A ‘hidden’ passageway under the carpeted floorboards of the US Capitol was revealed by Congressman Tim Moore. Video by Congressman Tim Moore via Storyful
00:00So, this is one of the neat things about the U.S. Capitol. Of course, this building, you know, construction started in the 1700s, and there are all sorts of little hidden passageways. You saw I just pulled this cover up, and you can see if we get the camera to come over. Don't fall in. We don't need to work with the cop claim today.
00:21But you can see there's a passageway. These are long stairs that used to be here that were closed off. We're just off of what's called a statuary hall, which at one time was the actual house chamber, and it's outside there.
00:39But this is just an example of some of the little hidden secrets in the Capitol. And so, one of the things, whenever we bring tour groups in, if it's a small enough group, if it's a big group, if it's a small group, we'll actually take them down this hall.
00:51Believe it or not, my big self have actually gotten down, and more importantly, out of this hall. I'm not going to debut that again for today, but suffice to say, I've been able to live and tell about it and get out of there.
01:02But it goes all the way down. It's an old staircase, and I'm told, I can't verify this, I'm told that this staircase, which opens to, if you go down, it formally opens to the outside, was one of the staircases that British soldiers used when they breached the Capitol during the War of, I think it was 1814, when they actually attacked Washington.
01:19When they came in, it was one of the stairs that British soldiers actually came up. So, a lot of just amazing history in this building. And so, when folks come from North Carolina, we try to show things that if it's a small enough group, things are time right, and actually let folks go down there. The kids seem to love it. A lot older folks, not so much. But, yeah, it's just one of the neat things about the Capitol, as well as the other day-to-day things that folks see all the time. Thought I might share that with you.
