Old Supreme Court Chamber

The Old Supreme Court Chamber is the room on the ground floor of the North Wing of the United States Capitol. From 1800 to 1806, the room was the lower half of the first United States Senate chamber, and from 1810 to 1860, the courtroom for the Supreme Court of the United States. History and use Construction on the North Wing began in 1793 with the laying of the cornerstone by President George Washington. Although interior work was unfinished, the Senate relocated from its 1791 Philadelphia location, Congress Hall, in November 1800. The chamber interior, including an upper-level public gallery, was finally completed early in 1805, just before the start of the Samuel Chase impeachment trial. Its completion allowed the Federal government to move to Washington, D.C. The North Wing, as the only completed section of the Capitol, originally hosted both houses of the United States Congress, the Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court. In addition to the Chase trial, the chamber was the location of President Thomas Jefferson's inauguration in 1801. Division into two levels