In 1800, $5000 was allotted for the creation of a reference library. This library took up a single room in the Capitol building. When the British burned Washington in 1814, the Capitol was torched and the library's books, used as kindling. This was in retaliation for the American burning of a major British library in Canada during the War of 1812.
Fortunately, the government was able to replace much of the library's collection in one single purchase. Thomas Jefferson, who needed money at the time, sold his substantial collection of books to the government soon after the burning. Until the Capitol was completed, the collection was stored temporarily into the Old Brick Capitol along with Congress.
The Library of Congress was often referred to as "Mr. Jefferson's Library", because of his donation. When the collection of books had grown too large for the Capitol, the library was given its own building, named the Jefferson building. Unfortunately, only a sampling of Jefferson's collection had remained. A fire at the library on Christmas Eve of 1951 destroyed much of the original collection. Fortunately, Jefferson's handwritten log of the library, which documented every book in the collection, was preserved.
In 1897, the Library of Congress moved into the Jefferson Building. In 1939, the Adams Building, the first of two annex buildings, was built to house the administrative office and various storage facilities. The Madison Building was built in 1980 to house the library's collection of photographs, maps, films, and architectural drawings.
The main Library of Congress was constructed at the site of a historic row of houses called Carroll Row. Built by Daniel Caroll in the early 1800s, the five houses of Carroll Row served a number of uses. The city's first inaugural ball, held for James Madison in 1809, was held in a Carroll Row hotel. During the War of 1812, the British General Robert Ross and Admiral Sir George Cockburn commandeered row of houses, using them as headquarters and as a hospital for the enemy wounded. Mrs. Sprigg's boarding house, home to Abraham Lincoln from 1847 to 1849, was also situated here. Later, from 1859 to 1868, one of the houses served home to abolitionist and Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. Finally, during the Civil War, the row of houses became known as the Carroll Prison. The houses were all torn down in 1887 to make way for the Library of Congress.
More information regarding the Library of Congress can be found on the Library of Congress World Wide Web Home Page.
