John Adams Building

About

The John Adams Building is the second-oldest of the buildings of the Library of Congress of the United States. Built in the 1930s, it is named for John Adams, the second president, who signed the law creating the Library of Congress in 1800. The building is in the Capitol Hill district of Washington D.C. next to the library's main building (now known as the Thomas Jefferson Building) in the Capitol Complex. The Adams building opened to the public on April 5, 1939, and before being named for the president in 1980, was simply called The Annex building. It is designed in a restrained but very detailed Art Deco style and faced in white Georgia marble. It is located on Second Street SE between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street in Washington, DC.