marendesk

On September 18, 1793, George Washington crossed the Potomac and walked a mile and a half to a foundation trench. Grand Master Joseph Clark handed him a silver plaque by silversmith Caleb Bentley. Washington stepped into the trench, set the plaque, and the stone came down onto it.

Three Masters carried corn, wine, and oil. Washington struck the stone three times with a gavel. The Alexandria artillery fired fifteen guns, one per state, and the Masons ate a roasted 500-pound ox.

Then the building grew up over it. The British burned it in 1814. The wings were extended, the dome rose, and the cornerstone's exact location was lost.

In 1993 the Architect of the Capitol, George White, ran radar under the foundation and found a large stone that was “obviously a ceremonial stone,” probably the cornerstone. The plaque was never found; experts think the 1850 Senate work destroyed it.

The stone that marks the founding of the American government is one nobody can point to, under a building everyone can. The trowel is in a museum. The gavel is in a bank vault. The stone is somewhere under the floor. That is what a cornerstone does: it holds everything up and disappears.