U.S. Capitol Gatehouses And Gateposts
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites
Gatehouse in 2008
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Location	7th, 15th, and 17th Streets, andConstitution Avenue,NW,Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°53′32.53″N77°2′02.06″W / 38.8923694°N 77.0339056°W /38.8923694; -77.0339056
Architect	Charles Bulfinch
Architectural style	Early Republic
NRHP reference No.	73002120
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 30, 1973[1]
Designated DCIHS	November 8, 1964

TheU.S. Capitol Gatehouses and Gateposts — designedcirca 1827 by celebrated architectCharles Bulfinch — originally stood on the grounds of theUnited States Capitol inWashington, D.C. Two of the gatehouses are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in their new locations.

One gatehouse and three of the gateposts now stand at 15th Street andConstitution Avenue within thePresident's Park South (PPS) historic district north of theNational Mall. The other gatehouse is at 17th and Constitution, also within the PPS. Four other gateposts have been relocated to the main entrance of theNational Arboretum atNew York Avenue NE and Springhouse Road NE.

Bulfinch designed the structures as part of the original Capitol design. The gatehouses stood at the base of Capitol Hill on the west side at a carriage entrance to the grounds.^[2]

The gatehouses were removed from the Capitol grounds in 1874 as part of landscaping renovations designed byFrederick Law Olmsted. In 1880, the west gatehouse was relocated atConstitution Avenue and 17th Street NW, and the east gatehouse at Constitution and 15th. They are placed to flank theWhite House –Washington Monument axis, which runs roughly along the axis of16th Street, just south ofThe Ellipse inPresident's Park.^[3]

The deterioration of the gatehouse sandstone required complete reconstructions in 1938.^[4] These restorations were completed under the direction ofNational Park Service architect Thomas T. Waterman.^[5]

Four of the original Bullfinch gateposts from the former fence around the Capitol grounds were moved to Constitution Avenue at the same time as the gatehouses. The posts are twelve feet high and five feet square.^[6]

The gatehouses are small temple-like stone structures, with rough-coursed masonry (rustication) on the sides and rear and a smallTuscan order porch on the front. The material isAquia Creek sandstone of a rather poor grade. The east gatehouse bears two high water marks carved into the stone to commemorate flooding in 1877 and 1881.^[5]

• History of Washington, D.C.
• National Register of Historic Places listings in the District of Columbia

Wikimedia Commons has media related toGatehouses and gateposts of the United States Capitol.

• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. DC-31, "U.S. Capitol Gatehouses, Fifteenth & Seventeenth Streets at Constitution Avenue, Washington, District of Columbia, DC", 12 photos, 13 measured drawings, 15 data pages, 1 photo caption page
• HABS No. DC-35, "U.S. Capitol, Gateposts, Nineteenth Street & Constitution (moved from Capitol), Washington, District of Columbia, DC", 11 photos, 1 photo caption page
• HABS No. DC-719, "Bulfinch Capitol Gatepost, Constitution Avenue & Seventh Street, Northwest (Southwest corner), Washington, District of Columbia, DC", 1 measured drawing

• Gates in the United States
• National Mall
• United States Capitol grounds
• Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C.
• Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
• Historic American Buildings Survey in Washington, D.C.
• Federal architecture in Washington, D.C.
• Relocated buildings and structures in Washington, D.C.

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