Demon Cat legend at the U.S. Capitol

A longstanding piece of Capitol folklore describes a phantom feline-commonly called the 'Demon Cat'-said to appear, grow to enormous size, or vanish in the U.S. Capitol, often in anecdotal accounts predating major national events. Stories about the Demon Cat appear in newspaper reports, oral histories, and guidebook lore from the 19th and 20th centuries. The phenomenon is treated as folklore and anecdote rather than a documented physical event, and accounts are debated among historians and staff.