Get smart curated videos delivered to your inbox.   SUBSCRIBE
The Kid Should See This

The architectural history of the United States Capitol

Watch more with these video collections:

The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., is among the most architecturally impressive and symbolically important buildings in the world. It has housed the meeting chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives for almost two centuries.

“Since the laying of the cornerstone in 1793, the U.S. Capitol has been built, burnt, rebuilt, extended and restored; today, it stands as a monument not only to its builders but also to the American people and their government.”

first completed wing
Travel through time as each section of the U.S. Capitol is built. This 2010 history video from the Architect of the Capitol shares each setback and newly added structure, from “the first year of the second term of the Presidency of George Washington,” to what is now the home of America’s Legislative Branch and seat of the United States Congress.

dome construction
US Capitol from above
Watch more architecture and American history videos:
• The U.S. Capitol, a virtual field trip
The 1913 women’s suffrage march on Washington D.C.
• Shirley Chisholm, the First Black Congresswoman
• The Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side of Manhattan
• New York: A Documentary Film: The Chrysler Building
How zip codes helped organize America

This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.

Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.

🌈 Watch these videos next...

What is pebble dash or roughcast?

Rion Nakaya

Urban Gardeners in Washinton DC Grow Crops in Spare Spaces

Rion Nakaya

The U.S. Capitol, a virtual field trip

Rion Nakaya

The spectacular stone monuments of Petra, Jordan

Rion Nakaya

The Great Pyramid of Giza was bright white & highly polished

Rion Nakaya

The exceptional life of Benjamin Banneker

Rion Nakaya

The amazing secret architecture of Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Rion Nakaya

The 13th-century treadmill cranes at Guédelon Castle

Rion Nakaya

Students remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech

Rion Nakaya