20 photos that show how the Capitol building has changed over the years
Thelife- The US Capitol was designed by William Thornton, and Congress met there for the first time in 1800.
- The building underwent several restorations and expansions as more states joined the Union and the government grew.
- The current structure spans 4 acres and includes the House and Senate chambers and congressional offices.
The US Capitol in Washington, DC, houses the entire legislative branch of the US government — the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as their members' congressional offices.
Since President George Washington laid the building's cornerstone in 1793, many architects have helped it take shape through their own designs, expansions, and restorations.
Here's how the Capitol building has changed since it was first built.
The Capitol building was designed by William Thornton, a doctor and amateur architect born in the British West Indies.
Thornton's design featured a central building with two rectangular sections on its north and south ends for the Senate and the House of Representatives.
President George Washington selected his proposal in July 1793 and laid the cornerstone in September that year, according to the Architect of the Capitol. Congress met for the first time in the Capitol in 1800.
In 1814, British troops set the Capitol on fire during the War of 1812, leaving it in ruins.
Congress temporarily met in the Blodgett's Hotel before finding a more long-term substitute at the Old Brick Capitol from 1815 to 1819. The site of the Old Brick Capitol is now the location of the Supreme Court.
Architects Benjamin Henry Latrobe and Charles Bulfinch made further improvements to the building's design during its restoration.
Latrobe, who had worked on the design of the Capitol before the fire, made the Senate chamber larger and added marble from the upper Potomac River. Bulfinch redesigned the building's central section and worked on turning the wilderness surrounding it into a well-manicured lawn.
By 1850, the Capitol had become too small to hold all of the elected officials from new states, and plans for expansion began.
President Millard Fillmore chose architect Thomas U. Walter to lead the project.
As the building expanded to twice its length, the original dome looked out of place. It was removed in 1856 and replaced with a redesigned cast iron dome.
The new dome was created with 8,909,200 pounds of iron.
The Statue of Freedom was added to the top of the dome in 1863.
The Statue of Freedom, which features a woman in a robe and headdress holding a sword in one hand and a laurel wreath of victory in the other, was designed by Thomas Crawford. His design was then cast in bronze by Clark Mills and completed with the help of a slave named Philip Reid. The 19.5-foot statue weighs about 15,000 pounds.
Over 100 rooms were added to the Capitol between 1884 and 1891 with the construction of new marble terraces.
The terraces were designed by architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
Inside the building, as part of architect Thomas U. Walter's expansion in the 1850s, the House chamber for the US House of Representatives was built.
The windowless room, which was built in 1857, was lit through a stained-glass skylight decorated with state seals.
The House chamber was redesigned from 1949 to 1950 in order to make the ceiling more structurally sound and update the Victorian-style decor.
The stained-glass ceiling was replaced with one of stainless steel and plaster, and the state seals were moved to the periphery, according to the Architect of the Capitol. Marble sculptures of 23 "Lawgivers" — thought leaders such as Hammurabi and Napoleon whose philosophies influenced the US legal system — were also added.
The modern-day ceiling of the US House of Representatives still contains a nod to the old stained-glass design with the Seal of the House in the center.
The Senate chamber was built in 1859, also as part of Walter's expansion.
Walter built the room without any walls to keep senators removed from distractions, but it did also have a skylight like the House.
Like the House of Representatives, the Senate chamber was remodeled from 1949 to 1950.
The skylight was removed and replaced with a plaster ceiling, and the design of the ornamental wall pilasters was changed. The wooden speaking platform was also replaced with a marble one.
Aside from minor decorative changes and technological updates, the Senate chamber has remained the same since then.
The Supreme Court and its Law Library used to be housed in the Capitol Building.
The court met in what is now known as the Old Supreme Court Chamber from 1810 until 1860. The court then moved upstairs, and their chamber became the Law Library.
The Library of Congress moved to its own building in 1897 after outgrowing its space in the Capitol.
In 1901, the old Library of Congress space was turned into meeting rooms for congressional committees.
The Supreme Court also moved to their own building in 1935, and the Old Supreme Court Chamber was restored in 1975.
Famous events that took place in the room include President John Adams' address to the first joint session of Congress in 1800 and Thomas Jefferson's swearing-in ceremony in 1801.
A subway system was added beneath the Capitol in 1909.
The subway system was designed to help transport lawmakers between their offices and the House and Senate. The first version consisted of electric cars made by Studebaker, according to the Capitol's website. They were replaced by an electric monorail in 1912 and dual tracks in 1960.
The modern subway system has three different lines.
Two lines run along the Senate side to the north, and one runs along the House side to the south.
The last large-scale restoration of the Capitol was completed in 2016.
The two-year restoration project fixed 1,000 cracks in the dome and gave it a fresh coat of paint, according to the Architect of the Capitol.
Spanning 4 acres, the Capitol remains an iconic part of the Washington, DC, skyline.
From its base to the top of the Statue of Freedom, the Capitol Building measures in at 288 feet tall.
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