October 13: Cornerstone of the White House Laid (1792)
Prayer Idea
Pray for people who work at the White House.
History Note
New York City and Philadelphia served as the first two capitals of the United States. In 1790 government leaders agreed to build a new capital for the country on a ten-mile-square site between Maryland and Virginia.
President George Washington chose the site of the Federal City along the banks of the Potomac River. Brothers Andrew Ellicott and Joseph Ellicott and their friend Benjamin Banneker worked to survey the area. Pierre Charles L’Enfant, a Frenchman who had come to the United States to help fight in the Revolutionary War, made plans for the layout of the city.
Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson proposed a contest for a design for the president’s house. The prize was $500. Architect James Hoban from Ireland submitted the winning design.
Workers laid the cornerstone for the president’s house on October 13, 1792. Hoban oversaw a construction crew of several free workers and dozens of enslaved workers. Builders lived in small huts and cottages grouped around the construction site.
John and Abigail Adams moved into the unfinished home in 1800. Abigail was frustrated with the mess of the city and the president’s house, yet she was determined to make the best of it. She wrote a letter to her daughter soon after her arrival:
You must keep all this to yourself, and, when asked how I like it, say that I write you the situation is beautiful, which is true. The house is made habitable, but there is not a single apartment finished . . . . It is a beautiful spot, capable of every improvement, and, the more I view it, the more I am delighted with it.
This is one of James Hoban’s early drawings of what became the White House.
Learn More
Watch a video about the construction of the White House.
Find more resources at Homeschool History.
