First Cornerstone

Contemporary Masonic practice included the laying of an inscribed metal plate along with a cornerstone. Caleb Bentley, a Quaker clockmaker and silversmith who lived in Georgetown not far from Suter's Fountain Inn, where the commissioners held their meetings, made the silver plate for the Capitol ceremony.

The newspaper invitation announcing the cornerstone ceremony was directed to the Masonic fraternity:

The Capitol is in progression—the southeast is yet kept vacant that [the] cornerstone is to be laid with the assistance of the brotherhood [on] the 18th Inst. Those of the craft however dispersed are requested to join the work. The solemnity is expected to equal the occasion.

The ceremony proceedings were reported in an article in The Columbia Mirror and Alexandria Gazette, which remains the only known eyewitness account of the event. Activities began at 10:00 a.m. with the appearance of President Washington and his entourage on the south bank of the Potomac River. Crossing the river with the president was a company of volunteer artillery from Alexandria.

The procession joined Masonic lodges from Maryland and Virginia, and all marched two abreast, "with music playing, drums beating, colors flying, and spectators rejoicing," to the site of the Capitol about a mile and a half away. There the procession reformed and Washington, flanked by Joseph Clark (the Grand Master) and Dr. E. C. Dick (the master of the Virginia lodge), stood to the east of a "huge stone" while the others formed a circle west of it.

Soon, the engraved plate was delivered and the inscription read:

This South East corner stone, of the Capitol of the United States of America in the City of Washington, was laid on the 18th day of September, in the thirteenth year of American Independence, in the first year of the second term of the Presidency of George Washington, whose virtues in the civil administration of his country have been as conspicuous and beneficial, as his Military valor and prudence have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in the year of Masonry 5793, by the Grand Lodge of Maryland, several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge 22, from Alexandria, Virginia.

Thomas Johnson, David Stuart and Daniel Carroll, Commissioners
Joseph Clark, R. W. G. M.—P. T.
James Hoban and Stephan Hallate, Architects
Collen Williamson, M. Mason

The plate was handed to Washington, who stepped down into the foundation trench, laid the plate on the ground, and lowered the cornerstone onto it. With the president were Joseph Clark and three "worshipful masters" bearing the corn, wine and oil used to consecrate the stone. Chanting accompanied Washington's ascent from the trench. Clark gave a speech punctuated by numerous volleys from the artillery.

Following the formal exercises, a 500 pound ox was barbequed and those in attendance "generally partook, with every abundance of other recreation." By dark, the festivities had ended.

A painting of this ceremony appears in the Cox Corridors of the U.S. Capitol Building's House Wing, and a panel of the Senate Bronze Doors also displays the scene.

Where is the original U.S. Capitol cornerstone?

Those who witnessed this ceremony in 1793 were the last to see the silver plate on which the cornerstone was laid. They were also among the last to see the cornerstone itself: soon, vast quantities of additional stonework necessary for the Capitol's foundation were set around and above it.

For the next 100 years no one was much concerned with the exact location of the stone. When the Capitol's centennial was celebrated in 1893, however, it was decided to place a bronze tablet to mark the cornerstone's approximate location. A spot at the southeast corner of the original Senate (or north) wing was selected, because this wing was the first of the Capitol's many sections to be completed. It was therefore presumed that the cornerstone was laid in connection with that part of the building.

In the late 1950s, during construction of the East Front Extension, the east foundations of the north wing (among others) were completely exposed to view. Seizing this opportunity, those interested in the cornerstone undertook a thorough examination of the stonework, including the use of a metal detector, in an attempt to locate the silver plate. Despite these efforts, neither the cornerstone nor the plate had been located by the time the foundations were covered over. The footings were underpinned during that construction process and no silver plate was found in the removal of soil in that connection.

The approach of the bicentennial of the Capitol generated a renewed interest in the cornerstone and its whereabouts. Responding to this interest, the Architect of the Capitol developed a plan to find the best, most reliable, and least invasive technology that could be employed in the search.

After a great deal of research and study, it was determined that, in addition to using modern metal- detection devices, samples of soil taken just below the foundations could be scientifically analyzed to detect the presence of silver, which, over many years, would have leached from the plate under the cornerstone. Finding such evidence of the silver plate would pinpoint the cornerstone's location.

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Ninth Architect of the Capitol George White and Senate Sergeant at Arms Martha Pope look on during a search for the Capitol's first cornerstone in 1991.

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey were enlisted to take the soil samples and perform geochemical tests in their laboratories. In the fall of 1991 the southeast corner of the north wing was the site of the first investigation. A pit was excavated to allow scientists access to the area just below the foundations, and a hand-powered auger was used to extract soil samples. But no evidence of silver was found in them. In addition, sensitive metal detectors calibrated to detect silver were inserted in the augered holes, but with negative results. It was further discovered that the foundation stones themselves were partially magnetic, which overshadowed any possible indications of silver.

A second and more likely cornerstone location has been the subject of subsequent excavation and testing. In accordance with information developed from a recent examination of early construction records, the southeast corner of the entire building as planned in 1793 was the target of this second investigation. The records indicate that, although the original Senate wing was the first portion of the building to be completed, the footings and foundations for the entire building were completed at the same time, thus pointing to the southeast corner of the House wing as the cornerstone location.

A large foundation block of metamorphic sandstone was uncovered at this site, which was at the predicted location and under which the soil was removed when underpinning occurred during the extension of the east front in the 1950s. The Architect of the Capitol believes that it is in fact the "missing" stone. It is very large, larger than all other foundation stones that have been seen, and is therefore deemed to be a ceremonial stone. The silver plate could easily have disappeared during the underpinning activity. In any case, all of the circumstantial evidence indicates that the stone is indeed the cornerstone.