Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/499

 WASHINGTON (CITY) 479 tangular, 113 ft. 3 in. long, 80 ft. 3 in. wide, and 36 ft. high ; it is surrounded by galleries capable of seating 1,200 persons. The hall of the house of representatives is in the centre Treasury Department. of the S. extension, and is 139 ft. long, 93 ft. wide, and 36 ft. high, with a gallery seating 1,000. The hall formerly occupied by the senate, and now by the supreme court, is on the E. side of the N. wing of the central build- ing, and is semicircular, 75 ft. long and 45 ft. high. The court of claims is in the base- ment of the "W. extension of the central build- ing. The old hall of representatives is in the S. wing of the central building, between the rotunda and the pres- ent hall of the house, and is the most stately and beautiful apartment in the whole edifice. It is semicircular, 96 ft. long and 57 ft. high, and is now used as the receptacle of the histor- ical statues which con- gress in 1864 invited the states to contribute, each state to furnish two, and contains other statuary and paintings. The library of congress occupies a fine room 91 ft. 6 in. long, 34 ft. wide, and 38 ft. high, on the west of the ro- tunda, together with two wings, each 90 ft. 6 in. long, 29 ft. 6 in. wide, and 38 ft. high. The law branch of the library is in an apart- ment immediately below the supreme court room. The capitol grounds comprise 51 acres, handsomely laid out and containing a great variety of trees. E. of the capitol U a colossal statue in marble of Washington, by Greenough. The president's house or ex- ecutive mansion is in the W. part of the city, 1 m. from the capitol. It is two sto- ries high, 170 ft. long, and 86 ft. deep, with a portico on the north supported on eight Ionic columns, and a semicir- cular colonnade on the south of six Ionic col- umns. It is of free- stone, and is painted white, from which cir- cumstance it is popular- ly known as the " white house." The corner stone was laid in 1792, and the edifice was oc- cupied by President Ad- ams in 1800. It was burned by the British in 1814. In 1815 con- gress authorized its res- toration, and it was again occupied in 1818. The grounds lie between 15th and 17th streets, and extend to the Potomac, comprising about 75 acres, of which about 20 are enclosed as the president's private grounds, are hand- somely laid out, and contain a fountain. The treasury department, just E. of the white house, is a magnificent building in the Ionic style, 468 ft. long and 264 ft. wide, three stories high above the basement, with porti- coed fronts on all four sides. The E. front is New State, War, and Navy Building. of Virginia freestone ; the rest of the building is of Dix island granite. Immediately W. of the white house is a structure in course of erec- tion intended for the accommodation of the 827 VOL. XVI.