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"DC" Really Stands for Demon Cat... Which Haunts the U.S. Capitol

"DC" Really Stands for Demon Cat... Which Haunts the U.S. Capitol

03/17/2023 in DC by Hunter Spears

A guard patrolling the basement of the Capitol during the Civil War is attacked -- not by enemy soldiers, but by a giant, demonic cat! Over a hundred years later, the "Demon Cat" is still one of Washington's greatest ghost stories, which is saying something in a city with as many phantom residents as the capital. What is the real story of this mystical mouser?

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DC
The Capitol Crawl

The Capitol Crawl

09/16/2021 in DC by Dominique Mickiewicz

When Congressional delay jeopardized the Americans with Disabilities Act, protesters responded with a powerful demonstration on the Capitol steps.

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DC
The U.S. Capitol's Civil War Residents

The U.S. Capitol's Civil War Residents

04/12/2021 in DC by Arielle Gordon

During the Civil War, the U.S. Capitol served stints as a military barracks, a bakery, and a hospital for wounded soldiers, all while the building was under construction. After the war, the bakery was dismantled and the soldiers left — well, all but one …

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The Man in the Green Hat: Congress' Bootlegger During Prohibition

The Man in the Green Hat: Congress' Bootlegger During Prohibition

12/04/2020 in DC by Arielle Gordon

From 1920 to 1930, George Cassiday was a bootlegger for Congress. He sold alcohol to four out of every five members during Prohibition, and at one point had an office inside the House Office Building. After his arrest for possessing alcohol, Cassiday told his story in The Washington Post.

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Bread Kneaded on Capitol Hill

Bread Kneaded on Capitol Hill

07/07/2015 in DC by Jenna Goff

As congressmen convened for a special session in July 1861, they were welcomed into the Capitol by the smell of baking bread. Just months into the Civil War, the building had already seen thousands of troops pass through its doors, and now it was the site of one of the largest bakeries the world had ever known. Twenty ovens, each with the capacity of holding hundreds of loaves of bread, were housed in the basement, and multitudes of men spent hours tending yeast and kneading dough. Having been in recess for less than four months, the congressmen were astounded, and some even annoyed, with this new mammoth bakery occupying their space. But a lot had changed for the country – and for the Capitol – in that short period of time.

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DC
Terrorism Hits Home in 1915: U.S. Capitol Bombing

Terrorism Hits Home in 1915: U.S. Capitol Bombing

06/22/2015 in DC by Mark Jones

Shortly before midnight on Friday, July 2, 1915, police responded to the U.S. Capitol where an explosion had just rocked the Senate wing. Fortunately they found no fatalities – a byproduct of the fact that Congress was not in session and the building was lightly staffed at night. But, there was plenty of carnage and, obviously, great concern about security.

The next evening, Washingtonians opened their Evening Star newspaper to find a peculiar letter under the headline, “Letter Received by the Star Thought to Have Bearing on the Explosion.” The diatribe began, “Unusual times and circumstances call for unusual means.”

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DC

First Statue Representing D.C. Unveiled in U.S. Capitol

06/19/2014 in DC by Ellen Wexler

It was a long wait for sculptors and local politicians.

Since 2008, a seven-foot tall, 1,700 pound bronze statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass stood in the lobby of a building called One Judiciary Square. It remained there for five years while Washington officials fought to move it to another building less than a mile down the road: the U.S. Capitol. 

 

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the unveiling of Douglass’ statue in the Capitol Visitor Center’s Emancipation Hall. The ceremony was the culmination of a fight spanning over a decade. 

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Latest Posts

"DC" Really Stands for Demon Cat... Which Haunts the U.S. Capitol

03/17/2023

"DC" Really Stands for Demon Cat... Which Haunts the U.S. Capitol

From the Mixed-Up Files of the Smithsonian Museum of American History: The Heist of 1981

03/10/2023

From the Mixed-Up Files of the Smithsonian Museum of American History: The Heist of 1981

The "Capitalsaurus": How a Dinosaur That Never Existed Became an Official Mascot of D.C.

03/03/2023

The "Capitalsaurus": How a Dinosaur That Never Existed Became an Official Mascot of D.C.

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"¡Tirarlo a la calle!": D.C.'s Latino Festival of 1971

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The Perils of Pandemic and War: Spanish Flu Brings D.C. to its Knees

08/15/2022

The Perils of Pandemic and War: Spanish Flu Brings D.C. to its Knees

Jousting Over Maryland's State Sport

05/20/2022

Jousting Over Maryland's State Sport

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Boundary Stones explores local history in Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland and northern Virginia. This project is a service of WETA and is supported by contributions from readers like you.

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