Building and Grounds 255 



ume entitled " Hints on Public Architecture," which was pre- 

 pared by Doctor Owen, with the assistance of Mr. Renwick, 

 and was one of the earliest publications of the Institution. 



The actual location of the building was determined March 

 20, 1847, by a resolution of the committee that it should be 

 placed "upon the center of the lot, or site, of the said Institu- 

 tion, from north to south, and upon the center of Tenth Street." 



On May i, 1847, the corner-stone of the building was laid 

 with imposing ceremonies. The event was made the occasion 

 of a public holiday. A procession was formed at City Hall, 

 under the direction of William Beverly Randolph, Marshal-in- 

 Chief. The procession, which was more than a mile in length, 

 was composed of the militia of the District of Columbia, the 

 various local Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons, together 

 with delegations of Masons from Baltimore, the District of 

 Columbia, and Alexandria, and marched to the music of three 

 military bands. The column moved along F Street to the 

 Executive Mansion, where the President and his cabinet, the 

 heads of Departments and the Diplomatic Corps were re- 

 ceived in line. It then proceeded by the way of Pennsylvania 

 Avenue and Twelfth Street to the site of the building. A 

 platform was erected on the south side of the site, and to this 

 the high officials, the Regents of the Institution, the Mayor 

 and Corporation of Washington, and other guests were es- 

 corted. The Masonic bodies then passed up to the corner- 

 stone, which was laid by the Grand Master of the District of 

 Columbia, Mr. Benjamin B. French, accompanied by Colonel 

 James Page and Mr. Charles Oilman, Grand Masters of 

 Pennsylvania and Maryland. Mr. French held in his hand 

 the gavel used by President Washington in laying the corner- 

 stone of the Capitol of the United States, and wore the Ma- 

 is not included in the first five reports of the nals of the Board of Regents, Reports of 

 Institution, issued in 1852, and but few copies Committee," etc., by William J. Rhees, Wash, 

 are in existence. It is reprinted in 1; Journ- ington, 1879, pages 597-695. 



