In continuing our blog series of notable Washington D.C. buildings and monuments, let’s look to one of the most recognizable and inherently important structures in the entire country: The United States Capitol Building. Positively massive in size, the building sits atop Capitol Hill and, oddly enough, faces The National Mall and the Washington Monument in a backwards fashion. (The East entrance to the Capitol is where dignitaries and guests arrive.) Two huge wings on either side, housing the House and the Senate on either end, flank the dome, which is set atop the fifth-highest building in the city. The Capitol simply oozes grandeur and prominence.
Construction of the Capitol Building began over 200 years ago, with George Washington himself laying the first cornerstone in 1793, after he and Thomas Jefferson held a design competition for the building’s plans. A late entry – from British-American William Thornton – was chosen, as Jefferson and Washington both raved over the handsome design. The neoclassical style is timeless and borrows heavily from Greek and Roman structures. After numerous additions, Georgia marble was chosen to clad the exterior, as it weathers much less than the previous sandstone adorning the building.
In the war of 1812, the British set fire to the Capitol in 1814 and would have nearly burned it to the ground, had a perfectly timed storm not put the fire out. Still the building was nearly gutted, and so restorations and additions began after. In 1850, with a growing number of states and representatives, new wings nearly doubled the structure in size. This however made the original dome seem disproportionate, and it was enlarged using nearly nine million pounds of iron from 1855 – 1866. The 19-½ foot tall Statue of Freedom was added to crown the dome in 1863, weighing a mammoth 15,000 pounds.
Since that time still more additions have taken place, as well as new terraces and many restorations. The building itself however still serves its purpose well, housing the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as inaugurations of the U.S. Presidents on the West Terrace. While it’s a difficult task to make such an enormous building aesthetically beautiful, the Capitol Building remains quite handsome and is immediately recognizable as a symbol of the United States and of our country’s inherent values.