‘The Peoples’ Temple’

     

One of Allyn Cox’s interpretations of the cornerstone laying ceremony of the U.S. Capitol. It is found inside the George Washington Memorial Banquet Hall in the House of the Temple Cox is best known for his murals inside the House wing of the Capitol.

On this date in 1793, Bro. George Washington led the Masonic ceremony in laying the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol. Believe it or not, the building as it stands now, was not completed until 1993, when restorations of the west front and renovations of courtyards were completed.

In a letter to Bro. Benjamin Latrobe, a key architect of the Capitol, in 1812, Thomas Jefferson calls the Capitol the “first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people.” It truly is a monument to human progress through individual liberty.