The U.S. Capitol, home to the House of Representatives and the Senate, carries more symbolism than all the sites in the city, with perhaps the exception of the White House. It is hard to imagine the Washington skyline without the masterpiece of the Capitol Dome. Yet the dome as it is known today is not nearly as old as one would imagine, having been completed in 1863. The rest of Capitol Hill is similar. It is a mix of the old and new, both in architecture and in historical importance.
When the decision was made to build the nation's capital here, between the Anacostia River and the Potomac River, the next step was the determine where the Capitol would be situated. Thomas Jefferson favored a site which would have placed the Capitol just west of the White House. However, both Pierre L'Enfant and George Washington preferred the area then known as Jenkins Hill, later renamed Capitol Hill. Construction on the capitol began in 1793, as the surrounding area quickly developed into a neighborhood of board housings, markets, and pubs.
During most of the nineteenth century, the Canal of Tiber Creek, constructed between 1810 and 1815, flowed virtually up to the steps of the Capitol. It traced the route of modern-day Constitution Avenue, before turning south at the Capitol to flow into the Potomac. The canal allowed the easy transport of building materials, but also had the reputation of being a long, muddy, stench-filled, ditch. This near moat isolated the waterfront neighborhood of Southwest from the rest of the city.The canal helped that area become a desolate, crime-infested spot, while the rest of the area near the Capitol developed into a nice middle-class community. The canal was finally covered during the Boss Shepherd improvements of the 1870s.
When the British invaded the city in 1814, they set a torch to the Capitol and used the books of the Library of Congress as kindling. The Capitol and many its surrounding buildings were destroyed beyond repair. They might have been reduced to ashes if a thunderstorm had not swept into the city that night, dampening the flames. Unfortunately, the same thunderstorm spawned a tornado the next day which destroyed a number of the few remaining buildings.
At this point, many members of Congress began voicing their second thoughts about the city. When the issue was brought up in early 1815, a full third of Congress was in favor of moving the capital to a new location rather than rebuilding the city on the mosquito-infested Potomac. However, Congress eventually voted enough money to reconstruct the federal buildings, including the Capitol, on their original sites. While waiting for the new Capitol to be completed, Congress met first at Blodgett's Hotel in downtown and then in the temporary Old Brick Capitol, located where the Supreme Court stands today.
During the Civil War, much of Capitol Hill was transformed into one large hospital and prison ward. Temporary infirmaries were built and makeshift medical facilities were set up in every spare building. The area south of the Capitol became known as "Bloody Hill" because of the presence of Providence Hospital, one of the Hill's many overworked Civil War medical facilities. The area further south, around Garfield Park, had a similar name, "Blood Field". However, it achieved that name because of the violent crime that was common in that area.
Many of original boarding houses and hotels in the area have been razed, to make way for new government buildings. However, many historic townhouses and churches, including Christ Church, remain. The buildings of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court look as if they have been standing for centuries. However both the Supreme Court and the Folger Shakespeare Library were built in the 1930s. The Library of Congress's Jefferson and Madison buildings are also recent additions to the Capitol area.
The tour begins at the The U.S. Capitol, with a visit to various places inside the Capitol. It continues to the House and Senate Offices, the Library of Congress, Supreme Court, and Union Station. The tour follows up with a visit to various sites around the Capitol and then more sites a bit further from the Capitol.
Here is a full listing of stops on the tour, in the order traversed. Feel free to jump ahead to places which interest you the most.
The U.S. Capitol
Places Inside the Capitol
House and Senate Offices
Library of Congress
Supreme Court
Union Station
Sites around the Capitol
Sites a bit further from the Capitol
