“This style was so early introduced into our country, both on the ground of economy and correct taste, as it exactly suited the character of our political institutions and pecuniary means.” 

~Robert Mills

In the eyes of many in early nineteenth century Washington, a deliberate national style would foster a national identity as well as project an image of order and sophistication to distinguished visitors from abroad. Many disagreed on what this image should be. Should the new architecture copy from the past, reinterpret the past, or even be created into something completely new?

For the new Treasury, the answer was found in the early stages of the popular movement in America between 1825 to 1855 towards all things Greek, also called the Greek Revival.

With its clear geometry and Doric portico, the First Baptist Church, 1818-1822, Charleston, designed by Robert Mills, demonstrates a move toward the Greek Revival. Historic American Buildings Survey.
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Many prominent and outspoken Americans considered that the new national style lay within an idealized image of the great republics of classical antiquity through architectural styles derived from ancient Rome and Greece. Following archaeological discoveries in Greece in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, a new interest in Grecian tradition and aesthetics in particular piqued American interest.

An illustrated pattern book, The beauties of modern architecture by Minard Lafever, published in 1839, provided architects with a template for Greek design. Lafever’s detail of a Greek Ionic capital, seen right, is similar to the Ionic capitol used by Mills for Treasury’s 15th Street colonnade. Library of Congress

To a young America, Greek architecture represented reason, order, and harmony through its meticulously calculated mathematical proportions and clarity of design. To Robert Mills, the rational and robust quality of the Greek Revival was the appropriate solution for the next generation of federal buildings in Washington, including the Treasury Building.

The Greek Ionic Capital, distinctive in its dip between two scrolled volutes, crowns the thirty columns along Treasury’s East facade, adding formality to the exterior in contrast to the simpler interior column capitals in the Doric style.

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The Treasury’s powerful austerity derived from a Greek architectural vocabulary was Mills’ unique interpretation of the Greek Revival. Its distinctive aesthetic set the standard for the architecture of government buildings to follow, continuing with the American proclivity toward the Greek Revival that exceeded well into the twentieth century. The landscape of government buildings in Washington today resonates the continuing influence of the Greek Revival and the classical ideals of a nation seeking to assert its newfound status in the world.

East façade of the Treasury Building, 1850.

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