09/16/2026
🏛️ On This Day in History: September 18, 1793
On September 18, 1793, George Washington laid the cornerstone of the United States Capitol—the future home of the legislative branch of the young American republic.
But the Capitol we know today was a long time coming.
🇺🇸 In its earliest years, the United States didn’t even have a permanent capital. Congress met in eight different cities, including New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, before Washington, D.C. was selected as the nation’s permanent seat of government.
French engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant was chosen to help design the new capital, but after clashing with the commissioners, he was dismissed. A design competition followed, and Scottish-American physician and architect William Thornton submitted the winning design for the Capitol.
Construction began with Washington laying that cornerstone in 1793—but the building’s story was far from finished.
🔥 During the War of 1812, British forces set fire to the Capitol in 1814. A rainstorm helped prevent its complete destruction.
🏥 During the Civil War, construction was temporarily halted as the Capitol was used by Union troops as a hospital and barracks.
🏛️ Over the decades, the building was expanded, rebuilt, and modernized as the nation—and Congress—grew.
Today, the U.S. Capitol is one of the most recognizable symbols of American government, welcoming millions of visitors each year and standing at the center of the Capitol Complex.
More than a building, the Capitol is a physical record of the nation’s history—its beginnings, its conflicts, its growth, and its continuing story.
📸 Library of Congress: Cornerstone laid by George Washington, Sept. 18, 1793 / painting by Clyde De Land.
