James Earl Fraser's statue of Alexander Hamilton, standing on the
south patio of the Department of Treasury Building, was commissioned in 1917 and dedicated on May 17, 1923. Frasier, who also designed the buffalo nickel for the Treasury, depicts Hamilton standing, holding a long dress coat in one hand and a three-cornered hat in the other. He is dressed in knee breeches, a hose, a fichu at the throat, ruffles at the wrist and low, buckled shoes. The 10-foot tall bronze sculpture, founded by Kunst Foundry rests atop architect Henry Bacon's 9-foot high Stoney Creek granite base.
The front of the base carries the following inscription:
Alexander Hamilton
1757-1804
First Secretary of the Treasury
Soldier, Orator, Statesman
Champion of Constitutional Union, Representative Government and National Integrity
The north side of the base adds:
He smote the rock of the national resources and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of the public credit and it sprang upon its feet.
Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), an American politician, leading statesman, financier, intellectual, military officer, and founder of the Federalist party, was sworn in as the first Secretary of the Treasury on September 11, 1789. As Secretary, he convinced Congress to use an elastic interpretation of the Constitution to pass far-reaching laws including the creation of a national debt, federal assumption of the state debts, and creation of a national bank all financed by a tariff on imports and a tax on whiskey.
The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department and the treasury of the United States government. It was established by an Act of U.S. Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government. The Department prints and mints all paper currency and coins in circulation through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint.
The United States Department of the Treasury Building, at 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, is the third oldest building in Washington, dating from 1836. Robert Mills was commissioned to design the T-shaped Greek Revival building after the two previous structures had burned down. The Department of Treasury, established by an Act of U.S. Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government, prints and mints all paper currency and coins in circulation through the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the
United States Mint.
National Register #71001007 (1971)
Fifteenth Street Historic District National Register #84003900 (2006)
Lafayette Square Historic District National Register #70000833 (1970)
