“Perspective View of a Design for Enlarging the U.S. Capitol,”
by Thomas U. Walter, 1850 (never built) The Capitol had been
completed for only 24 years before the Senate found it necessary
to stage a design competition for its enlargement. Thomas U.
Walter, a prominent Philadelphia architect, submitted this
design that called for expanding the building eastward into the
spacious front garden. Although this design did not win the
competition, President Millard Fillmore later appointed Walter
architect of the Capitol extension based on an entirely
different design concept. Architect of the Capitol