Last month in Washington, DC I made an expedition to Rock Creek Park to search out a little-known architectural graveyard — a stockpile of masonry taken from the U.S. Capitol.
With a custom map from a friend I made my way along a trail through the woods, spotting black squirrels and bounding deer along the way. Looking up a slight incline to one side of the trail you see a few blocks piled up.
As you walk closer to inspect, you come into a maze of slabs, some with intricate carvings, some stacked, some strewn.
When I entered the stoneyard I couldn't help but say out loud to myself: "amaaaazing." I had definitely entered someplace significant.
The stones came from the actual U.S. Capitol, and have been in this forest since 1959.
"According to Eva Malecki, spokesperson for the Architect of the Capitol, they were part of what was torn down during a renovation that started in 1958 and ended in 1962. The pieces, mostly sandstone and some marble from the east front façade, likely originate from the rebuilding that occurred after the Capitol was nearly burned down in the War of 1812. Instead of reusing the pieces, they were placed in this part of Rock Creek Park per an agreement with then-Architect of the Capitol J. George Stewart and the National Park Service...."
It's an amazing and moving scene of beauty amidst decay: intricately and painstakingly handcarved and handshaped stones, stacked randomly in a forest and left to be overgrown with weeds and fallen tree limbs. I found a couple stones that had been leaning against trees for 50 years, and the trees had grown around them. It's like exploring archaeolgical ruins of a forgotten civilization.
What's amazing is these pieces of stonework are so accessible — actual chunks from one of the most important buildings in the world — out in the open, unguarded, for anybody to see. They can be touched and admired, even climbed on. (Just try that at the Lincoln Memorial.) The stones are stacked haphazardly; even if you climb carefully they shift dangerously under you. You get an instant understanding that the building that represents the foundational law of the entire nation is crafted of a likewise solid craftsmanship.
What a great visit — I stayed until dark and the fireflies came out. Having the forest to myself surrounded by these slabs of history was a little surreal and definitely reverential.
