This vintage postcard from the 1930s shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Begun in 1793, the cornerstone of the Capitol building was laid by George Washington. The central building was finished in 1800 with one wing completed in 1811. It ranks today among the noblest architectural objects in the world, its crowning glory being the Statue of Freedom which surmounts its dome 307 ft. above the esplanade. It is 751 ft. in length and 350 ft. in width, and covers an area of three and one-half acres.
At one end of the Capitol building is the U.S. Senate, at the other, the U.S. House of Representatives, the combined duties of whose members represent the greatest governmental undertaking in the world. On its east central portico the oath of office is administered to each succeeding President by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court before a multitude of spectators.
In 1814 the Capitol building was burned by the British when they attacked Washington DC. Eventually, US troops under the command of Andrew Jackson, beat the British at the Battle of New Orleans. After much heated debate, members of Congress decided to continue their work in the ruined capital city rather than move the seat of government elsewhere. The House and Senate found emergency quarters until the Capitol building was repaired.
This vintage postcard shows the grandeur and majesty of our nation’s Capitol Building, a site that we should all behold.