Treasury Building

The Treasury Building is a government building in Northwest Washington DC. The long granite facade stretches along Pennsylvania Avenue and shows an Ionic colonnade with more than thirty massive columns.

Construction began in 1836 from a design by Robert Mills and replaced a building destroyed by fire. The work continued for over three decades and was only completed in 1869.

The building appears on the back of the ten-dollar note and represents American finance in everyday life. The colonnade once served as a public passageway between streets and showed how government opened itself to citizens walking through.

The entrance sits on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol. Visitors can view the colonnade from outside, but access inside requires advance clearance.

Five architects worked on the building one after another and each brought their own interpretation of the style. The materials come from different quarries across several states and show varying shades in the light.

Location: Washington, D.C.

Inception: 1836

Architects: Robert Mills, Ammi B. Young, Thomas Ustick Walter, Isaiah Rogers, Alfred B. Mullett, Alexander Hamilton Bowman

Architectural style: Neoclassical architecture, Renaissance Revival architecture, Greek Revival architecture

Made from material: brick, granite, cast iron, bronze

Part of: Financial Historic District

Address: 1500 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20220

GPS coordinates: 38.89750,-77.03430

Latest update: December 20, 2025 03:06