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Both Maryland and Virginia gave land for the new capital. The land was on the border of the North and the South. At that time, there were no western states! George Washington named the land the District of Columbia, in honor of Christopher Columbus.

John Adams, the second president of the United States, moved into a cold, damp White House in November 1800.

Washington, D.C., is one of the only cities in the world that was designed before it was built.

Next it was time to decide what kind of house to build for the president. Thomas Jefferson suggested having a contest. He advertised the contest in newspapers across the country. A committee picked a simple but elegant design by James Hoban, a young Irish American architect.

The first stone was laid on October 13, 1792. It took eight years

to finish enough of the house to make it livable.

Washington decided to put the Capitol Building on a hill at one end of the city, and the president's house on a hill at the other end.

The White House was the largest residential house in America!

Madison's wife, Dolley

War of 1812

would not leave the house until two men agreed to take down the famous portrait of George Washington.

the picture that Dolley saved is the only thing that has been in the White House since it first opened.

repainted white to cover the smoke marks. People began to call it the White House.