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    HomeExplore the Capitol CampusBuildings & GroundsU.S. Capitol BuildingSenate Wing
Senate Chamber
        
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                                                U.S. Capitol Visitor CenterThe Basics
      
Location
    Center of the North wing, U.S. Capitol

Date Occupied
    1950

AOC Jurisdiction
    Capitol BuildingThe Senate Chamber is a rectangular, two-story room located in the center of the north wing of the U.S. Capitol.

The nation's 100 senators sit at individual desks arranged on a tiered semicircular platform facing a raised rostrum. A visitor's gallery overlooks the chamber on four sides.

The Senate met in a semicircular room of the U.S. Capitol's north wing from 1819 until this new chamber was ready in 1859. First used on January 4, 1859, the Senate chamber was designed by Thomas U. Walter, the architect of the Capitol extension. The chamber was built without windows to insulate senators from outside noise. Light was originally provided through a large skylight and ventilation came courtesy of steam-powered fans.
In 1949-1950, the chamber was reconstructed, the skylight removed and the walls redesigned. Pilasters made from red Levanto marble replaced the cast-iron originals; the wooden rostrum was replaced with a larger version in marble; and the iron and glass ceiling was taken out and a new stainless steel and plaster ceiling installed. The alteration were intended to improve the chamber's acoustics and ventilation while ridding it of its mid 19th-century decor, which was then out of fashion.
          
    
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    View of the area above a door frame.
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        Quotations and Inscriptions
        A list of some of the quotations and inscriptions found in the buildings on Capitol Hill.
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