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East pediment of the north wing, U.S. Capitol

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East pediment of the north wing, U.S. Capitol

description

Summary

In album: Benjamin Brown French "Photographs," p. 75.

Printed on recto: Capt. M.C. Meigs, U.S. Engineer in Charge; T. Crawford; and Tho. U. Walter, architect.
Reference copy in LOT 12251, v. 1.
Original in PR 12 LOT 12251.

United States Capitol Free Sock Photos. Public Domain, Royalty Free Images. The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building or Capitol Hill, is the home of the United States Congress, and the seat of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. President George Washington in 1791 selected the area that is now the District of Columbia from land ceded by Maryland. French engineer Pierre Charles L'Enfant who planned the new city of Washington located the Capitol at the elevated east end of the Mall, on the brow of what was then called Jenkins' Hill. The site was, in L'Enfant's words, "a pedestal waiting for a monument." President Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol in the building's southeast corner on September 18, 1793, with Masonic ceremonies. Construction was a time-consuming process: the sandstone used for the building had to be ferried on boats from the quarries at Aquia, Virginia and workers had to be induced to leave their homes to come to the relative wilderness of Capitol Hill. Some third-floor rooms were still unfinished when the Congress, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the courts of the District of Columbia occupied the U.S. Capitol in late 1800.

date_range

Date

01/01/1853
person

Contributors

Walter, Thomas Ustick, 1804-1887, architect
Crawford, Thomas, 1813 or 1814-1857, sculptor
Meigs, Montgomery C. (Montgomery Cunningham), 1816-1892, engineer
place

Location

create

Source

Library of Congress
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

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