William Thornton designed the original winning plan for the United States Capitol, a building tied to America250’s national story.
Thornton, a physician and inventor from the British West Indies, won the 1792 competition for the Capitol’s design. His plan was selected by President George Washington, who laid the building’s cornerstone in 1793. Construction began in the new federal district along the Potomac River.
Thornton was not a trained professional architect in the modern sense, but his winning design helped establish the Capitol’s central concept. Later architects substantially changed and expanded the building. Benjamin Henry Latrobe supervised important early work, and Charles Bulfinch completed the central section after the War of 1812.
Because several architects shaped the Capitol, Thornton is sometimes mistakenly credited with constructing the entire building. The precise distinction is that he created the original winning design. The Capitol became a central symbol of the federal government and an important site for understanding the nation’s development after independence.