Episode 5: Montgomery C. Meigs, Part 2 - Father of Arlington National Cemetery

The above two images of General Montgomery Meigs, taken at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 and the end of the war in 1865, show how much his important and stressful position aged him.

1793 - An amateur architect from the British West Indies, Dr. William Thornton was awarded $500 and a city lot for his design of the Capitol. George Washington presided over the cornerstone ceremony in September of the same year. Today, Dr. Thornton is honored as the first architect of the Capitol.

Though still under construction, Congress began meeting in the Capitol in 1800.

The original Capitol Building in Washington, DC was put to the torch by the British on August 24, 1814. Thanks to the use of fire-proof building materials, such as sheet iron, marble, sandstone, zinc, and copper, (and heavy rains that fell that evening) the exterior structure survived and many of the interior spaces remained intact. 

British Burn the Capitol, 1814 by Allyn Cox (1974) is located in the House Wing corridor on the Capitol's first floor

This 1814 painting shows some exterior fire damage but most of the exterior of the Capitol still standing

1815-1819 - the so-called Brick Capitol served as a temporary meeting place while the Capitol Building was repaired

In 1824, the first capital dome was designed

In 1846, the earliest known photograph of the Capitol and its original dome was taken

In 1854, after an expansion project increased the size of the Capitol without increasing the size of the dome, and a new dome concept was imagined

1857 - More than a year into the construction of the new dome

1861 - Lincoln was inaugurated in front of the partially completed dome. Construction on the dome continued throughout the Civil War, though with a greatly reduced workforce.

1863 - The 19 ½ foot tall, 15,000-pound Statue of Freedom was installed on top of the dome in 1863

1866 - The Apotheosis of Washington fresco was finished on the dome's interior

In 2016, the Architect of the Capitol completed the most complete restoration of the dome in its 150-year history. 

In addition to overseeing much of the mid-19th century Capitol dome project, General Meigs built the Washington Aqueduct, which brought clean water into Washington, DC. Part of the system included the Cabin John Bridge, now called the Union Arch Bridge. Construction of the bridge lasted from 1857-1864, and at 220 feet, it was the longest single-arch bridge in the world until 1903.

The Union Arch Bridge under construction (top left - 1859, top right - 1861, bottom left - 1863, bottom right - 1869

I have not personally seen or found online pictures of the copper plaques Meigs installed below the waterline of the aqueduct, but there are visible bridge markers still in place today and read: Washington Aqueduct, Chief Engineer, Capt. Montgomery Meigs, US Corps of Engineers..."