To the north and south of The Capitol and Capitol Hill, are the House and Senate office buildings that provide business and work space for legislators and their staff.
These buildings were first brought about by the turn of the 21st century when congress began to run out of office space to work. In response to this dilemma they started building clusters of buildings around Capitol Hill to accommodate these needs. This today is the House and Senate Office Buildings. The House buildings are located to the north, on Independence Avenue, and the Senate Buildings are located to the south, along Constitution Avenue.
One of the three buildings to the south, The Russell building, built 1903-1908, is the oldest of the Senate buildings and has been the site of many historic events. In 1954, the Army-McCarthy investigation, in 1973 the Watergate hearings, in 1987 the Iran Contra hearings, and in 1991 the Judge Clarence Thomas Confirmation hearings took place.
These buildings took the place of boarding houses and taverns that housed members of Congress. One of these homes that had previously inhabited the land included the very famous Mrs. Conrads House, the home where Thomas Jefferson stayed in 1800-1801 while he served as vice president under John Adams. Since then, this house has been torn down to make room for the Longworth office building.
