The U.S. Geological Survey National Center, officially the John Wesley Powell Federal Building, is a historic building and the headquarters of the United States Geological Survey (USGS)—an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)—located in Reston, Virginia.

ft., 1,200 foot long U.S. Geological Survey National Center building sits on a 105-acre site and is divided into three main sections—the agency administration offices, the laboratories, and the map reproduction area.

At its 1879 establishment, the USGS was located at the corner of 8th and G Streets Northwest, adjacent to the then-current United States Patent and Trademark Office building.

[3] In 1964, the GSA signed a contract with Chicago-based architectural firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill and H. D. Nottingham & Associates of Arlington, Virginia for a pre-design study of the building, which included the evaluation of potential sites.

During his term at the USGS, Powell himself had envisioned a new building for the agency, which would have been located near the National Museum of the Smithsonian.