Changes

The first time the Capitol was breached was on August 24, 1814, when British forces entered Washington and burned parts of the city and Capitol. No breach would occur again until the events of January 6th, 2021. Within a year of the first breach and partial burning, the Capitol was being reconstructed, led by two military engineers (George Bomford and Joseph Gardner Swift). During reconstruction of the building, Congress continued to meet but in another building called the Old Brick Capitol that was demolished in 1929. The Capitol was reused for its legislative purpose continuously since 1819. In 1850, the building was significantly expanded to include the new House and Senate wings. The original dome was replaced with a new cast-iron dome that was much larger than the original low, timber-framed design. Thomas U. Walter designed the dome to be 100 feet, with inspiration come from Les Invalides in Paris. A significant part of the construction in the 1850s was carried out slave labor. The Statue of Freedom was placed on top of the dome in 1863, with the dome completed that year. The rotunda is perhaps the oldest and most distinct feature inside the building, which still encompases the 1800 original smaller center. The grounds around the Capitol were extensively redesigned using Fredrick Olmstead's designs between 1874 to 1892. New additions occurred to the East Front of the Capitol in 1904, as the large dome and its weight put extra strain on the building. In 1958, the East Portico was extended. Corinthian columns from the original building were also replaced as part of this larger project, with the original columns now used as part of a large display in the National Arboretum. Since 1960, the Captiol has been declared as an official National Historical Landmark in the United States. In 1993, on September 18, 1993, the Capitol's bicentennial was celebrated by re-enacting the masonic ceremony conducted by Washington and others, with Senator Strom Thurmond, a Freemason, leading the ceremony. Until 1981, the East Front of the Capitol was used for Presidential inauguration; the West Front has been used since 1981 for this event. On December 2, 2008, the United States Capitol Visitor Center opened to the public, the same date the dome finished in 1863, with the building dedicated to tell the history of the site and act as a starting point for tours of the Capitol.