Bruce Guthrie Photos: DC -- U.S. Capitol (exterior images)

DC -- U.S. Capitol (exterior images) -- Notes:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by Bruce Guthrie who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the Creative Commons definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. If asked for permission in advance, I'll usually waive the non-commercial clause unless it's for people trying to sell the photos. A free copy of any printed publication using the photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from official signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Description of Subject Matter: The cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol was laid with traditional Masonic ritual by George Washington in 1793. The design of the central structure was by William Thornton. The first session of Congress to be held in the new Capitol in Washington DC was called to order on November 22, 1800. In 1803, Benjamin Latrobe took over as architect and he added a wing for the House to meet; the two houses were connected by a wooden walkway. In 1814, the British burned the Capitol, using the books of the Library of Congress (then located within the Capitol) as kindling. In 1817, Charles Bulfinch took over as architect. In 1819, Congress moved back into the building. In 1851, Congress authorized architect Thomas Walter to enlarge the wings and expanded the Capitol dome for the new structure. The dome would still be under construction during the Civil War. Various places within the Capitol:

Great Rotunda -- This is where presidents sometimes lay in state. The dome mural is "The Apotheosis of Washington" by Constantino Brumidi. There are eight large oil paintings on the wall, half by John Trumbull (who had been George Washington's aide).

Statuary Hall -- This used to be the chamber for the House of Representatives before they moved into their expanded wings. There are a couple of spots in the hall which allows someone to whisper and have someone across the room hear what they are saying; it was a useful location to listen in on opponents during sessions. Each state is allowed to provide two statues of their choice for the hall and they're currently going through updating the statues they originally provided. There is also supposed to be a star on the floor which marks the spot where John Quincy Adams fell to the floor after suffering a fatal stroke in 1848.

Old Supreme Court Chambers -- The old Supreme Court chambers were located in the basement of the building until 1860 (at which point it moved to the Old Senate Chamber) before getting a b ...More...
Various Signs: Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
"Although a soldier by profession, I have never felt any sort of fondness for war, and I have never advocated it, except as a means of peace."
-- General Ulysses S. Grant
Hiram Ulysses Grant, mistakenly listed as Ulysses Simpson Grant on United States Military Academy cadet rosters, ascended from Midwestern obscurity to become the Union's military savior and, later, the 18th President of the United States. U.S. Grant's requirement for "unconditional surrender" in American Civil War battles and sieges helped define his adopted initials.
After President Abraham Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant general, Grant designed the comprehensive strategy that doomed the Confederacy and forced Gen. Robert E. Lee's April 9, 1865, surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. Grant issued generous surrender terms and worked with Lee to decide the fate of this nation, not merely at that hour, but for future generations.
The Memorial:
Civil War General Grant confidently gazes westward toward the nation's heartland -- and the memorial to his great benefactor, Abraham Lincoln. The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial captures the General's cool, military bearing while in command astride his favorite warhorse, Cincinnati. Around his swirl the chaos and confusion of the battlefield exhibited by the memorial's onrushing cavalry and artillery groups.
Dedicated on April 28, 1922, the centennial of Grant's birth, the memorial blends the work of sculptor Henry Merwin Shrady and architect Edward Pearce Casey, the son of the engineer who completed the Washington Monument. Shrady, self-taught and relatively unknown, won the memorial competition and devoted the final twenty years of his life to the project. Tragically, he died just fifteen days before the dedication, but not before capturing his own likeness within the cavalry grouping as the face of a fallen trooper.
Wikipedia Description: United States Capitol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though not in the geographic center of the District of Columbia, the Capitol is the origin by which the quadrants of the District are divided. Officially, both the east and west sides of the Capitol are referred to as "fronts." Historically, however, only the east front of the building was intended for the arrival of visitors and dignitaries.

History:

Prior to establishing the nation's capital in Washington, D.C., the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia, New York City, and a number of other locations. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress, which met from May 1775 to March 1781. After adopting the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was formed and convened in Philadelphia from March 1781 until June 1783, when a mob of angry soldiers converged upon Independence Hall, demanding payment for their service during the American Revolutionary War. Congress requested that John Dickinson, the governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 21, 1783, and met in Annapolis, Maryland and Trenton, New Jersey before ending up in New York City.

The United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution and formally began on March 4, 1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790, when the Resi ...More...
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Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [Capitols] [Mall (DC)]
2013 photos: So far, my camera is mostly the Fuji X-S1 but, depending on the event, I'm also using a Nikon D7000 and Nikon D600. Trips this year have been limited to a Civil War Trust conference in Memphis.
Photo Contact: Email Bruce Guthrie.