1.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
2.
Federal government of the United States
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The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms
3.
United States Capitol
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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. It sits atop Capitol Hill at the end of the National Mall in Washington. Though not at the center of the Federal District, the Capitol forms the origin point for the Districts street-numbering system. The original building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a distinctive neoclassical style and has a white exterior. Both its east and west elevations are referred to as fronts, though only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors. In 2014, scaffolding was erected around the dome for a project scheduled to be completed by early 2017. All exterior scaffolding was removed by the end of summer 2016, prior to establishing the nations 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, 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, 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 Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a capital for ten years, until the nations capital in Washington. Pierre Charles LEnfant was given the task of creating the city plan for the new capital city, in reviewing LEnfants plan, Thomas Jefferson insisted the legislative building be called the Capitol rather than Congress House. The word Capitol comes from Latin and is associated with the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill, the connection between the two is not, however, crystal clear. In spring 1792, United States Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson proposed a competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the Presidents House. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the Federal City, the most promising of the submissions was by Stephen Hallet, a trained French architect. However, Hallets designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, a late entry by amateur architect William Thornton was submitted on January 31,1793, to much praise for its Grandeur, Simplicity, and Beauty by Washington, along with praise from Thomas Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the east front of the Louvre, as well as the Paris Pantheon for the portion of the design
4.
United States House of Representatives
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The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution, since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435, the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences. The House meets in the wing of the United States Capitol. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a body in which each state was equally represented. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates, the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. The House is referred to as the house, with the Senate being the upper house. Both houses approval is necessary for the passage of legislation, the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4,1789. The House began work on April 1,1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time, during the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives, However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery, One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, the war culminated in the Souths defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Unions victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877, the ensuing era, the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw an increase in the power of the Speaker of the House
5.
Cannon House Office Building
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The Cannon House Office Building, completed in 1908, is the oldest congressional office building as well as a significant example of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. It occupies a site south of the United States Capitol bounded by Independence Avenue, First Street, New Jersey Avenue, in 1962 the building was named for former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Joseph Gurney Cannon. The first congressional office buildings were constructed immediately after the turn of the 20th century to relieve overcrowding in the United States Capitol, previously, members who wanted office space had to rent quarters or borrow space in committee rooms. In March 1901 Congress authorized Architect of the Capitol Edward Clark to draw plans for office buildings for both the House and Senate adjacent to the Capitol grounds. In March 1903 the acquisition of sites and construction of the buildings were authorized, in April 1904 the prominent New York City architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings was retained. Thomas Hastings took charge of the House Office Building project, while John Carrère oversaw the construction of an almost identical office building for the United States Senate and their Beaux Arts designs were restrained complements to the Capitol. The Cannon Building was occupied during the 60th Congress in December 1907, originally there were 397 offices and fourteen committee rooms in the Cannon Building, the 1932 remodeling resulted in 85 two- or three-room suites,10 single rooms, and 23 committee rooms. Architecturally, the elevations are divided into a base and a colonnade with an entablature. The colonnades with thirty-four Doric columns that face the Capitol are echoed by pilasters on the sides of the building, the Cannon Building is faced with marble and limestone, while the Senates the Russell Buildings base and terrace are gray granite. Both the Cannon Building and the Russell Building are connected to the Capitol by underground passages, of special architectural interest is the rotunda. Eighteen Corinthian columns support an entablature and a dome, whose glazed oculus floods the rotunda with natural light. Twin marble staircases lead from the rotunda to an imposing Caucus Room, which features Corinthian pilasters, an entablature. The Cannon Tunnel connects the Cannon House Office Building to the Capitol, the tunnel is lined with artwork from the annual Congressional Art Competition for high school students. Branching off the entrance to Cannon Tunnel is a tunnel to the Longworth House Office Building, and entrances to a cafeteria, shoe shiner/cobbler. Unlike the tunnels from the Capitol to the Senate Office Buildings and the Rayburn tunnel, the Cannon Tunnel has no subway line, in January 2015, a top-to-bottom renovation of the Cannon House Office Building began. Completion is expected to take ten years and cost $752.7 million, initially, renovation will be focused on upgrading the building utilities, but will progress on to a wing-by-wing exterior and interior reconstruction. According to Bill Weidemeyer, the building is plagued by safety, health, many of the buildings systems are original from the 1908 construction. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document Cannon House Office Building, Cannon Renewal Project FAQs, Architect of the Capitol Ghosts of DC blog, Three Bits of Trivia About the Cannon House Office Building
6.
Ford House Office Building
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The Ford House Office Building is one of the four office buildings containing U. S. House of Representatives staff in Washington, D. C. on Capitol Hill. Instead, it primarily houses committee staff and other offices, including the Architect of the Capitol, prior to the construction of the Ford Building, the site was the home to the Bell School and Zion Wesley Chapel. Construction of the began in 1939 as part of the Works Progress Administration program. The building originally housed the United States Census Bureau from 1940 to 1942, over the years, it was used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to house its Latent Print Unit. Thousands of fingerprint records were housed in the building, requiring manual search techniques to find a match, the unit was one of the first to move to the FBIs J. Edgar Hoover Building upon its completion in 1974. Following the FBIs departure, the building was purchased by the Architect of the Capitol and was renamed House Annex-2, in the late 1980s, the Democratic and Republican parties were each permitted to rename a House Annex building. Ford House Office Building Architect of the Capitol
7.
Longworth House Office Building
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The Longworth House Office Building is one of three office buildings used by the United States House of Representatives. The building is located south of the Capitol, bounded by Independence Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, C Street S. E. and South Capitol Street, the building was named in 1962 in honor of the former Speaker of the House, Nicholas Longworth of Ohio. He served as Speaker from 1925 until Republicans lost their majority in 1931, the year he died. Plans to provide the House of Representatives with an office building were begun in 1925. Severe overcrowding in the Cannon House Office Building led to the renovation of the Cannon Building and it is the smallest House office building, with a floor area of just under 600,000 square feet. Under the direction of Architect of the Capitol David Lynn, preliminary designs for the building were prepared by a firm known as The Allied Architects of Washington Inc. The principal architects were Frank Upman, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier, Nathan C and they produced two schemes for a simple, dignified building in harmony with the rest of the Capitol Complex. In January 1929 Congress authorized $8.4 million for acquiring and clearing the site, the foundations were completed in December 1930, and the building was accepted for occupancy in April 1933. It is currently the meeting room for the House Ways and Means Committee, because of its position on a sloping site, the rusticated base of the Longworth Building varies in height from two to four stories. Above this granite base stand the three floors, which are faced with white marble. Ionic columns supporting a well-proportioned entablature are used for the buildings five porticoes, two additional stories are partially hidden by a marble balustrade. It presents a more restrained appearance than the neighboring Cannon Building. The Longworth Building takes its place along with the National Gallery of Art, three Bits of Trivia About the Longworth House Office Building - Ghosts of DC blog post 3D SketchUp model of the Longworth House Office Building for use in Google Earth
8.
Rayburn House Office Building
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Rayburn is named after former Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. It was completed in 1965 and at 2.375 million square feet is the largest congressional office building, Rayburn was completed in early 1965 and is home to the offices of 169 Representatives. Earlier efforts to space for the House of Representatives had included the construction of the Cannon House Office Building. In March 1955, House Speaker Sam Rayburn introduced an amendment for a third House office building, although no site had been identified, no study had been done. The cornerstone was laid in May 1962, and full occupancy began in February 1965, the Architect of the Capitol, J. The Capitol Subway System, a transportation system, connects the building to the Capitol. Pedestrian tunnels also connect the Rayburn building to the Capitol and to the Longworth House Office Building and this system allows the Rayburn building to be connected to most of the Congressional office buildings on Capitol Hill via tunnel. For construction of the Rayburn House Office Building, the Congressional bill appropriated $2 million plus such additional sums as may be necessary, such additional sums eventually totaled $88 million. Congressional leaders inserted a gymnasium into the plans, a fact that was not publicly known at the time of construction. Also in the third floor basement is a shooting range run by the U. S. Capitol Police, the raid led to members of both parties questioning the constitutionality of the action, and a subsequent hearing by the House Judiciary Committee. On May 26,2006, at 10,30 am local time, the Capitol complex was sealed off, and staff in the building were told to stay in their offices after the building was put into lockdown by the United States Capitol Police. Some parts of the lockdown were removed, though other areas remained sealed, congressman Jim Saxton was reportedly the source of the false alarm, after he mistook construction sounds in the garage for gunfire. Congressional office buildings Cannon House Office Building Ford House Office Building Longworth House Office Building The Rayburn House Office Building, media related to Rayburn House Office Building at Wikimedia Commons
9.
United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
10.
Dirksen Senate Office Building
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On the eve of America’s entry into World War II, in 1941, the U. S. Senate authorized the Architect of the Capitol to prepare plans for a second Senate Office Building. When World War II delayed implementation of the Senate’s building plans, to house the additional staff, the Senate resorted to renting space in nearby buildings. Moreover, with the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states. As pressure for more space mounted, the Senate in 1948 acquired property on which to erect an office building in order to accommodate the enlarged staff. Although more streamlined and less ornate, the new building was designed to harmonize with the Capitol, bronze spandrels between the third- and fourth-floor windows depicted scenes from American industry, Shipping, Farming, Manufacturing, Mining and Lumbering. Below the new building’s west pediment is the inscription, “The Senate is the Living Symbol of Our Union of States. ”Although the Senate approved the plans for the new building in 1949, construction was delayed until 1956. By then, increased costs of construction caused some scaling back of the original design, Capitol and the Russell Senate Office Building. The Hart and Dirksen Buildings are connected, and one can walk between the two almost as easily as if they were one structure. The building was renovated during 1999–2000 under the auspices of the Architect of the Capitol, day-to-day supervision of the project carried out by Assistant Architect Michael G. Turnbull, FAIA. The renovation was well received by Senators and their staff, I have nostalgia for the Dirksen Building because this is where my father had his office, and I was very content to stay here. Now that it has been renovated--and mine was the first suite to be consider that we are in the high-rent district. Thank you for the truly well thought out way in which building is being renovated. It is now work space that serve the needs of the Senators for another 50 years
11.
Hart Senate Office Building
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Construction began in January 1975, and it was first occupied in November 1982. Rapidly rising construction costs plagued the building, creating several scandals, the structure is named for Philip Hart, who served 18 years as a senator from Michigan. The Dirksen Senate Office Building was intended to occupy the block bounded by 1st Street NE, Constitution Avenue NE, 2nd Street NE. However, due to the resource and financial demands of the Korean War, in 1969, Congress voted to acquire the eastern half of the block for a New Senate Office Building. Originally, the Senate intended only to build a $21 million underground parking garage here and that effort was approved in June 1971. But in May 1972, the Subcommittee on Buildings of the Senate Committee on Public Works approved a plan to construct the New Senate Office Building above the parking garage, the buildings cost was estimated at $48 million in June 1972. The full Senate approved the plan in September 1972. Warneckes design for the building was approved by the Senate Committee on Public Works on August 8,1974. Warnecke was given just two weeks to come up with the cost estimate, which the Architect of the Capitol later claimed was far too little time to generate an accurate cost forecast, by the end of the year, the estimated cost of construction had risen to $69 million. Ground for the new structure was broken in January 1975, the poor and uneven condition of the soil at the site caused delays in the excavation, and major cost increases. When the foundations were finished, it was discovered many of the anchoring bolts were misaligned and had to be replaced. This also added new costs to the project. On August 30,1976, the Senate voted to name the new building the Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building in honor of retiring Senator Philip Hart. Hart died on December 26,1976, of melanoma, having declined to run for reelection the previous November, by August 1978, actual construction costs were now $85 million and were expected to top $122 million. The Senate approved a plan to spend another $54 million on the structure, initially, the House approved this plan. But when constituents bitterly complained, the House reversed itself on both counts, by 1979, construction estimates had soared to $179 million, and the General Accounting Office said it would rise to $230 million without changes. In July 1979, the Senate agreed to cap costs at $137.7 million after an acrimonious three-hour debate during which some suggested the building be torn down. The Hart Senate Office Building was completed in September 1982 at a cost of $137.7 million, Architect of the Capitol George M. White argued the construction cost was a reasonable $110 per square foot
12.
Russell Senate Office Building
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The Russell Senate Office Building is the oldest of the United States Senate office buildings. Designed in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, it was built from 1903 to 1908, opened in 1909 and it occupies a site north of the Capitol bounded by Constitution Avenue, First Street, Delaware Avenue, and C Street N. E. The first congressional office building was constructed immediately after the turn of the 20th century to relieve overcrowding in the United States Capitol, previously, members who wanted office space had to rent quarters or borrow space in committee rooms. In March 1901 Congress authorized Architect of the Capitol Edward Clark to draw plans for office buildings adjacent to the Capitol grounds. In March 1903 the acquisition of sites and construction of the buildings were authorized, in April 1904, the prominent New York City architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings was retained. John Carrère took charge of the Senate Office Building project, while Thomas Hastings oversaw the construction of an almost identical office building for the United States House of Representatives and their Beaux Arts designs were restrained complements to the Capitol. Architecturally, their elevations are divided into a base and a colonnade with an entablature. The Constitution AV side is a replica of the easternmost façade of the Palais du Louvre in Paris. The colonnades, with 34 Doric columns that face the Capitol, are echoed by pilasters on the sides of the buildings, both buildings are faced with marble and limestone, the Russell Buildings base and terrace are gray granite. Modern for their time, they included such facilities as forced-air ventilation systems, steam heat, individual lavatories with hot and cold running water and ice water, telephones, both are connected to the Capitol by underground passages. Originally there were 98 suites and eight rooms in the Russell Building. Of special architectural interest is the rotunda, eighteen Corinthian columns support an entablature and a coffered dome, whose glazed oculus floods the rotunda with sunlight. The Russell Building was occupied in 1909 by the Senate of the 61st Congress, the growth of staff and committees in the twenty years following its completion resulted in the addition of a fourth side, the First Street Wing, to the originally U-shaped building. Wyeth and Francis P. Sullivan were the architects for the new wing
13.
Daniel Webster Senate Page Residence
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The Daniel Webster Senate Page Residence, also known as Webster Hall, is the residence for United States Senate Pages. The building is a funeral home and underwent an $8 million refurbishment in 1995. It is located near the Hart Senate Office Building, giving pages the ability to walk to, Pages are required to live in the building during the school year. The building has 24/7 protection by the United States Capitol Police both indoors and on foot around the building, the United States Senate Page School is located in the basement of the building. The residential portion of Webster Hall is staffed by employees of the United States Senate Page Program. Pages are supervised by proctors, generally students, who are employed by the United States Senate Page Program. $780 per month is deducted from a pages paycheck to fund room and board
14.
United States Supreme Court Building
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The Supreme Court Building is the seat of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Judicial Branch thereof. Completed in 1935, it is situated in Washington, D. C. at 1 First Street, NE, the building is under the jurisdiction of the Architect of the Capitol. On May 4,1987, the Supreme Court Building was designated a National Historic Landmark, prior to the establishment of the Federal City, the United States government resided briefly in New York City. As such, the Supreme Court met there during this time in the Merchants Exchange Building, after the federal government moved to Washington, D. C. the court had no permanent meeting location until 1810. In 1810, the Supreme Court first occupied the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol, as the Senate expanded, it progressively outgrew its quarters. In 1860, the Supreme Court moved to the Old Senate Chamber where it remained until its move to the current Supreme Court building, the court was finally designed by Cass Gilbert, who created many other structures in the United States. The Supreme Court Building is located at 1 First Street, NE and was designed by architect Cass Gilbert and it rises four stories above ground. The cornerstone was laid on October 13,1932, and construction completed in 1935, the Supreme Court Building is built in the Neoclassical style. The public façade is made of marble quarried from Vermont, most of the interior spaces are lined with Alabama marble, except for the Courtroom itself, which is lined with Spanish ivory vein marble. For the Courtrooms 24 columns, Gilbert felt that only the ivory buff and golden marble from the Montarrenti quarries near Siena, Italy would suffice. To this end, in May 1933, he petitioned the Italian Premier, Benito Mussolini, not all the justices were thrilled by the new arrangements, the courtroom in particular. Harlan Fiske Stone complained it was almost bombastically pretentious. Wholly inappropriate for a group of old boys such as the Supreme Court. The New Yorker columnist Howard Brubaker noted at the time of its opening that it had fine big windows to throw the New Deal out of. The west façade of the bears the motto Equal Justice Under Law, while the east façade bears the motto Justice. After the incident, planning was initiated to repair the west façade which includes cleaning, removal of debris, in 2012 scaffolding encased the west façade printed with a full-size photograph of the façade. The project was completed in 2013, the Supreme Court Buildings facilities include, In the basement, maintenance facilities, garage, on-site mailroom. On the first floor, Public information office, the clerks office, on the second floor, the Great Hall, the courtroom, the conference room, and all of the justices chambers except Justice Sotomayor. On the third floor, The office of Justice Sotomayor, the office of the Reporter of Decisions, the office
15.
Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building
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It is located at One Columbus Circle NE in Washington D. C. adjacent to Union Station, a few blocks from the United States Capitol. It was completed in 1992 and was designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and it features a dramatic five-story tall glass atrium at its main entrance. The building was named after Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court and it is under the jurisdiction of the Architect of the Capitol as part of the United States Capitol Complex. Overview from the Architect of the Capitol Edward Larabee Barnes
16.
Library of Congress
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The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States, the Library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. it also maintains the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, which houses the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The Library of Congress claims to be the largest library in the world and its collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages. Two-thirds of the books it acquires each year are in other than English. The Library of Congress moved to Washington in 1800, after sitting for years in the temporary national capitals of New York. John J. Beckley, who became the first Librarian of Congress, was two dollars per day and was required to also serve as the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The small Congressional Library was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century until the early 1890s, most of the original collection had been destroyed by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812. To restore its collection in 1815, the bought from former president Thomas Jefferson his entire personal collection of 6,487 books. After a period of growth, another fire struck the Library in its Capitol chambers in 1851, again destroying a large amount of the collection. The Library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works to have two copies deposited of books, maps, illustrations and diagrams printed in the United States. It also began to build its collections of British and other European works and it included several stories built underground of steel and cast iron stacks. Although the Library is open to the public, only high-ranking government officials may check out books, the Library promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center, American Memory, Center for the Book, and Poet Laureate. James Madison is credited with the idea for creating a congressional library, part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress. And for fitting up an apartment for containing them. Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol, as president, Thomas Jefferson played an important role in establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. The new law also extended to the president and vice president the ability to borrow books and these volumes had been left in the Senate wing of the Capitol. One of the only congressional volumes to have survived was a government account book of receipts and it was taken as a souvenir by a British Commander whose family later returned it to the United States government in 1940. Within a month, former president Jefferson offered to sell his library as a replacement
17.
John Adams Building
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The John Adams Building is one of three library buildings of the Library of Congress in the United States. The building was built simply as an annex to the Librarys Main Building. It opened its doors to the public on January 3,1939 and it is located on Second Street SE between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street in Washington, DC. The idea to construct a new building was presented to the United States Congress in 1928 at the urging of Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam. The bill was sponsored by U. S, representative Robert Luce, chairman of the House Committee on the Library. An additional appropriation approved on June 6,1935, brought the total authorization to $8,226,457, the contract stipulated completion by June 24,1938, but the building was not ready for occupancy until December 2,1938. The move of the Card Division started on December 12, the building is five stories in height above ground, with the fifth story set back 35 feet. It contains 180 miles of shelving and can hold ten million volumes, there are 12 tiers of stacks, extending from the cellar to the fourth floor. Each tier provides about 13 acres of shelf space, on June 13,1980, the structure acquired its present name, which honors John Adams, the former President of the United States who in 1800 approved the law establishing the Library of Congress. The building is faced in white Georgia marble and incorporated the use of new materials at the time such as block, formica, vitrolit. Commemorating the history of the word, artist Lee Lawrie sculpted figures into the bronze doors at the west and east entrances
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Thomas Jefferson Building
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The oldest of the three United States Library of Congress buildings, the Thomas Jefferson Building was built between 1890 and 1897. It was originally known as the Library of Congress Building and is located on First Street SE, the Beaux-Arts style building is known for its classicizing facade and elaborately decorated interior. John L. Smithmeyer and Paul J. Pelz won the competition for the plans of the library in 1873. The actual start of the project was delayed by congressional debates until a vote in 1886, in 1888, Smithmeyer was dismissed and Pelz became the lead architect. While Smithmeyer was instrumental in securing the commission, Pelz appears to have been the designer of the building. Casey is credited for the completion of the interiors and the supervision of the buildings unique decorative program. The Library was opened to the public in 1897 and the work was completed in 1898. On the exterior, sculptured portrait heads that were considered typical of the races were installed as keystones on the main storeys window arches. The second-floor portico of the front entrance facing the U. S. Capitol features nine prominent busts of Great Men as selected by Ainsworth Rand Spofford in accordance with Gilded Age ideals, the sculptors were Herbert Adams, Jonathan Scott Hartley and Frederick W. Ruckstull. The Court of Neptune Fountain centered on the entrance front invites comparison with the Trevi Fountain, the copper dome, originally gilded, was criticized at the structures completion, as too competitive with the national Capitol Building. Prior to this the Library existed in a wing of the Capitol Building and this resulted in a flood of books, pamphlets, maps, music, prints and photographs. Spofford had been instrumental in the enactment of this law, after Congress approved construction of the building in 1886, it took eleven years to complete. The building opened to the public on November 1,1897, the building name was changed on June 13,1980 to honor former U. S. President Thomas Jefferson, who had been a key figure in the establishment of the Library in 1800. Jefferson offered to sell his book collection to Congress in September 1814. Prior to the 2000s, the Jefferson Building was linked to the Capitol Building by a purpose built book tunnel and this housed an electric book conveying apparatus that could transport volumes back and forth at 600 feet per minute. A portion of the tunnel was destroyed to make room for the underground Capitol Visitor Center. Senate, House and Supreme Court pages formerly attended school together in the Capitol Page School located on the level above the Great Hall. Upon the separation of the programs, the schools split, senate Pages now attend school in the basement of their dormitory
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James Madison Memorial Building
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The James Madison Memorial Building is one of three buildings that make up the Library of Congress and is part of the United States Capitol Complex. The building was constructed from 1971 to 1976, and serves as the memorial to President James Madison. It is located between First and Second Streets SE on Independence Avenue, in Washington, DC, with the help of former Librarian of Congress Lawrence Quincy Mumford, plans for a third Library of Congress building were started in 1957. Congress appropriated planning funds for the structure in 1960, and construction was approved by an act of Congress on October 19,1965 that authorized an appropriation of $75 million, the architect was John George Stewart (1890-1970, Architect of the Capitol. Excavation and foundation began in June 1971, and work on the superstructure was completed in 1976. The cornerstone, inscribed with the date 1974, was laid on March 8,1974, dedication ceremonies were held on April 24,1980, and the building actually opened on May 28,1980. These bodies also consulted with an appointed by the American Institute of Architects. The total authorization for construction eventually was increased to $130,675,000, designed by the firm of DeWitt, Poor, and Shelton Associated Architects, the James Madison Memorial Building is one of the three largest public buildings in the Washington D. C. metropolitan area. The building contains 2,100,000 square feet with 1,500,000 feet of assignable space
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Bartholdi Park
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Bartholdi Park is a public park named after French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who is known primarily for designing the Statue of Liberty. It is located at the corner of Independence Avenue and Washington Avenue, Bartholdi Park is part of the United States Botanic Garden located on the grounds of the United States Capitol. Bartholdi Park was created as an exclave of the United States Botanic Garden in 1932, originally created as a showcase for American horticulture, the park has continued this purpose to this day. In 1985, the park was renamed to Bartholdi Park, after Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, recently the park has begun a redesign to become a part of the Sustainable Sites Initiative pilot project. This will include the addition of a garden for homeowners that will have a focus on creating self sustainable self-sustaining gardens. The centerpiece of the park, the Bartholdi fountain, was purchased by the United States government for $6,000 in 1877. Previously, the fountain had stood at Fairmount Park during the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, after its purchase, it was placed at the base of Capitol Hill until 1926. Following six years in storage after being removed from Capitol Hill, the fountain was returned to the park in spring of 2011. The fountain is 30 feet tall and weighs 30 tons and features three 11 feet tall holding the upper basin. Other decorations include turtles, cherubs, frogs, fish, as well as electric lamps
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United States Botanic Garden
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The United States Botanic Garden is a botanic garden on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D. C. near Garfield Circle. The Botanic Garden is supervised by the Congress through the Architect of the Capitol, the USBG is open every day of the year, including federal holidays. It is the oldest continually operating botanic garden in the United States, the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences in Washington, D. C. first suggested the creation of the Botanic Garden in 1816. In 1820, President James Monroe set aside 5 acres for a national greenhouse, the tract, which was swamp land, was located next to the Smithsonian Museum and a mere eighty feet from the steps of the Capitol. The land was situated between First and Third streets and Pennsylvania and Maryland avenues on the west side of the Capitol building and it was originally owned by David Burnes, the Scots farmer who owned much of the site of the city of Washington. He had been warned in 1796 that if he chose to plant crops on the avenue and it is probable that Thomas Jefferson was the first influential person who took an interest in cleaning up the brush that covered the land. By 1810, some rows of Lombardy poplars had been planted, however, one of the greatest accomplishments of the institution was the creation of a botanic garden in 1821. By the end of 1823 the swampy tract of land granted by Congress had been drained and leveled, a pond with an island at its center constructed. Trees and shrubs were planted, and the garden was maintained as well as scanty funds would permit until the institute expired in 1837, on May 26,1824, the grounds were extended and in 1825, they were enclosed. There seems to be no record of what improvements or plantings were made by the Columbian Institute, the institute had expended $1,500 on the grounds for walks and plantings and had asked Congress to be reimbursed, but this request was not granted. Although the membership roster of the Columbian Institution included many distinguished citizens and several presidents, they were unable to raise money for the greenhouse and lecture hall. Meetings were held in a variety of offices, including a committee room in the capitol building that Congress granted use of on December 20,1828. Despite all the hardships, the Institute quickly launched an effort to collect plants. In 1826, a committee was appointed to meet heads of government departments to help solicit all subjects of natural history that may be deemed interesting from foreign representatives. The following year, Secretary of the Treasury, Richard Rush was also involved in the solicitation by circulating a letter to foreign dignitaries, Plants and seeds made their way to the Institute from as far away as China and Brazil. Some came from nearby, such as Montgomery County in Maryland. In 1824, a List of Plants in the Botanic Garden of the Columbian Institute was prepared by William Elliot, the pamphlet mentioned more than 458 plants growing at that time. Sixteen years passed and by 1836, no further improvements had made on the property
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Capitol Power Plant
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Located at 25 E St SE in southeast Washington, D. C. it is the only coal-burning power plant in the District of Columbia, though it mostly uses natural gas. The plant has been serving the Capitol since 1910, and is under the administration of the Architect of the Capitol, though it was originally built to supply the Capitol complex with electricity as well, the plant has not produced electricity for the Capitol since 1952. Electricity generation is now handled by the power grid and local electrical utility that serves the rest of metropolitan Washington. According to the U. S. Department of Energy, the facility released 118,851 tons of carbon dioxide in 2007, in 2009 it switched to using natural gas, unless coal was needed for backup capacity. The power plant was constructed under the terms of an act of Congress passed on April 28,1904, now known as the Cannon House Office Building and the Russell Senate Office Building, these new offices required a substantial increase in energy to Capitol Hill. In addition, the U. S. Capitol and the Library of Congress would also receive power from the new plant, along with all future buildings to be constructed on the Capitol campus. Originally called the Heating, Lighting, and Power Plant, the Capitol Power Plant was one of the earliest 25-cycle alternating current electric-generating facilities in the United States, the original steam boilers were replaced in 1923. Expansion of the plant to support new construction was authorized in 1958,1970. Senators from coal mining states blocked a proposal in 2000 to use cleaner fuel for the plant, senators Mitch McConnell and Robert Byrd, both from coal mining states, used their influence as two of the Senates most senior members to block this proposal. In May 2007, CNN reported that two companies, International Resources Inc. and the Kanawha Eagle mine, have a contract to supply a combined 40,000 tons of coal to the plant over the two years. The companies have given a combined $26,300 to the McConnell, in June 2007, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced the Greening the Capitol initiative. The initiatives goal is to make the Capitol carbon neutral, in November 2007, Daniel Beard, the Houses Chief Administrative Officer, announced that he would purchase $89,000 worth of carbon offsets for 30,000 tons of carbon emissions. Beard made the purchase from the Chicago Climate Exchange and this letter came just three days before a March 2009 scheduled protest. In 2008, the plant had operated on about 65% natural gas and 35% coal and this did not end the Capitol complexs reliance on coal. Electricity is supplied by a utility company that uses coal as a power source. By 2011, coal use at the CPP was down to 5%. S, botanic Garden and the Library of Congress buildings, among others. Not only will it reduce the use of coal on-site for the chillers and boilers and this would allow it to replace inefficient, 45% coal-generated electricity bought off the grid with more efficiently generated, on-site electricity that uses no coal. They completed the process for this facility in June 2013
