The oldest of the three United States Library of Congress buildings, the Thomas Jefferson Building was built between 1890 and 1897. It was originally known as the Library of Congress Building and is located on First Street SE, between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street in Washington, D.C. The Beaux-Arts style building is known for its classicizing facade and elaborately decorated interior.
John L. Smithmeyer and Paul J. Pelz won the comp...
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The oldest of the three United States Library of Congress buildings, the Thomas Jefferson Building was built between 1890 and 1897. It was originally known as the Library of Congress Building and is located on First Street SE, between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street in Washington, D.C. The Beaux-Arts style building is known for its classicizing facade and elaborately decorated interior.
John L. Smithmeyer and Paul J. Pelz won the competition for the architectural plans of the library in 1873. They took several trips to Europe to study other great libraries and continued developing details of the design for another nine years until the final submission of plans in 1892. At this point the plans were turned over to Brig. Gen. Thomas Lincoln Casey, Chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for construction of the building. Edward Pearce Casey, the twenty five year old son of Brig. Gen. Thomas Lincoln Casey, was the artistic supervisor during construction.
The Thomas Jefferson...
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