William Thornton Re-examined by Bob Arnebeck

Table of contents The General Dies and Jefferson Resurrects the Ideas of Dr. Thornton  The North Wing in 1800 As the city came to life with the arrival of the federal government in 1800, Thornton’s reputation as an architect depended solely on the Capitol. He might have been proud that Carroll’s two houses were bigger than the General’s two houses. But when Carroll tried to sell them in 1801, they were nothing to brag about. The advertisement described them as “finished in a plain but substantial manner, and built of the best materials...."(1) Despite being one of the commissioners, Thornton was unable to associate his name with the design of the North Wing. On November 18, 1799, Superintendent Hoban handed the commissioners his report that proved that the building was ready to receive congress. The commissioners added  his reports on the other public buildings  and sent them all to Philadelphia where they were printed and submitted to congress along with President Adams...

Some of the illustrations appear in two or more chapters if they are relevant to the text. Links open the web page used as sources for and/or information about the illustration. Links to chapters can be found in the Table of Contents .   1. "William Thornton in 1804" By his friend Gilbert Stuart in National Gallery of Art Wikipedia (intro p. 7) 2. "The Old Capitol in 1846" photograph, Library of Congress : (intro p. 7) 3."The Octagon in the 20th century" photograph, Library of Congress: (intro p.8) 4. "Adolph Cluss Strikes a pose" cropped photo of the National Museum Building Committee 1880, Smithsonian : (intro, p. 10) 5. "Glenn Brown" photographed at office in Octagon, ca. 1900, by Francis Benjamin Johnson, Library of Congress:(intro p. 11) 6. "Tortola in 1798: divided into sugar plantations" Wikimedia Commons: (Chapter One p. 14) 7.  "Old Customs House in Lancaster built as Thornton grew up in and around the ci...