The Ellipse, also called President's Park South, is a 52-acre park south of the White House fence and north of Constitution Avenue and the National Mall in Washington DC. The park was planned by Pierre Charles L'Enfant and was originally called the "White Lot" after the white fence that enclosed it. During the American Civil War, the grounds of the Ellipse and the incomplete Washington Monument were used as corrals for horses, mules, and cattle and as camp sites for Union Army troops. The Ellispe was also used as a baseball field from 1860 to 1990, and Black athletes were banned from using the Ellipse in 1874. The US Army Corps of Engineers began work on the Ellipse in 1867, and hte park was landscaped in 1879 and the Ellippse created in 1880 from what had been a common dump. IN 1894, the roadway was lit with electric lamps. On 24 December 1923, President Calvin Coolidge lit the first National Christmas Tree in the Ellipse. During World War II, the Ellipse housed a temporary barracks that was in existence from 1942 to 1954. On 6 January 2021, Donald Trump incited a mob of his far-right followers to "fight like hell" to stop Joe Biden from taking office, resulting in the 2021 United States coup d'etat attempt at the United States Capitol.