Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court building stands behind sixteen massive Corinthian columns, carved from white Vermont marble. For nearly a century and a half, the justices heard cases in cramped rooms inside the Capitol, often tucked into the basement. Chief Justice William Howard Taft insisted on a separate home, arguing the court needed its own identity independent of Congress. He hired architect Cass Gilbert to design a temple of justice, though Taft died in nineteen thirty, five years before the building finally opened its doors.