To George Washington from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 20 February 1797
From the Commissioners for the District of Columbia
Washington, 20th Feby 1797
Sir
We had the honor of your favor of the 15th Instant—Your Ideas respecting the capitol are those which have been the prevailing ones with us for some time—No step has been omitted to put things in a state for advancing that building, as far as possible during the present Season; and we expect it to progress 30 additional feet, at least, by December next1—You would see by our last Letters to you, that we contemplated carrying on the President’s house no further than to secure what is done, by covering it in, which may with ease be effected without withdrawing the necessary hands from the capitol.2 The chief object in view in forwarding the Plans of the public offices, was, that they should be approved of by you, rather than your Successor, to whom, the city & it’s affairs must, at present, be quite new—Had the foundations been prepared during the present winter, whilst the Labourers have little to occupy them, so much expence would have been saved; they can however, be as well done next winter3—The expectation of this being done, has, no doubt, created a great deal of Jealousy, & perhaps, will not create less, whenever done.
If Messrs Morris & Nicholson pay their Instalment, when due, or in 60 or 90 days after it becomes due, we shall have sufficient funds to carry us through the Year, & having made their Selection, if they fail to pay, we shall certainly proceed to sell their Lots4—We have certainly better prospects, as to funds, than for the two Seasons past,5 & every thing promises fair for more extensive operations—We are Sir, &c.
G. Scott
W. Thornton
LB, DNA: RG 42, Records of the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, Letters Sent.
1. From late 1796 through fall 1797, the board had spent over $40,000 on the U.S. Capitol. By November 1797, workers had raised the freestone of the outer walls by thirty-six feet and brickwork inside the walls by thirty-five feet. The height of the outer freestone wall measured fifty-seven feet from the foundation wall, while the inner brick wall was shorter by one foot (see , 442, 456, 464). The annual report on the Capitol, communicated to the U.S. House of Representatives on 14 Dec. 1797, reads: “the free-stone work on the outside is raised as high as the top of the Corinthian capitals all round the building, and on the north side as high as the architrave … so that part of the entablature and the balustrade, are only wanting to complete the whole of the intended elevation. The brick work is also raised as high as the roof, and the naked flooring … is almost entirely laid, the roof will shortly be finished, and may be laid in its place before the ensuing spring, when the interior finishing may be commenced for the completion of the building” (, 79–80).
3. For the construction of the buildings, begun in 1798 and designated to house the executive departments, see Commissioners for the District of Columbia to GW, 31 Jan., notes 3 and 4.
4. For Robert Morris and John Nicholson’s selection of lots, see the commissioners to GW, 31 Jan., and n.5 to that document. Morris and Nicholson had failed to make scheduled payments to the commissioners on Federal City lots purchased in 1793 (see the commissioners to GW, 23 Dec. 1793, and n.1 to that document; see also GW to Edmund Randolph, 22 July 1795).
5. Two months earlier, the board received a loan from the state of Maryland (see John Hoskins Stone to GW, 12 Dec. 1796, and n.2 to that document; see also Gustavus Scott to GW, 14 Oct. 1796, and n.2 to that document).