"Respective View of the Federal House," by Andrew Mayfield Carshore, ink and ink wash on paper, 1806

A competition was held to design the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Most entries into the competition were not particularly sophisticated or majestic, looking more like county courthouses than a grand national edifice. Carshore’s entry was unique in one regard: it was the only drawing submitted in the competition that attempted to show the proposed “Federal House” design in perspective.

Image ID# 1976.88.23, Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society