access NARA documents and provide metadata. Historical records of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are available for research at NARA's Center for Legislative Archives.
National Archives at College Park
Because of space constraints, NARA opened a second facility, known informally as "Archives II", in 1994 near the University of Maryland, College Park campus (8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001). Largely because of this proximity, NARA and the University of Maryland engage in cooperative initiatives. The College Park campus includes an archaeological site that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
Washington National Records Center
The Washington National Records Center (WNRC), located in Suitland, Maryland is a large warehouse type facility which stores federal records which are still under the control of the creating agency. Federal government agencies pay a yearly fee for storage at the facility. In accordance with federal records schedules, documents at WNRC are transferred to the legal custody of the National Archives after a certain point (this usually involves a relocation of the records to College Park). Temporary records at WNRC are either retained for a fee or destroyed after retention times has elapsed. WNRC also offers research services and maintains a small research room.
National Personnel Records Center
Two offices in the St. Louis, Missouri area comprise the National Personnel Records Center. Spanish Lake, Missouri, Military Personnel Records Center Valmeyer, Illinois, Civilian Personnel Records Center,
Regional facilities
There are facilities across the country with research rooms, archival holdings, and microfilms of documents of federal agencies and courts pertinent to each region. Atlanta, Georgia, located in Morrow, Georgia Boston, Massachusetts, NARA at Boston is located in Waltham, Massachusetts Chicago, Illinois Denver, Colorado, NARA at Denver is located in Broomfield, Colorado Fort Worth, Texas Kansas City, Missouri New York City, New York Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Riverside, California San Francisco, California Seattle, Washington (National Archives at Seattle)
A regional office in Anchorage, Alaska was closed in 2014 with records for the region transferred to Seattle, Washington. The Seattle facility was planned to be closed by a decision of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in January 2020, with records moved to California and Kansas City, but the decision was later revised by the Biden administration.
Federal Records Centers
Federal Records Centers exist in each region that house materials owned by federal government agencies. Federal Records Centers are not open for public research but, in many cases, may be housed in the same complex or building as a National Archives regional office. The federal records centers (FRCs) are also administratively divided into two archival divisions.