Editing Old Brick Capitol

{{short description|Building in Washington, D.C. which served as the US Capitol from 1815–19}}
{{Use American English|date = August 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = August 2019}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name= Old Brick Capitol
|partof= [[American Civil War prison camps]]
|location= 
|coordinates=
|image= Capitolprison1.gif
|caption= The former Old Brick Capitol building serving as a prison during the [[American Civil War]], 1861-1865
|image2=
|caption2=
|type=United States Capitol (1815–1819)<br>Union Prison Camp (1861–1865)  
|code=
|built= 1815
|builder=
|materials= brick
|height=
|used= 1815–1819<br>1861–1867
|demolished= 1929 
|condition= 
|ownership= [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]]
|open_to_public= No
|controlledby= [[Union Army]]
|garrison=
|current_commander=
|commanders= 
|occupants= Union soldiers, Confederate prisoners of war, political prisoners, spies, Union officers convicted of [[insubordination]], and local D.C. [[Prostitution in the United States|prostitutes]] 
|battles=[[American Civil War]]
|events=
}}

The '''Old Brick Capitol''' in [[Washington, D.C.]], served as the temporary meeting place of the [[Congress of the United States]] from 1815 to 1819, while the [[United States Capitol|Capitol Building]] was rebuilt after the [[burning of Washington]]. 

"Old Brick" served as a private school, a boarding house, and, during the [[American Civil War]], a prison known as the '''Old Capitol Prison'''.  It was demolished in 1929, and its site is now occupied by the [[United States Supreme Court Building|U.S. Supreme Court building]].

==Site history==
The site was located on [[Capitol Hill]] and 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 brick [[tavern]] and hostel called Stelle's Hotel, built around 1800. It was part of a neighborhood of rooming houses catering to the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]].

===Temporary U.S. Capitol, 1815–1819===
{{main|Burning of Washington}}
In August 1814, during the [[War of 1812]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|the British]] burned the nearby [[United States Capitol]] building. The [[United States Congress|Congress]], forced to meet in temporary quarters, pulled down the hostel at 1st and A streets, and built a temporary brick capitol building in the [[Federal architecture|Federal style]], laying the cornerstone on July 4, 1815.<ref>Burton and Waggaman, p. 142</ref> Congress then occupied the brick capitol from December 8, 1815, until 1819, while the original U.S. Capitol Building was rebuilt.<ref>Goode, p. 329</ref> The [[first inauguration of James Monroe|first inauguration]] of President [[James Monroe]] took 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.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

===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. [[List of United States Senators from South Carolina|South Carolina Senator]] and former [[Vice President of the United States]] [[John C. Calhoun]],  who had been a leading member of the [[14th United States Congress|Fourteenth Congress]] when it met in the Old Brick Capitol, died in the boarding house in 1850.

===Old Capitol Prison, 1861–1867===
[[File:Execution of Henry Wirz.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The 1865 execution of convicted Civil War [[war criminal]] [[Henry Wirz]] near 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 of [[insubordination]], and local [[Prostitution in the United States|prostitutes]]. Famous inmates of the prison included [[Rose Greenhow]], [[Belle Boyd]], [[John S. Mosby|John Mosby]], and [[Henry Wirz]], who was hanged in the yard of the prison.

Many people arrested following the [[assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassination of President Abraham Lincoln]] were also held here. These included Dr. [[Samuel Mudd]], [[Mary Surratt]], [[Louis Weichmann]], and [[John T. Ford]], owner of [[Ford'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 to [[George T. Brown]], then [[sergeant-at-arms]] of the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]], who modified the building into three [[rowhouse]]s collectively known as "Trumbull's Row." In the 20th century, they were used as the headquarters of the [[National Woman's Party]]. In 1929, the site was acquired by [[eminent domain]] and the brick building was razed to clear the site for the [[U.S. Supreme Court Building]].

==See also==
*[[Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States#Prisoner of war prisons and camps|List of Civil War POW Prisons and Camps]]

==References==
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the<ref> and </ref> tags and the tag below -->
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~pa91/cmocp.html Detailed article on the prison]
*[https://www.muddresearch.com/old-capitol-prison.html ''Washington Star'' Article]

==Sources==
{{Commons category}}
* 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).

{{United States Congress}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|38|53|25|N|77|00|16|W|scale:5000_source:GNIS|display=title}}

[[Category:Former national capitol buildings in the United States]]
[[Category:American Civil War prison camps]]
[[Category:Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Defunct prisons in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Federal architecture in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1929]]
[[Category:1815 establishments in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:1929 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.]]