The standing Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds was established in 1837, replacing the Select Committee on Public Buildings which had been created in 1819. During the early years of the committee, much of the legislation reported had to do with constructing and improving public buildings in Washington, DC, and commissioning artists to create art work for those buildings. Bill Files 41 ft. 51 ft. and 52 vols. The minute books contain information on appointments made to the committee and its subcommittees, meeting times, attendance at meetings, legislation and amendments considered, yea-nay votes, committee resolutions, and reports of subcommittees.
Alphabetical indexes are by topic and by the name of the city where a project was to be located.
Both scheduled and special meetings are documented. Special meetings were sometimes called to hear requests from individuals or groups outside the Washington area. The docket books generally list in numerical order the petitions, memorials, bills, resolutions, and other documents referred to the committee, although entries for a few Congresses are arranged by State. Some docket volumes have entries which report committee activities, record committee votes, and identify members who spoke in favor of certain bills. The amount of detail varies greatly from one docket book to another.