U.S. Capitol Crypt and the unfulfilled plan to inter Washington

The U.S. Capitol includes a sub-rotunda area known as the Crypt that was originally prepared as a potential tomb for George Washington and was associated with the cornerstone ceremony of 1793. Washington’s will and other contemporary decisions led to his burial at Mount Vernon, so the Capitol tomb plan was never executed. The architectural features of the Crypt and the historical decision not to inter Washington there are documented in Capitol histories and congressional records.