USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 69
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In the evening of August 24, 1814, "the British army, commanded jointly by General Ross and Admiral Cockburn, reached Capitol Hill, flushed and excited by their victory at Bladensburg. As General Ross rode toward the Capitol, his horse was killed by a shot fired from a house in the vicinity. The shot was apparently aimed at the British general, and it so enraged the troops that, after setting fire to the house containing the sharpshooter, they marched quickly to the Cap- itol, and fired several volleys into its windows. A regiment then marched into the hall of the House of Representatives, the drums and fifes playing 'The British Grenadiers,' and the soldiers were formed around the Speaker's chair. Admiral Cockburn was escorted to the post of honor, and, seating himself, derisively called the excited assemblage to order. 'Shall this harbor of Yankee democracy be burned? All for it say, Aye!' he shouted. There was a tumultuous ery of affirmation, and then the order was given to burn the building. The pitch-pine boards were torn from the passageway between the wings; the books and papers of the Library of Congress were pulled from their shelves and scattered over the floor; valuable paintings in a room adjoining the Senate chamber were cut from their frames, and the torch applied to the combustible mass. Presently clouds of smoke
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and columns of fire ascended from the Capitol, and it seemed doomed to destruction. The soldiers discharged army rockets through the roof of each wing, and when the fire was burning furiously, left the build- ing and marched up Pennsylvania Avenue to fire the other public edifices. The wooden passageway and the roofs and exterior of the wings were burned, but the walls were saved, as the flames were extinguished in time by a severe rain, which set in within half an hour after the fire had begun, and continued all the evening."
After the British invasion, Congress held its first session in Blod- gett's Hotel, which occupied the site of the present post office building. Afterward, while the Capitol was being rebuilt, Congress assembled in a building erected for the purpose by the patriotic citi- zens of Washington, near the eastern grounds of the Capitol. Here it held its session for several years. The building has always been known as the "Old Capitol Building." At the time of the burning of the Capitol, Mr. Latrobe was in Pittsburgh, engaged in the con- struction of a steamboat for Robert Fulton; but he was immediately recalled to Washington to superintend the reconstruction of the Capitol, which, after a thorough examination, he reported as capable of easy restoration, the foundations and walls remaining for the most part unimpaired. To him is due the credit of the old hall of the House of Representatives, now the national statuary hall; the old Senate chamber, now the hall of the Supreme Court; the Law Library, and the old lobbies. He remained in charge until 1817, when he resigned and was succeeded by Mr. Charles Bulfinch, who was entrusted with the further prosecution of the work with the understanding that the Capitol should be completed according to the designs of Mr. Latrobe.
Mr. Bulfinch was a native of Massachusetts, and had constructed the old statehouse at Boston, besides other notable buildings. He remained at work on the Capitol building ten years, and for the most part followed the desigus of Mr. Latrobe, executing under these designs the Senate chamber and the hall of Representatives, and completing what were then called the wings. He also connected these wings by the central rotunda, which for many years was called the "Rotundo," and completed it with a low dome. He also built the main hall of the Library of Congress, etc., and in 1827 reported to Congress that the Capitol was complete. When finished, it was declared by every one majestic, and perfect in all its adaptations. It stood on a com- manding situation on Capitol Hill, was imposing in its appearance, and was admirably adapted to the uses for which it was designed. It
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covered 12 acres of ground, and was surrounded by 222 acres. It was in length 352 feet 4 inches; the depth of the wings was 121 feet 6 inches; the eastern projection of the steps was 65 feet, and the western projection of steps 83 feet. The height of the wings to the top of the balustrade was 70 feet; the height to the top of the center of the dome, 145 feet; the diameter of the rotunda was 96 feet, and the height of the rotunda 96 feet; the greatest length of the Representa- tives' hall was 95 feet, and the greatest width 60 feet; the greatest leugth of the Senate chamber was 74 feet, and the greatest width 42 feet. The cost of the center building, which was commenced in 1818 and completed in 1827, was $957,647.35; and the entire cost of the building up to that time, including what Mr. Bulfinch had done on the wings, was $2,433,814.
From this time until 1850 the Capitol was large enough for the uses of the Nation, and during this period it was in charge of Robert Mills, a Washington architect, who made several small improvements as suggested by the necessities of the occasion. But in 1850, the number of members of both branches of Congress having been largely increased, the necessity for ampler and better accommodations became evident. The mode of enlargement decided upon was the extension of the wings by greater wings or extensions, to be con- structed of marble and to be connected with the original Capitol by wide corridors. The architect engaged for this work was Thomas U. Walter, of Philadelphia, who had constructed Girard College. Mr. Walter immediately began the work of construction according to plans designed by himself, General Montgomery C. Meigs, an accomplished engineer, being appointed as general superintendent and inspector.
The corner stone of the House of Representatives extension, on the south wing, was laid by President Fillmore, assisted by the Grand Lodge of Masons of the District of Columbia, the Grand Master wearing the regalia worn by President Washington as Master Mason when he laid the corner stone of the original edifice. On this latter occasion an eloquent oration was delivered by Daniel Webster, Secre- tary of State, which was listened to by a vast assemblage of people. Beneath this corner stone was deposited the following record:
"On the morning of the first day of the seventy-sixth year of the independence of the United States of America, in the city of Washington, being the 4th day of July, 1851, this stone, designated as the corner stone of the extension of the Capitol, according to a
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plan approved by the President, in pursuance of an act of Congress, was laid by Millard Fillmore, President of the United States, assisted by the Grand Master of the Masonic Lodges, in the presence of many members of Congress; of officers of the Executive and Judiciary Departments, National, State, and District; of officers of the Army and Navy; the corporate authorities of this and neighboring cities; many associations, civil, military, and masonic; officers of the Smith- sonian Institution, and National Institute; professors of colleges and teachers of schools of the District of Columbia, with their students and pupils; and a vast concourse of people from places near and remote, including a few surviving gentlemen who witnessed the lay- ing of the corner stone of the Capitol by President Washington on the 18th day of September, 1793. If, therefore, it shall hereafter be the will of God that this structure shall fall from its base, that its foundations be upturned, and this deposit brought to the eyes of men, be it known that, on this day, the Union of the United States of America stands firm; that their constitution still exists unimpaired, and with all its original usefulness and glory, growing every day stronger and stronger in the affections of the great body of the American people, and attracting more and more the admiration of the world. And all here assembled, whether belonging to public or to private life, with hearts devoutly thankful to Almighty God for the preservation of the liberty and happiness of the country, unite in sincere and fervent prayers that this deposit, and the walls and arches, the domes and towers, the columns and entablatures, now to be erected over it, may endure forever! God save the United States of America!
" DANIEL WEBSTER, "Secretary of State of the United States."
The old Capitol building was surmounted by three domes, the middle one, standing where stands the present one, being of wood and extending to a height one hundred and forty-two feet lower than the one that supplanted it. This wooden dome was removed in 1856, when the construction of the present magnificent one was commenced. In order to support so vast an additional weight the Capitol building was trussed up, and strengthened, so that it might be able to bear it. This new dome is divided into four sections, the first occupied by thirty-six columns of cast iron, twenty-seven feet high, and three feet in diameter, and decreasing to two and a half feet at the top. The columns rest on a cast-iron foundation, which
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again rests on a circular wall, bolted, girded, clamped, and compacted by every imaginable contrivance into a mass of solid matter, forming, as it were, but a single body. On these thirty-six columns, which are hollow, fluted, and about an inch thick, is placed a ring to form the foundation for a superimposed section of pilasters smaller than the col- umns but equal in number, on which is placed strong panel work constituting a third section. The fourth section is the dome proper, which differs from other domes by having an elliptical section instead of a circular one. To be more specific, the external contour is approxi- mately elliptical from the top of the columns; the main ribs are in the form of a pointed arch, and the ceiling is approximately cirenlar. The whole is surmounted by circular plates of iron, of considerable thickness, bearing an altar-like structure girded with fasces, all in iron, and supporting a globe, around which is a belt with the inscription " E pluribus unum." Upon this globe stands the Goddess of Liberty, capped with eagle feathers, and holding in her right hand a sheathed sword, and in her left a wreath and shield. Around her forehead is a fillet studded with thirteen stars.
This dome rests on a continuous wall of masonry, while most of the domes of the old world rest on piers. According to the calcula- tions of the architect, the weight of the dome completed is 13,477 pounds on each square foot, while the stone sustaining it is capable of sustaining a weight of 755,280 pounds per square foot. The pres- sure of the new dome upon the foundation walls at the level of the cellar floor is 51,292,253 pounds, while the pressure of the old dome was only 48,756,221 pounds, and the weight of the statue of Liberty is 15,000 pounds.
The most remarkable feature of this Goddess of Liberty is its headdress. As it is not generally known how this peculiar feature came to be selected, the explanation is here inserted, as given by Hon. Jefferson Davis, who was Secretary of War at the time of the selection of the figure to grace the dome. To aid in the execution of the work, he appointed Captain M. C. Meigs superintendent of construction. Several of the most distinguished American statuaries were invited to accept orders, among them Hiram Powers, who sub- mitted for the dome of the Capitol a colossal female figure, on the head of which was the liberty cap. To this cap Mr. Davis objected, because it was among the Romans the badge of an emancipated slave; and as the people of the United States were born freemen, he considered it inappropriate to them. Mr. Powers yielded to the objee- tion, and designed a headdress of feathers for the figure, which was
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accepted, because feathers seemed to him, in view of the aboriginal inhabitants, appropriate to a statue typical of America, leaving the question of taste to the critics, which we also do. Crawford received $3,000 for the plaster model of the statue, and Clarke Mills received $9,800 for the casting in bronze. The additional expense for labor and metal ran the entire expense up to $23,796.82.
The new hall of the House of Representatives was lighted up for the first time December 2, 1857, and the lighting was considered a great success. There were forty-five open squares in the ceiling, in five rows of nine in each row. Each square has within it a smaller square, surrounding which were arranged twenty-eight burners, mak- ing twelve hundred and sixty burners in all, and all were lighted in twenty seconds. The method of lighting used was the invention of Captain M. C. Meigs, who was in charge of the Capitol extension. The entire number of jets used in the lighting was forty-five thousand, and the quantity of pipe laid in the skylight was nearly three-fourths of a mile.
The heating apparatus was, at the time it was put into the Capitol, thought to be superior to anything of the kind ever invented. Pure air was brought into a large rapidly revolving wheel or fan, the hol- low circumference of which was divided into pockets, and was thrown thence into a chamber cummunicating with some seven or eight miles of iron pipes coiling about each other, and about one inch apart, in which pipes it was warmed by steam. Passing through this mass of iron pipes the heated air goes into a closed well, whence it arises and enters into the Senate chamber, the committee rooms, and other rooms.
On Tuesday, January 4, 1859, the Senate met in the old chamber for the last time, and on motion of Senator Crittenden, moved into their new hall, the one they have ever since occupied. The occasion was one of great interest to the people of Washington, and not- withstanding the inclemency of the weather and the bad walking, for there were then no street cars, there were present more people than could get into either the old hall or the new one. It was generally considered that the new Senate chamber was in stricter taste than the hall of the House of Representatives, that it was less heavily embellished, but this was perhaps owing to the smallness of the hall, and the small number of the Senators to be accommodated. The President of the Senate sits directly opposite the Speaker of the House, and each is visible to the other when the doors of the two halls are open, and distant from each other about eight hundred feet.
The columns surrounding the two wings of the Capitol, as erected
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from 1851 to 1865, were from the marble quarry of John F. Connolly, about a mile west of Cockeysville, on the line of the Northern Central Railroad. The number required for the fronts of the Capitol extension was 100, each weighing 23 tons. The contract price for them was $1,550 for each column. These columns are 25} feet long, 3 feet 8 inches in diameter at the base, 3 feet in diameter at the top, and are fluted. In June, 1860, the first of these columns was taken from the quarry to the Bolton depot, and thence over the Howard Street track to the Camden station. By December 1, 1860, twenty of them had been delivered, and three of them were finished and placed in the building with their beautiful capitals, which are in the ornate Corinthian order.
The dome of the Capitol was finished on Friday, August 26, 1864, and there were at that time about thirty marble workers at work on the marble columns in front of the edifice. By November 1, 1864, the eastern portico of the north wing was finished. The shafts of the columns were all monoliths, and the pedestals also were each wrought out of a single block of marble. The capitals were executed in two courses, with the foliage sculptured out of the solid marble. The architrave over each center columniation is also mono- lithic, and the ceilings are entirely composed of massive blocks of marble deeply paneled and richly ornamented. The eastern portion of the south wing, however, was not then finished.
The rotunda, mentioned above, occupies the center of the Capitol building, and is ninety-six feet in diameter and ninety-six feet high. It is divided in its circuit into panels by lofty Grecian pilasters or antæ, which support a bold entablature ornamented with wreaths, with an hemispherical dome rising above filled with large plain cais- sons. The panels of the circular walls are appropriated to paintings and basso-relievos of historical subjects. Panel No. 1 contains a painting of the "Signing of the Declaration of Independence"; Panel No. 2, the "Capitulation of Saratoga"; Panel No. 3, the "Capitulation of Yorktown"; Panel No. 4, " Washington Crossing the Delaware," by Trumbull; Panel No. 5, the "Baptism of Pocahontas," by Chapman; Panel No. 6, the " Embarkation of the Pilgrims at Delft Haven," by Weir; Panel No. 7, the "Landing of Columbus," by Vanderlyn, and Panel No. 8, the " Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto," by Powell.
The bronze folding doors hanging at the east front of the Capitol were cast at Munich, Bavaria, in the latter part of 1861, by the artist Rogers, who had been commissioned some years previously by the
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Government of the United States for that purpose. The doors were designed and modeled at Rome, but cast at the Royal Foundry at Munich. The workmanship is admirable, there being a sharpness in the lines and a finish in the details which are seldom seen. Each door is divided into four panels, and these, with the semicircular space above, make nine divisions. In each of these divisions is represented an important epoch in the life of Columbus. The figures stand out in full relief. The crowning event in his career occupies the space above the doors. Standing on a mound, Columbus here forms the central figure, having just landed from a boat, and with the standard of Aragon and Castile planted upon the virgin soil of a new continent, and with sword upraised in his right hand, he takes possession of the land in the name of his sovereign. In one com- partment is represented the triumphal entry of Columbus into Madrid on his first return from America. Another shows Columbus in chains about to embark for Europe. Another shows him on his deathbed, attended only by some priests and a nun. In the thickness of the doors niches are formed at certain intervals, in which are small whole length figures of contemporaries of Columbus. The large bosses so often seen in doors are in this case supplied by the heads of the most prominent of the historians who have written about Col- umbus, and the ornaments below each niche are the heads of animals indigenous to the country, with fruits and flowers entwined which are also characteristic of the New World. The cost of the Capitol up to July 15, 1870, was $12,256,150.69.
Statuary Hall, the old hall of the House of Representatives, con- tains statues of many of the prominent statesmen of the Nation's history, and the east portico of the Capitol is ornamented with stat- uary suggestive of epochs in the history of the United States and the world.
The President's Mansion, or White House, as it is usually called, is situated at the upper end of Pennsylvania Avenue. It was erected in accordance with plans presented by Captain James Hoban, an Irishman, and one of the early architects of the Capital City. This plan was presented because of the offer by the commissioners of premiums for competitive plans, Captain Hoban being the successful competitor. The corner stone was laid October 13, 1792, and the build- ing, which was modeled after the palace of the Duke of Leinster, although not completed was yet so far advanced as to be occupied by President John Adams upon his arrival in the new Capital, November 1, 1800. It is one hundred and seventy feet front by
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eighty-six feet deep, and has the appearance of being built of white marble, but is in reality of freestone painted white. It has a rectan- gular Ionic portico in front, and a semicircular Ionic portico in the rear. It is two stories high, each story being twenty-two feet. It stands at the intersection of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont avennes, the entrance fronting to the north upon an open square. From the south side is presented a fine view of the Potomac River, the Washington Monument, and a portion of Virginia. In 1814 it was almost destroyed by the British, nothing but the walls being left standing, and it was rebuilt upon plans furnished by Captain Hoban.
From the rectangular portico at the north front a spacious vesti- bule is entered, and from this to the cast is the East Room, the one public apartment in the White House. On this floor are three other apartments -the Green Room, the Blue Room, and the Red Room, and also an apartment called the State Dining Room, all of which are closed to visitors during the day, except that occasionally a party is conducted through them during the morning hours by an usher. State receptions are held in the Blue Room. The upper story of the mansion is devoted to business offices and the private apartments of the President. Those of public interest are the Library Room, where the President receives callers during the day, and the Cabinet Room, where Cabinet meetings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays. The Library Room is a very interesting apartment. The numerous book- cases are filled with a fine library, the nucleus of which was established in 1851, soon after Congress had made an appropriation of $2,000 for that purpose. When this was done, it was thought strange that it had not been done before. Almost immediately after the passage of the appropriation act, however, C. Lanman, who was at the time libra- rian of the War Department, purchased nine hundred volumes upon law, history, science, and general literature. Duplicate copies of public documents being found in the War Department, the Secretary of War immediately transferred them to the President's library, and thus an excellent nucleus of a library was collected. Since then, the library has grown so that it now numbers five thousand volumes.
The City Ilall is one of the oldest buildings in the city. It is situated on the south portion of Judiciary Square, and fronts on Four and a Half Street. Its corner stone was laid August 22, 1820, with Masonic ceremonies, in the presence of a large number of people. The plans were by Architect George Hadfield, and it was claimed for the building that when it should be completed it would be the
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finest specimen of chaste architecture in the United States. The history of this building, if written in detail, might be made exceedingly inter- esting. It was erected by the corporation of Washington; but a few years since, it was sold to the Government of the United States for $75,000.
The Treasury Department of the Government was established by an act passed by the first Congress in 1789. When the Government removed to Washington in 1800, a small wooden building was erected for the use of the Treasury Department, which served its purposes until burned down by the British in August, 1814. Another building was speedily constructed, which served until March 31, 1833, when it was destroyed by fire. There was then some delay in reference to the construction of a new Treasury building. An act was at length passed by Congress, providing for the erection of a new building, in July, 1836. According to this act, the President was anthorized to have erected a fireproof building upon such a plan and of such materials as he might deem most advantageous. It was then proposed by those entrusted with the work of constructing this proposed building to locate it further down the tract on which the other buildings had been erected, in order that there might be a clear and unobstructed view all along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol and from the President's House; but Robert Mills, the architect, was so long in selecting a location (?) that the President became impatient, and, walking over the ground one morning, planted his cane in the extreme northeastern corner, and said: "Here, right here, I want the corner stone," and the corner stone was laid in obedience to his commands. The huge building for this reason stands on Pennsylvania Avenue, breaking the continuity of this magnificent avenue, and preventing the President from secing the Capitol from the windows of his residence. But in determining upon the plan of the building, President Jackson called upon his Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. Levi Woodbury, for the number of rooms the Treasury Department would need. Mr. Woodbury informed the President that it would require one hundred and eight rooms, thirty-six in the center building and thirty-six in each of the wings. The President thereupon endorsed upon the note, "Let the foundation be laid accordingly, for center, and north and south wings." In December, 1837, when the foundation of the entire building had been laid more than a year, when more than $145,800 had been expended upon it, and when the work had progressed so far that it was impossible to construct the rooms according to such a plan withont great loss, Mr. Woodbury gave notice that the business
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