On September 18, 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone to the United States Capitol building, the home of
the legislative branch of American government.

The building would take nearly a century to complete, as
architects came and went, the British set fire to it (above) 
and it was called into use during the Civil War.

Today, the Capitol building, with its famous cast-iron
dome and important collection of American art, is
part of the Capitol Complex, which includes six
Congressional office buildings and three Library
of Congress buildings, all developed in the 19th
and 20th centuries.

Masonic Commemorative Cornerstone
Plaque.

            
TIM MAGUIRE

                                          
TIM MAGUIRE                     

On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley was shaking
hands at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York,
when a 28-year-old anarchist named Leon Czolgosz approached
him and fired two shots into his chest.

Leon F. Czolgosz
(May 5, 1873 – October 29, 1901)

In 1789, the First U.S. Congress established the Department of
the Treasury on September 2nd to manage government finances, creating a permanent institution after the Continental Congress‘s
prior efforts to fund the Revolutionary War through the issuance
of paper money.

This new department was part of Alexander Hamilton’s vision for
the new government, which included establishing national credit,
funding the national debt, and formulating economic policy.

Alexander Hamilton (1757 – 1804)

View of the east entrance of the first Treasury
Building in Washington, 1804.