The first building of the Treasury Department situated at this location east of the White House was a small wooden structure, called the State and Treasury Departments Building. It was built at the time the seat of government was established in the District of Columbia in 1800 and comprised 30 rooms. This original building was burned by the British during the invasion of Washington in 1814. A second building was erected. This was destroyed by fire in 1833. In 1836 Congress authorized the erection of “a fireproof building of such dimensions as may be required for the present and future accommodations.” Also the material for the building was to be similar to that used for the Capitol and the White House. The architect was Mr. Robert Mills, who at the same time was designing the Patent Office Building and later won the competition for the design of the Washington Monument. When it came to the question of location of the new building, it is said that President Andrew Jackson, becoming impatient at the delay, said “Here, right here, is where I want the corner stone laid.” Thus the building stands where it is to-day. In 1839 the department was installed in the unfinished building. The Treasury Building consists of a 4-story rectangle around a large central court; this court is divided by a corridor of offices. On the west the building faces the beautiful White House Grounds, its north side is on Pennsylvania Avenue, its east front runs along Fifteenth Street, and its south side overlooks a half-mile stretch of park leading down to the Potomac River. The building completed in 1842 included only the middle portion of the present east wing and the central corridor and offices. The south wing was completed in 1861, the west wing in 1864, and the north wing in 1869. It is an imposing granite structure. In design it is pure Grecian, furnishing what is claimed to be one of the finest examples of this style of architecture in Washington, if not in the entire country. There are great pediments on the north, south, and west sides. Monolithic columns of the Ionic order adorning the façades are the distinguishing feature of the building architecturally. There are 72 of these columns, each 36 feet in height, 30 being set to form an unbroken colonnade 341 feet long on the east front. Most of the granite used was brought to Washington in sailing vessels from Maine. The building has 488 rooms and cost over $6,000,000. The department long ago outgrew the building. The personnel in Washington now numbers more than 22,000, with some 26 main bureaus and divisions. At present Department of the Treasury bureaus occupy, in addition to the main building, 9 entire buildings and part of 6 other buildings owned by the Government and 5 rented quarters. The Treasury Annex is an imposing building, designed by Cass Gilbert, across Pennsylvania Avenue on the north. Congress has authorized its extension to H Street.