The Scariest Room in the Capitol
by Kitty Felde
They call it the Crypt.
It's a room that has had many names.
The Grand Vestibule (1797)
General Vestibule to all the Offices (1806)
The Lower Rotundo (1824)
If you look in your D.C. tour guide book, it's simply called The Crypt.
(image courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol)During the day, it's crowded with tour groups. At night, it's a bit spooky.
Cathedrals often have crypts - underground chambers where important people are buried. There are no bodies buried in the Capitol Crypt. But there might have been.
(photo courtesy of National Portrait Gallery) Always Ask the Wife
When George Washington died in 1799, Congress asked the builders of the U.S. Capitol to include a special chamber for our first president and his wife.
The chamber was built, but Martha Washington had other ideas. She wanted to bury her husband in the place he loved most: Mt. Vernon.
That left Congress with one problem: a hole that let drafts and dampness into the building. The chamber was sealed shut in 1828.
Even if you don't get to see Washington's tomb, there are lots of other exhibits around the Crypt: you can also see a replica of the Magna Carta, a 3-D map of the National Mall, a bust of Abraham Lincoln, and the clock that used to hang in the House chamber.
The room is surrounded by forty sandstone columns and 13 statues representing the 13 original colonies. One of those statues is that of Caesar Rodney, former Brigadier-General, signer of the Declaration of Independence, famous for a last minute ride to Philadelphia to cast the deciding Delaware vote for Independence. (Author Kitty Felde says unlike Fina, she's never heard his statue talk.)
(Photo courtesy of Foursquare City Guide)Congress thinks of itself as the center of the universe. The truth is that the building they work in IS the actual center of Washington.
When Pierre L'Enfant was designing the District of Columbia, he divided it into fourths, known as quadrants. The four sections meet at the U.S. Capitol. In fact, you used to be able to stand on the compass star in the middle of the floor in the Crypt and be in all four quadrants at the same time.
If you write a letter to someone in Washington, D.C., you must include the quadrant - or section of the city - where the building is located. (The Mendoza family lives in SE. Their rented rowhouse is just a couple of blocks from the Capitol, in the Southeast quadrant of the city. Of course, if you want to write to Fina, you can always send it to us, c/o Chesapeake Press. We'll be sure she gets it.)