Old Brick Capitol

Old Brick Capitol
Part ofAmerican Civil War prison camps
The former Old Brick Capitol building serving as a prison during theAmerican Civil War,1861-1865
Type	United States Capitol (1815–1819) Union Prison Camp (1861–1865)
Site information
Owner	U.S. federal government
Controlled by	Union Army
Open to the public	No
Site history
Built	1815
In use	1815–1819 1861–1867
Materials	brick
Demolished	1929
Battles/wars	American Civil War
Garrison information
Occupants	Union soldiers, Confederate prisoners of war, political prisoners, spies, Union officers convicted ofinsubordination,and local D.C.prostitutes

TheOld Brick CapitolinWashington, D.C.,served as the temporary meeting place of theCongress of the United Statesfrom 1815 to 1819, while theCapitol Buildingwas rebuilt after theburning of Washington.

"Old Brick" served as a private school, a boarding house, and, during theAmerican Civil War,a prison known as theOld Capitol Prison.It was demolished in 1929, and its site is now occupied by theU.S. Supreme Court building.

Site history

The site was located onCapitol Hilland was acquired from the Carroll family to accommodate the U.S. Capitol. Located at 1st and A streets NE in Washington, D.C., on the eastern slope of Capitol Hill, the site's first building was a red bricktavernand hostel called Stelle's Hotel, built around 1800. It was part of a neighborhood of rooming houses catering to theU.S. Congress.

Temporary U.S. Capitol, 1815–1819

Main article:Burning of Washington

In August 1814, during theWar of 1812,the Britishburned the nearbyUnited States Capitolbuilding. TheCongress,forced to meet in temporary quarters, pulled down the hostel at 1st and A streets, and built a temporary brick capitol building in theFederal style,laying the cornerstone on July 4, 1815.Congress then occupied the brick capitol from December 8, 1815, until 1819, while the original U.S. Capitol Building was rebuilt.Thefirst inaugurationof PresidentJames Monroetook place at the brick capitol on March 4, 1817.

The building was actually financed by Washington real-estate investors, who had heard rumors that some members of Congress were considering relocation of the national capital in the aftermath of the burning. The investors wanted to prevent their land values from decreasing by keeping the government in Washington.

Old Brick Capitol, 1819–1861

The building acquired the title "Old Brick Capitol" in 1819 when Congress and the Supreme Court returned to the restored U.S. Capitol Building. Until the time of the Civil War, the building was used as a private school, then as a boarding house.South Carolina Senatorand formerVice President of the United StatesJohn C. Calhoun,who had been a leading member of theFourteenth Congresswhen it met in the Old Brick Capitol, died in the boarding house in 1850.

Old Capitol Prison, 1861–1867

The 1865 execution of convicted Civil Warwar criminalHenry Wirznear the U.S. Capitol moments after the trap door was sprung.

With the start of the Civil War in 1861, the Union repurchased the building to use as a prison for captured Confederates, as well as political prisoners, spies, Union officers convicted ofinsubordination,and localprostitutes.Famous inmates of the prison includedRose Greenhow,Belle Boyd,John Mosby,andHenry Wirz,who was hanged in the yard of the prison.

Many people arrested following theassassination of President Abraham Lincolnwere also held here. These included Dr.Samuel Mudd,Mary Surratt,Louis Weichmann,andJohn T. Ford,owner ofFord's Theater,where Lincoln was shot. The adjoining row of houses, Duff Green's Row, was also used as part of the prison.

Post-War use and demolition

The government sold the Old Capitol Prison in 1867 toGeorge T. Brown,thensergeant-at-armsof theU.S. Senate,who modified the building into threerowhousescollectively known as "Trumbull's Row." In the 20th century, they were used as the headquarters of theNational Woman's Party.In 1929, the site was acquired byeminent domainand the brick building was razed to clear the site for theU.S. Supreme Court Building.

See also

• List of Civil War POW Prisons and Camps

External links

• Detailed article on the prison
• Washington StarArticle

Sources

• James M. Goode,Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings,Washington: Smithsonian Institution (2003).
• Harold H. Burton and Thomas E. Waggaman, "The Story of the Place: Where First and A Streets Formerly Met at What Is Now the Site of the Supreme Court Building,Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C.,vol. 51/52 (1951/1952).