Editing United States Capitol (section)

===20th century===
In 1904, the East Front of the Capitol building was rebuilt, following a design of the architects [[Carrère and Hastings]], who designed the [[Russell Senate Office Building|Russell Senate]] and [[Cannon House Office Building|Cannon House]] office buildings earlier that year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cannon House Office Building {{!}} Architect of the Capitol |url=https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/buildings-grounds/house-office-buildings/cannon |access-date=May 23, 2023 |website=www.aoc.gov}}</ref>

In 1958, the next major expansion to the Capitol started, with a {{convert|33.5|ft|adj=on}} extension of the East Portico.{{citation needed| date=October 2012}} In 1960, two years into the project, the dome underwent a restoration.<ref name=Steinhauer/> A marble duplicate of the [[sandstone]] East Front was built {{convert|33.5|ft}} from the old Front. In 1962, a connecting extension repurposed what had been an outside wall as an inside wall. In the process, the original sandstone [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] [[column]]s were removed and replaced with marble. It was not until 1984 that landscape designer [[Russell Page]] created a suitable setting for them in a large meadow at the [[United States National Arboretum|U.S. National Arboretum]] in northeast Washington as the [[National Capitol Columns]], where they were combined with a reflecting pool into an ensemble that reminds some visitors of the ruins of [[Persepolis]], in [[Persia]].

Besides the columns, two hundred tons of the original stone were removed in several hundred blocks, which were first stored on site at the Capitol, and then stored in an unused yard at the [[Capitol Power Plant]] until 1975.<ref name=":0"/> The same year, the power plant was renovated and expanded in accordance with legislation passed in 1970, and the stones fell to the Commission on the Extension of the United States Capitol.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Capitol Stones in Rock Creek Park |url=https://architectofthecapital.org/posts/2016/5/30/capitol-stones |access-date=September 28, 2022 |website=Architect of the Capital |date=September 5, 2016 |language=en-US}}</ref> As this body was long-defunct, responsibility for the material passed to the House and Senate office building commissions.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Berger |first=Leslie |date=June 26, 1982 |title=Echoes of the Capitol's Past Lie in Ruins |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1982/06/26/echoes-of-the-capitols-past-lie-in-ruins/0d7f1a43-bcde-41f3-b6ee-b88ee3badd68/ |access-date=September 28, 2022 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> These commissions then arranged for the [[National Park Service]] to store the debris at the back of a NPS maintenance yard in [[Rock Creek Park]].<ref>Jule Banville, [http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/37113/stone-cold-whodunit "Stone-Cold Whodunit"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116212225/http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/37113/stone-cold-whodunit |date=January 16, 2014 }} (April 24, 2009), ''Washington City Paper''</ref><ref>[http://www.rockcreekrunner.com/2011/07/25/stones-from-us-capitol-in-rock-creek-park/ "Stones from US Capitol in Rock Creek Park"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214717/https://www.rockcreekrunner.com/2011/07/25/stones-from-us-capitol-in-rock-creek-park/ |date=January 14, 2021 }} (July 25, 2011), ''Rock Creek Runner''</ref>

With the permission of the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|speaker of the House]], the United States Capitol Historical Society has periodically mined the blocks for sandstone since 1975. The stone removed is used to make commemorative bookends and paperweights, which are still sold to support the Capitol Historical Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sandstone Bookends |url=https://www.uschscatalog.org/prod-122-1-40-111/sandstone-bookends.htm |access-date=September 28, 2022 |website=USCHS Gift Shop}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sandstone Bookends Without Base |url=https://www.uschscatalog.org/prod-122-1-39-111/sandstone-bookends-without-base.htm |access-date=September 28, 2022 |website=USCHS Gift Shop}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sandstone Paperweights |url=https://shop.capitolhistory.org/products/sandstone-paperweight-with-base |access-date=April 7, 2025 |website=USCHS Gift Shop}}</ref> By 1982, more than $20,000 (nearly $60,000 [[Adjusted-for-inflation|adjusted]]) had been raised through such sales.<ref name=":0" /> Unpursued uses for the stones proposed by the Capitol Historical Society have included their sale as cornerstones in new housing developments.<ref name=":0" />

On December 19, 1960, the Capitol was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] by the National Park Service.<ref name=inventory>{{cite web | url= http://www.planning.dc.gov/planning/frames.asp?doc=/planning/lib/planning/preservation/hp_inventory/inventory_narrative_sep_2004.pdf | title= District of Columbia – Inventory of Historic Sites | date= September 1, 2004 | work= District of Columbia: Office of Planning | publisher= Government of the District of Columbia | access-date= August 9, 2009 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090717032933/http://planning.dc.gov/planning/frames.asp?doc=%2Fplanning%2Flib%2Fplanning%2Fpreservation%2Fhp_inventory%2Finventory_narrative_sep_2004.pdf | archive-date= July 17, 2009 | df= mdy-all }}</ref> The building was ranked No. 6 in a 2007 survey conducted for the [[American Institute of Architects]]' "[[America's Favorite Architecture]]" list.<ref name=AIAfavorite>{{cite web | url= http://favoritearchitecture.org/afa150.php | title= America's Favorite Architecture | year= 2007 | work= Harris Interactive | publisher= American Institute of Architects | access-date= August 9, 2009 | archive-date= May 18, 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070518053904/http://favoritearchitecture.org/afa150.php | url-status= dead }}</ref>

The Capitol draws heavily from other notable buildings, especially churches and landmarks in Europe, including the dome of [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] and [[St. Paul's Cathedral]] in London.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.american-architecture.info/USA/USA-Washington/DC-004.htm | title=World Architecture Images- U.S. Capitol | publisher=American-architecture.info | access-date=November 5, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026032757/http://www.american-architecture.info/USA/USA-Washington/DC-004.htm | archive-date=October 26, 2010 | url-status=usurped | df=mdy-all }}</ref> On the roofs of the Senate and House Chambers are flagpoles that fly the [[Flag of the United States|U.S. flag]] when either is in session. On September 18, 1993, to commemorate the Capitol's bicentennial, the Masonic ritual cornerstone laying with George Washington was reenacted. U.S. senator [[Strom Thurmond]] was one of the Freemason politicians who took part in the ceremony.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}