The United States Capitol Complex is a group of twenty buildings and facilities ( complex of buildings) in Washington, D.C., that are used by the

federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

. The buildings and grounds within the complex are managed and supervised by the Architect of the Capitol.

Buildings and grounds

While the Capitol is the central feature of the complex, other parts of the Capitol Complex include the: * House of Representatives Office Buildings ** Cannon House Office Building ** Ford House Office Building ** Longworth House Office Building ** O'Neill House Office Building ** Rayburn House Office Building * Senate Office Buildings ** Dirksen Senate Office Building ** Hart Senate Office Building **

Russell Senate Office Building The Russell Senate Office Building is the oldest of the United States Senate office buildings. Designed in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, it was built from 1903 to 1908 and opened in 1909. It was named for former Senator Richard Russel ...

Daniel Webster Senate Page Residence The Daniel Webster Senate Page Residence, also known as Webster Hall, is the residence for United States Senate Pages. The building is a former funeral home and underwent an $8 million refurbishment in 1995, converting it to its current state ...

* United States Courts Buildings ** Supreme Court Building ** Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building *

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

Buildings ** John Adams Building **

Thomas Jefferson Building The Thomas Jefferson Building is the oldest of the four United States Library of Congress buildings. Built between 1890 and 1897, it was originally known as the Library of Congress Building. It is now named for the 3rd U.S. president Thomas Jef ...

** James Madison Memorial Building *Parks ** Upper Senate Park ** Lower Senate Park ** Spirit of Justice Park ** Bartholdi Park * United States Botanic Garden * Capitol Power Plant *

Capitol Visitor Center The United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) is a large underground addition to the United States Capitol complex which serves as a gathering point for up to 4,000 tourists and an expansion space for the US Congress.The Capitol Grounds In addition to the buildings listed above, several

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

s, and other works of art are located in and around the Capitol Complex. These include the

National Statuary Hall Collection The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old ...

and the '' Statue of Freedom'' among many others. The westernmost part of the grounds is the Capitol Reflecting Pool, which reflects the Capitol and the

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring American Civil War general and 18th United States President Ulysses S. Grant. It sits at the base of Capitol Hill (Union Square, the Mall, 1st Street, betwe ...

. With the exception of the Ford and O'Neill House Office Buildings, all House and Senate office buildings within the Capitol Complex are linked to the Capitol via an underground network of

people movers A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property ...

or footpath tunnels.

History

Construction of the Capitol began in 1792. When built, it was the only existing building for the use by the nation's

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

. In addition to Congress, the building was also designed to house the

, the Supreme Court, the district courts, and other offices. Following the completion of the building and as the nation grew, so did the size of the Congress. The Capitol and its grounds were enlarged accordingly, and by 1892 the building had reached essentially its present size and appearance (with the exception of the east front extension 1958–1962 and courtyard infill areas 1991–1993). Even with the enlargements, Congress eventually grew too big for the building and new facilities had to be constructed to meet the needs of the government. With the moving of the Library of Congress into its own building in 1897, and with the construction of new office buildings for the House and Senate in the early 20th century, the Capitol Complex was born. Known simply as the "House Office Building" and "Senate Office Building" when they opened in 1908 and 1909, the Cannon House Office Building and

became the first buildings solely for use as offices by the House of Representatives and the Senate. These new buildings were heated and provided with electricity by the new Capitol Power Plant which opened in 1910 and is still used today. The 1930s was a decade of major construction within the growing Capitol Complex. In 1933 alone the U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory, Director's residence, and Bartholdi Park were completed; the Senate Office Building's First Street wing, which had been omitted during construction for funding reasons, was added; and the Additional House Office Building (later named the Longworth House Office Building) was occupied. The Supreme Court at last found a permanent home when its own building was completed in 1935. The last building constructed within the complex in this decade was the Library of Congress Annex, now named the John Adams Building, which opened in 1939. Within twenty years, attention returned to the need for more Congressional office space; this led to the construction of a second building for the Senate (now named the Dirksen Senate Office Building), which was completed in 1958. The House's third building, the Rayburn House Office Building, opened in 1965. Washington, D

In the 1970s, two more buildings became available for the House: the former Congressional Hotel, the O'Neill House Office Building (demolished in 2002), and a larger building originally constructed for the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...

(now the Ford House Office Building). A third building for the Library of Congress, the James Madison Memorial Building, opened in 1980 and the Senate's third building, the Hart Senate Office Building, was occupied in 1982. The most recent large structure within the Capitol complex is the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, which was opened in 1992. Renovations to the Botanic Garden Conservatory began in September 1997 and continued for four years until December 2001 when the building reopened. The Conservatory's aluminum framework, glazing, interior floors, doors, and lighting were replaced; all electrical, plumbing, and environmental control systems were upgraded, and air conditioning was added to the display halls. The newest addition to the Capitol Complex is the

Capitol Visitor Center The United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) is a large underground addition to the United States Capitol complex which serves as a gathering point for up to 4,000 tourists and an expansion space for the US Congress.stormed by supporters of President Trump after a rally in front of

The White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 180 ...

. A Capitol Police Officer was wounded and was pronounced dead a day later at a nearby hospital. Additionally, one of the protesters was shot and later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. A further three deaths from medical emergencies were reported while over a hundred injuries were reported by Capitol Police.

References

Some text from this article came from the public domain webpages of the Architect of the Capitol:
A Brief History of the U.S. Capitol Complex

The Capitol Visitor Center

External links

Architect's Virtual Capitol
{{coord, 38, 53, 27, N, 77, 00, 26, W, region:US-DC_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Capitol Complex Complex Capitol Hill

Buildings and grounds

History

See also

References

External links