United States Capitol

==History==
===Background===
{{See also|History of Washington, D.C.|List of National Historic Landmarks in Washington, D.C.|List of capitals in the United States#Capitals of the United States}}
[[File:US Capitol east side.JPG|thumb|The east front of the United States Capitol in 2013]]
[[File:Capitol at Dusk 2.jpg|thumb|The east front at night in 2013]]
[[File:Capitol2.png|thumb|The U.S. Capitol in November 2023]]
Prior to establishing the nation's capital in Washington, D.C., the [[United States Congress]] and its predecessors had met at [[Independence Hall]] and [[Congress Hall]] in [[Philadelphia]], [[Federal Hall]] in [[New York City]], and five additional locations: [[York, Pennsylvania]], [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], the [[Maryland State House]] in [[Annapolis, Maryland]], and [[Nassau Hall]] in [[Princeton, New Jersey]], and [[Trenton, New Jersey]].<ref>See [[List of capitals in the United States]]</ref> In September 1774, the [[First Continental Congress]] brought together delegates from the [[Thirteen Colonies|colonies]] in Philadelphia, followed by the [[Second Continental Congress]], which met from May 1775 to March 1781.

After adopting the [[Articles of Confederation]] in [[York, Pennsylvania]], 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 (delegate)|John Dickinson]], the [[Governor of Pennsylvania]], call up the [[Militia (United States)|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,<ref>{{cite book | last=Crew | first=Harvey W. |author2=William Bensing Webb |author3=John Wooldridge | title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D. C. | publisher=United Brethren Publishing House | year=1892 | location=[[Dayton, Ohio]] | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ | page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ/page/n73 66]}}</ref> and met in [[Annapolis, Maryland]], and [[Trenton, New Jersey]], before ending up in New York City.

The U.S. Congress was established upon [[History of the United States Constitution|ratification]] of the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]] and formally began on March 4, 1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790,<ref>Allen (2001), p. 4</ref> when the [[Residence Act]] was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. The decision of where to locate the capital was contentious, but [[Alexander Hamilton]] helped broker a compromise in which the federal government would take on war debt incurred during the American Revolutionary War, in exchange for support from [[Northeastern United States|northern states]] for locating the capital along the [[Potomac River]]. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a temporary capital for ten years (until December 1800), until the nation's capital in Washington, D.C., would be ready.<ref>Allen (2001), p. 4–7</ref>

[[Pierre Charles L'Enfant|Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant]] was given the task of creating [[L'Enfant Plan|the city plan]] for the new capital city.<ref>L'Enfant identified himself as "Peter Charles L'Enfant" during most of his life, while residing in the United States. He wrote this name on his [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3850.ct000512 "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t(he) United States ...."] (Washington, D.C.) and on other legal documents. However, during the early 1900s, a French ambassador to the U.S., [[Jean Jules Jusserand]], popularized the use of L'Enfant's birth name, "Pierre Charles L'Enfant". (Reference: Bowling, Kenneth R (2002). ''Peter Charles L'Enfant: vision, honor, and male friendship in the early American Republic.'' George Washington University, Washington, D.C. {{ISBN|978-0-9727611-0-9}}). The [[United States Code]] states in {{USC|40|3309}}: "(a) In General.{{snd}}The purposes of this chapter shall be carried out in the District of Columbia as nearly as may be practicable in harmony with the plan of Peter Charles L'Enfant." The [[National Park Service]] identifies L'Enfant as "[http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/Wash/text.htm#washington Major Peter Charles L'Enfant]" and as "[http://www.nps.gov/history/Nr/travel/presidents/washington_monument.html Major Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant]" on its website.</ref> 

L'Enfant chose Jenkin's Hill as the site for the Congress House, with a grand avenue, which is now [[Pennsylvania Avenue]], N.W. and connects it with the [[White House]], and a public space containing a broader grand avenue (now the [[National Mall]]) stretching westward to the [[Potomac River]].<ref name=Kornwolf>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4bHwImC-UOUC&pg=PA1522|page=1552|title=The Creation of the Federal City: Washington|work=Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America: Vol. 3|first1=James D|last1=Kornwolf|first2=Georgiana Wallis|last2=Kornwolf|location=Baltimore, Maryland|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|year=2002|isbn=0801859867|oclc=45066419|access-date=October 29, 2016|quote=A final legacy of Jefferson's vision of the city is found in correspondence between him and L'Enfant. Jefferson consistently called the building to house Congress, the "Capitol," whereas L'Enfant just as consistently referred to it as "Congress House."}} ''At'' [[Google Books]].</ref><ref>(1) {{cite web|last=L'Enfant|first=Peter Charles|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g3850+ct000512))|title=Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t(he) United States : projected agreeable to the direction of the President of the United States, in pursuance of an act of Congress passed the sixteenth day of July, MDCCXC, "establishing the permanent seat on the bank of the Potowmac": (Washington, D.C.)|work=Photocopy of annotated facsimile created by U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D.C. (1887)|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|year=1791|access-date=January 26, 2016}}<br />(2) {{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/62wash/62images/62map1.pdf|title=Enlarged image of central portion of ''The L'Enfant Plan for Washington''|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|access-date=October 23, 2009}}<br />(3) {{cite web|last=Vlach|first=John Michael|title=The Mysterious Mr. Jenkins of Jenkins Hill|publisher=United States Capitol Historical Society|date=Spring 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705085017/http://uschscapitolhistory.uschs.org/articles/uschs_dome-02.htm|archive-date=July 5, 2008|url=http://uschscapitolhistory.uschs.org/articles/uschs_dome-02.htm|work=Capitol History: The Capitol Dome|access-date=September 14, 2009}}<br />(4) Allen (2001), p. 8</ref>

====Name====
The term "Capitol" (from Latin ''Capitolium'') originally denoted the [[Capitoline Hill]] in Rome and the [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus|Temple of Jupiter]] that stood on its summit.<ref>{{Cite OED|Capitol|6242540895}}</ref> The Roman Capitol was sometimes misconceived of as a meeting place for senators, and this led the term to be applied to legislative buildings; the first such building was the [[Capitol (Williamsburg, Virginia)|Williamsburg Capitol]] in [[Virginia]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Naming the Capitol and the Capital |first=George W. |last=Hodgkins |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. |volume=60/62 |year=1960 |pages=36–53 |jstor=40067217}}</ref> [[Thomas Jefferson]] had sat here as a member of the [[House of Burgesses]], and it was he who applied the name "Capitol" to what on L'Enfant's plan had been called the "Congress House".<ref name=Kornwolf/> "Capitol" has since become a general term for government buildings, especially in the United States. It is often confused with "capital"; one, however, denotes a building or complex of buildings, while the other denotes a city.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Capitol |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitol |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |access-date=21 July 2022}} and {{cite encyclopedia |title=Capital |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capital |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |access-date=21 July 2022}}</ref>

===Design competition===
[[File:Capitol design by james diamond.jpg|thumb|left|Design for the U.S. Capitol, "An Elevation for a Capitol", a 1792 submission by James Diamond was ultimately not selected]]
[[File:Flickr - USCapitol - Thornton Capitol Winning Design.jpg|thumb|The winning design for the U.S. Capitol, submitted by [[William Thornton]]]]
In early 1792, Thomas Jefferson proposed a design competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the "President's House", and set a four-month deadline. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the Federal City. At least ten individuals submitted designs for the Capitol; however the drawings were regarded as crude and amateurish, reflecting the level of architectural skill present in the United States at the time.<ref>Allen (2001), p. 13–15</ref> The most promising of the submissions was by [[Étienne Sulpice Hallet|Stephen Hallet]], a trained French architect.<ref>Frary (1969), p. 28</ref> However, Hallet's designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, and were deemed too costly.<ref>Allen (2001), p. 18</ref>
[[File:Capitol1846.jpg|thumb|[[Daguerreotype]] of east side of the Capitol in 1846, by [[John Plumbe]], showing Bulfinch's dome]]
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 Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the [[east front of the Louvre]], as well as the [[Pantheon, Paris|Paris Pantheon]] for the center portion of the design.<ref>Allen (2001), p. 19</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/adecenter/essays/B-Thornton.html | title=William Thornton (1759–1828) | publisher=Library of Congress | access-date=July 7, 2007 }}</ref> Thornton's design was officially approved in a letter dated April 5, 1793, from Washington, and Thornton served as the first [[Architect of the Capitol]] (and later first Superintendent of the [[U.S. Patent and Trademark Office]]).<ref>Frary (1969), p. 33</ref> In an effort to console Hallet, the commissioners appointed him to review Thornton's plans, develop cost estimates, and serve as superintendent of construction. Hallet proceeded to pick apart and make drastic changes to Thornton's design, which he saw as costly to build and problematic.<ref>Frary (1969), p. 34–35</ref> In July 1793, Jefferson convened a five-member commission, bringing Hallet and Thornton together, along with [[James Hoban]] (winning architect of the "President's Palace") to address problems with and revise Thornton's plan. Hallet suggested changes to the floor plan, which could be fitted within the exterior design by Thornton.<ref name="Allen 2001, p. 23">Allen (2001), p. 23</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=JefThom.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=178&division=div2 | work=Thomas Jefferson and the National Capital | title=Letter: Jefferson to Washington | date=July 17, 1793 | author=Jefferson, Thomas | publisher=University of Virginia | access-date=December 11, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221135738/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=JefThom.sgm&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed&tag=public&part=178&division=div2 | archive-date=February 21, 2011 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The revised plan was accepted, except that Secretary Jefferson and President Washington insisted on an open [[Alcove (architecture)|recess]] in the center of the East front, which was part of Thornton's original plan.<ref>Frary (1969), p. 36</ref>

The original design by Thornton was later modified by the British-American architects [[Benjamin Henry Latrobe|Benjamin Henry Latrobe Sr.]], and then [[Charles Bulfinch]].<ref name=WDL1>{{cite web | title=United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.: East Front Elevation, Rendering | url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/17 | publisher=[[World Digital Library]] | access-date=February 13, 2013 }}</ref> The [[United States Capitol dome|current cast-iron dome]] and the House's new southern extension and [[United States Senate|Senate]] new northern wing were designed by [[Thomas Ustick Walter]] and [[August Schoenborn]], a German immigrant, in the 1850s,<ref>{{cite web | last=Woods | first=Robert O. | url=http://www.memagazine.org/contents/current/features/capdome/capdome.html | title=Under the Capitol Dome | work=Mechanical Engineering Magazine | publisher=The American Society of Mechanical Engineers | date=June 2003 | access-date=December 11, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126092928/http://www.memagazine.org/contents/current/features/capdome/capdome.html | archive-date=January 26, 2009 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> and were completed under the supervision of [[Edward Clark (architect)|Edward Clark]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.aoc.gov/cc/capitol/capitol_construction.cfm | title=A Brief Construction History of the Capitol | publisher=Architect of the Capitol}}</ref>

===Construction===
[[File:USCapitol1800.jpg|thumb|left|An 1800 portrait of the Capitol by [[William Russell Birch]])]]
[[File:U.S. Capitol and Pennsylvania Avenue before 1814 LCCN00522050.jpg|thumb|The Capitol from [[Pennsylvania Avenue]] drawn in 1814 from memory by an unknown artist after the [[Burning of Washington|burning of the city]]]]
[[File:Samuel Finley Breese Morse - The House of Representatives (1822).jpg|thumb|[[Samuel Morse]]'s 1822 painting of the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House]] in session showing the interior design of the original House chamber, now the [[National Statuary Hall]]]]
L'Enfant secured the lease of [[Quarry|quarries]] at [[Public Quarry at Government Island|Wigginton Island]] and along [[Aquia Creek]] in [[Virginia]] for use in the [[Foundation (architecture)|foundation]]s and outer walls of the Capitol in November 1791.<ref name="morgan-p120">{{cite journal | author=Morgan, J.D. | title=Maj. Pierre Charles L'Enfant | journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society | year=1899 | volume=2 | page=120}}</ref> Surveying was under way soon after the Jefferson conference plan for the Capitol was accepted.<ref name="Allen 2001, p. 23"/> On September 18, 1793, President Washington, along with eight other Freemasons dressed in [[Freemasonry|masonic]] regalia, [[United States Capitol cornerstone laying|laid the cornerstone]], which was made by [[silversmith]] [[Caleb Bentley]].<ref>Hazelton (1907), p. 84</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Allen | first=William C. | title=In the Greatest Solemn Dignity: The Capitol's Four Cornerstones | publisher=Government Printing Office | year=1995 | page=7}}</ref>

Construction proceeded with Hallet working under supervision of [[James Hoban]], who was also busy working on construction of the "President's House" (also later known as the "Executive Mansion"). Despite the wishes of Jefferson and the President, Hallet went ahead anyway and modified Thornton's design for the East Front and created a square central court that projected from the center, with flanking wings which would house the legislative bodies. Hallet was dismissed by Secretary Jefferson on November 15, 1794.<ref>Frary (1969), p. 37–39</ref> [[George Hadfield (architect)|George Hadfield]] was hired on October 15, 1795, as Superintendent of Construction, but resigned three years later in May 1798, because of his dissatisfaction with Thornton's plan and quality of work done thus far.<ref>Frary (1969), p. 44–45</ref>

The Senate (north) wing was completed in 1800. The Senate and House shared quarters in the north wing until a temporary wooden pavilion was erected on the future site of the House wing which served for a few years for the Representatives to meet in, until the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] (south) wing was finally completed in 1811, with a covered wooden temporary walkway connecting the two wings with the Congressional chambers where the future center section with rotunda and dome would eventually be. However, the House of Representatives moved early into their House wing in 1807. Though the Senate wing building was incomplete, the Capitol held its [[History of the United States Congress|first session]] of the U.S. Congress with both chambers in session on November 17, 1800. The National Legislature was moved to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] prematurely, at the urging of President [[John Adams]], in hopes of securing enough [[Southern United States|Southern]] votes in the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] to be re-elected for a second term as president.<ref name="carter-p139">{{cite journal | author=Carter II, Edward C. | title=Benjamin Henry Latrobe and the Growth and Development of Washington, 1798–1818 | journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society | date=1971–1972 | page=139}}</ref>

===Early religious use===
For several decades, beginning when the federal government moved to Washington in the fall of 1800, the Capitol building was used for Sunday religious services as well as for governmental functions. The first services were conducted in the "hall" of the House in the north wing of the building. In 1801 the House moved to temporary quarters in the south wing, called the "Oven", which it vacated in 1804, returning to the north wing for three years. Then, from 1807 to 1857, they were held in the then-House Chamber (now called [[Statuary Hall]]). When held in the House chamber, the Speaker's podium was used as the preacher's pulpit. According to the [[U.S. Library of Congress]] exhibit ''Religion and the Founding of the American Republic'':

{{Blockquote|It is no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) and of [[James Madison]] (1809–1817) the state became the church. Within a year of his inauguration, Jefferson began attending church services in the chamber of the House of Representatives. Madison followed Jefferson's example, although unlike Jefferson, who rode on horseback to church in the Capitol, Madison came in a coach and four. Worship services in the House{{snd}}a practice that continued until after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]{{snd}}were acceptable to Jefferson because they were nondiscriminatory and voluntary. Preachers of every Protestant denomination appeared. (Catholic priests began officiating in 1826.) As early as January 1806 a female evangelist, [[Dorothy Ripley]], delivered a camp meeting-style exhortation in the House to Jefferson, [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Aaron Burr]], and a "crowded audience".<ref name= LOC-religion>{{cite web | title=Religion and the Founding of the American Republic | date=July 23, 2010 | publisher=U.S. Library of Congress | url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel06-2.html | access-date=September 23, 2011 }}</ref>}}

===War of 1812===
{{See also|Burning of Washington}}
[[File:US Capitol 1814c.jpg|thumb|An 1814 portrait by [[George Munger (artist)|George Munger]] of the U.S. Capitol after the [[burning of Washington]] by the [[British Army]] during the [[War of 1812]]]]
Not long after the completion of both wings, the Capitol was [[Burning of Washington|partially burned]] by the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] on August 24, 1814, during the [[War of 1812]].

[[George Bomford]] and [[Joseph Gardner Swift]], both military engineers, were called upon to help rebuild the Capitol. Reconstruction began in 1815 and included redesigned chambers for both Senate and House wings (now sides), which were completed by 1819. During the reconstruction, Congress met in the [[Old Brick Capitol]], a temporary structure financed by local investors. Construction continued through to 1826, with the addition of the center section with front steps and columned portico and an interior [[United States Capitol rotunda|Rotunda]] rising above the first low dome of the Capitol. Latrobe is principally connected with the original construction and many innovative interior features; his successor Bulfinch also played a major role, such as design of the first low dome covered in copper.

===House and Senate Wings===
[[File:United States Capitol Building Interior 1860.png|thumb|The earliest known interior photograph of the Capitol, taken in 1860 and showing the new House of Representatives chamber]]
By 1850, it became clear that the Capitol could not accommodate the growing number of legislators arriving from newly admitted states. A new design competition was held, and President [[Millard Fillmore]] appointed Philadelphia architect [[Thomas U. Walter]] to carry out the expansion. Two new wings were added: a new chamber for the House of Representatives on the south side, and a new chamber for the Senate on the north.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmo-A_8HoOM | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211029/jmo-A_8HoOM| archive-date=2021-10-29| title=The History of the United States Capitol | publisher=YouTube | access-date=February 19, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

When the Capitol was expanded in the 1850s, some of the construction labor was carried out by [[History of slavery in the United States|slaves]] "who cut the logs, laid the stones and baked the bricks".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050531-110046-7574r.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050604031125/http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050531-110046-7574r.htm | archive-date=June 4, 2005 | title=Capitol slave labor studied | date=June 1, 2005 | agency=Associated Press | work=The Washington Times}}</ref> The original plan was to use workers brought in from Europe. However, there was a poor response to recruitment efforts; African Americans, some free and some enslaved, along with Scottish stonemasons, comprised most of the workforce.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.whitehousehistory.org/05/subs/05_c.html | title=Timeline | publisher=White House Historical Association | access-date=June 10, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070519051655/http://www.whitehousehistory.org/05/subs/05_c.html | archive-date=May 19, 2007 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

===Capitol dome===
{{Main|United States Capitol dome}}
[[File:LincolnInauguration1861a.jpg|thumb|left|The inauguration of [[Abraham Lincoln]] in 1861, with the Capitol dome still under construction]]
The 1850 expansion more than doubled the length of the United States Capitol; it dwarfed the original, timber-framed, copper-sheeted, low dome of 1818, designed by [[Charles Bulfinch]] which was no longer in proportion with the increased size of the building. In 1855, the decision was made to tear it down and replace it with the "[[wedding-cake style]]" cast-iron dome that stands today. Also designed by [[Thomas U. Walter]], the new dome would stand three times the height of the original dome and {{convert|100|ft}} in diameter, yet had to be supported on the existing masonry piers.

Like [[Jules Hardouin-Mansart|Mansart]]'s dome at [[Les Invalides]] in [[Paris]] (which he had visited in 1838), Walter's dome is double, with a large [[Oculus (architecture)|oculus]] in the inner dome, through which is seen ''[[The Apotheosis of Washington]]'' painted on a shell suspended from the supporting ribs, which also support the visible exterior structure and the [[wikt:tholos|tholos]] that supports the ''[[Statue of Freedom]]'', a colossal statue that was raised to the top of the dome in 1863. The statue invokes the goddesses [[Minerva]] or [[Athena]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/thomas-crawford-statue-of-freedom-1855-63/|title = Picturing US History - Thomas Crawford, Statue of Freedom, 1855-63}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/statue-freedom|title = The Statue of Freedom &#124; Architect of the Capitol}}</ref> The [[cast iron]] for the dome weighs {{convert|8909200|lb|kg}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Capitol Dome|url=https://www.aoc.gov/capitol-buildings/capitol-dome|publisher=Architect of the Capitol|access-date=May 2, 2017}}</ref> The dome's cast iron frame was supplied and constructed by the iron foundry [[Adrian Janes|Janes, Fowler, Kirtland & Co.]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Terrell|first=Ellen|date=2015-05-20|title=The Capitol Dome: Janes, Fowler, & Kirtland Co. {{!}} Inside Adams: Science, Technology & Business|url=https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2015/05/the-capitol-dome-janes-fowler-kirtland-co/|access-date=2021-08-24|website=Library of Congress Blogs }}</ref> The thirty-six Corinthian columns that surround the base of the dome were provided by the Baltimore ironworks of [[Robert Poole (industrialist)|Poole & Hunt.]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swett |first=Steven |title=The Metalworkers: Robert Poole, His Ironworks, and Technology in 19th Century America |publisher=Baltimore Museum of Industry |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-578-28250-3 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |pages=85–122}}</ref>

===Later expansion===
[[File:Vault ag1982 0119x 085 1 opt.jpg|thumb|The Washington Depot with the U.S. Capitol in the distance in 1872]]
[[File:National Capitol Columns - Washington, D.C..jpg|thumb|[[National Capitol Columns]] at the [[United States National Arboretum|National Arboretum]] in 2008]]
[[File:United States Capitol building under renovation November 2014 photo D Ramey Logan.jpg|thumb|The U.S. Capitol with scaffolding erected to facilitate restoration work on the dome in 2014]]
[[File:US Capitol viewed from the visitor centre.jpg|thumb|The Capitol's visitor center in July 2023]]
When the Capitol's new dome was finally completed, its massive visual weight, in turn, overpowered the proportions of the columns of the East [[Portico]], built in 1828.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. National Arboretum |url=https://www.usna.usda.gov/discover/gardens-collections/national-capitol-columns/ |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=www.usna.usda.gov}}</ref>

In 1904, the East Front of the Capitol building was rebuilt, following a design of the architects [[Carrère and Hastings]], who also designed the [[Russell Senate Office Building|Russell Senate]] and [[Cannon House Office Building|Cannon House]] office buildings in 1904.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cannon House Office Building {{!}} Architect of the Capitol |url=https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/buildings-grounds/house-office-buildings/cannon |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=www.aoc.gov}}</ref>

In 1958, the next major expansion to the Capitol started, with a {{convert|33.5|ft|adj=on}} extension of the East Portico.{{citation needed| date=October 2012}} In 1960, two years into the project, the dome underwent a restoration.<ref name=Steinhauer/> A marble duplicate of the [[sandstone]] East Front was built {{convert|33.5|ft}} from the old Front. In 1962, a connecting extension repurposed what had been an outside wall as an inside wall. In the process, the original sandstone [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] [[column]]s were removed and replaced with marble. It was not until 1984 that landscape designer [[Russell Page]] created a suitable setting for them in a large meadow at the [[United States National Arboretum|U.S. National Arboretum]] in northeast Washington as the [[National Capitol Columns]], where they were combined with a reflecting pool into an ensemble that reminds some visitors of the ruins of [[Persepolis]], in [[Persia]].

Besides the columns, two hundred tons of the original stone were removed in several hundred blocks. These were first stored on site at the Capitol and then in an unused yard at the [[Capitol Power Plant]] until 1975.<ref name=":0"/> That year, the power plant was renovated and expanded in accordance with legislation passed in 1970, and the stones fell to the [[Commission on the Extension of the United States Capitol]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Capitol Stones in Rock Creek Park |url=https://architectofthecapital.org/posts/2016/5/30/capitol-stones |access-date=2022-09-28 |website=Architect of the Capital |date=September 5, 2016 |language=en-US}}</ref> As this body was long-defunct, responsibility for the material passed to the House and Senate office building commissions.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Berger |first=Leslie |date=1982-06-26 |title=Echoes of the Capitol's Past Lie in Ruins |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1982/06/26/echoes-of-the-capitols-past-lie-in-ruins/0d7f1a43-bcde-41f3-b6ee-b88ee3badd68/ |access-date=2022-09-28 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> These commissions then arranged for the [[National Park Service]] to store the debris at the back of a NPS maintenance yard in [[Rock Creek Park]].<ref>Jule Banville, [http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/37113/stone-cold-whodunit "Stone-Cold Whodunit"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116212225/http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/37113/stone-cold-whodunit |date=January 16, 2014 }} (April 24, 2009), ''Washington City Paper''</ref><ref>[http://www.rockcreekrunner.com/2011/07/25/stones-from-us-capitol-in-rock-creek-park/ "Stones from US Capitol in Rock Creek Park"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214717/https://www.rockcreekrunner.com/2011/07/25/stones-from-us-capitol-in-rock-creek-park/ |date=January 14, 2021 }} (July 25, 2011), ''Rock Creek Runner''</ref> 

With the permission of the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]], the United States Capitol Historical Society has periodically mined the blocks for sandstone since 1975. The stone removed is used to make commemorative bookends, which are still sold to support the Capitol Historical Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sandstone Bookends |url=https://www.uschscatalog.org/prod-122-1-40-111/sandstone-bookends.htm |access-date=2022-09-28 |website=USCHS Gift Shop}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sandstone Bookends Without Base |url=https://www.uschscatalog.org/prod-122-1-39-111/sandstone-bookends-without-base.htm |access-date=2022-09-28 |website=USCHS Gift Shop}}</ref> By 1982, more than $20,000 (nearly $60,000 [[Adjusted-for-inflation|adjusted]]) had been raised through such sales.<ref name=":0" /> Unpursued uses for the stones proposed by the Capitol Historical Society have included their sale as cornerstones in new housing developments.<ref name=":0" />

On December 19, 1960, the Capitol was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] by the National Park Service.<ref name=inventory>{{cite web | url= http://www.planning.dc.gov/planning/frames.asp?doc=/planning/lib/planning/preservation/hp_inventory/inventory_narrative_sep_2004.pdf | title= District of Columbia – Inventory of Historic Sites | date= September 1, 2004 | work= District of Columbia: Office of Planning | publisher= Government of the District of Columbia | access-date= August 9, 2009 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090717032933/http://planning.dc.gov/planning/frames.asp?doc=%2Fplanning%2Flib%2Fplanning%2Fpreservation%2Fhp_inventory%2Finventory_narrative_sep_2004.pdf | archive-date= July 17, 2009 | df= mdy-all }}</ref> The building was ranked #6 in a 2007 survey conducted for the [[American Institute of Architects]]' "[[America's Favorite Architecture]]" list.<ref name=AIAfavorite>{{cite web | url= http://favoritearchitecture.org/afa150.php | title= America's Favorite Architecture | year= 2007 | work= Harris Interactive | publisher= American Institute of Architects | access-date= August 9, 2009 | archive-date= May 18, 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070518053904/http://favoritearchitecture.org/afa150.php | url-status= dead }}</ref> 

The Capitol draws heavily from other notable buildings, especially churches and landmarks in Europe, including the dome of [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] and [[St. Paul's Cathedral]] in London.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.american-architecture.info/USA/USA-Washington/DC-004.htm | title=World Architecture Images- U.S. Capitol | publisher=American-architecture.info | access-date=November 5, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026032757/http://www.american-architecture.info/USA/USA-Washington/DC-004.htm | archive-date=October 26, 2010 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> On the roofs of the Senate and House Chambers are flagpoles that fly the [[Flag of the United States|U.S. flag]] when either is in session. On September 18, 1993, to commemorate the Capitol's bicentennial, the Masonic ritual cornerstone laying with George Washington was reenacted. U.S. Senator [[Strom Thurmond]] was one of the Freemason politicians who took part in the ceremony.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

On June 20, 2000, ground was broken for the [[Capitol Visitor Center]], which opened on December 2, 2008.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.visitthecapitol.gov/Visit/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions/#q1 | title=Capitol Visitors Center FAQ | publisher=Architect Of the Capitol | access-date=December 4, 2008 }}</ref> From 2001 through 2008, the East Front of the Capitol (site of most [[United States presidential inauguration|presidential inaugurations]] until [[Ronald Reagan]] began a new tradition in 1981) was the site of construction for this massive underground complex, designed to facilitate a more orderly entrance for visitors to the Capitol. Prior to the center being built, visitors to the Capitol had to line up in the basement of the Cannon House Office Building or the Russell Senate Office Building. The new underground facility provides a grand entrance hall, a visitors theater, room for exhibits, and dining and restroom facilities, in addition to space for building necessities such as a [[utility tunnel|service tunnel]].{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

A large-scale Capitol dome restoration project, the first extensive such work since 1959–1960, began in 2014, with completion scheduled before the 2017 presidential inauguration.<ref name=AoC2014Restoration>{{cite web |title=Capitol Dome Restoration Project Overview |url=http://www.aoc.gov/dome/project-overview |website=[[Architect of the Capitol]] |access-date=November 12, 2014 }}</ref> As of 2012, $20&nbsp;million in work around the skirt of the dome had been completed, but other deterioration, including at least 1,300 cracks in the brittle iron that have led to rusting and seepage inside, needed to be addressed. Before the August 2012 recess, the [[United States Senate Committee on Appropriations|Senate Appropriations Committee]] voted to spend $61&nbsp;million to repair the exterior of the dome. The House wanted to spend less on government operations,<ref name=Steinhauer>{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/us/politics/capitol-dome-is-imperiled-by-cracks-and-a-partisan-divide.html?_r=0Capitol | title= Dome Is Imperiled by 1,300 Cracks and Partisan Rift | last= Steinhauer | first= Jennifer | date= August 24, 2012 | work= [[The New York Times]] | access-date= October 4, 2012 }}</ref> but in late 2013, it was announced that renovations would take place over two years, starting in spring 2014.<ref name=Renovation>{{cite news | url=http://www.journalnow.com/news/nation_world/article_10cd6438-6dd8-11e3-b195-001a4bcf6878.html | title=Capitol's historic dome set for 2-year renovation | work=[[Winston-Salem Journal]] | agency=[[Associated Press]] | date=December 26, 2013 | access-date=December 26, 2013}}</ref> 

In 2014, extensive scaffolding was erected, enclosing and obscuring the dome.<ref name=AoC2014Restoration/><ref>{{cite AV media |author=Architect of the Capitol |title=In Celebration of the U.S. Capitol Dome |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azMdEHP-FL0 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211029/azMdEHP-FL0| archive-date=2021-10-29|date=December 15, 2016 |website=YouTube |access-date=August 26, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> All exterior scaffolding was removed by mid-September 2016.<ref name=AoCProjectUpdates>{{cite web |title=Dome Restoration Project Updates |url=http://www.aoc.gov/dome/project-updates |website=Architect of the Capitol |access-date=October 19, 2016 }}</ref>

With the increased use of technologies such as the Internet, a bid tendering process was approved in 2001/2002 for a contract to install the multidirectional radio communication network for [[Wi-Fi]] and mobile-phone within the Capitol Building and annexes, followed by the new Capitol Visitor Center. The winning bidder was an [[Silicon Wadi|Israeli company]] called Foxcom which has since changed its name and been acquired by [[Corning Inc.|Corning Incorporated]].<ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Bresnahan |title=House Ends Cell Phone Licensing Deal |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2007/02/house-ends-cell-phone-licensing-deal-002910 |work=[[Politico]] |date=February 26, 2007 |access-date=January 11, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Jackie |last=Kucinich |title=Hastert rebuffs Pelosi on investigation request |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/news/8386-hastert-rebuffs-pelosi-on-investigation-request/ |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |date=October 26, 2005 |access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref>