United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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Capitol East View

Black and white print showing the East Front of the Capitol in 1845, with grass, tree-lined paths, and a few people with a dog on the grounds out front, titled, “Capitol East View”/tiles/collection/1/11636.xml
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Black and white print showing the East Front of the Capitol in 1845, with grass, tree-lined paths, and a few people with a dog on the grounds out front, titled, “Capitol East View”
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Date

1845

Publisher

W. H. & O. H. Morrison

Dimensions

3 9/16 x 5 5/8 in. (9 x 14.3 cm)

Accession Number

2013.058.003

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

The Capitol’s bucolic grounds existed more in the artist’s imagination than in reality in 1845, when this print was published in Morrison’s Stranger’s Guide. The accompanying text noted that the gardens were lacking, and that “art could add charms to nature, and give to the public grounds at Washington an enchantment worthy [of] the country.” It would be a half-century before noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted had his way with the Capitol’s grounds.

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Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov