The Entomological Society of Washington was organized on February 29, 1884 at a meeting called by three entomologists employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Charles Valentine Riley, Eugene Amandus Schwarz, and Leland Ossian Howard, in Riley's home in Washington, D.C. Meetings have been held regularly since 1884. Several local locations were used as meeting places after it became impractical to hold meetings in members' homes, including the Washington Saengerbund Hall, the Cosmos Club, and the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution.