The Bathtubs or the Boiler Room

Tucked away in a basement mechanical room are two surviving marble bathtubs from a much more elaborate era of congressional life. Installed around 1860, the tubs were carved from Carrara marble in Italy and once belonged to a bathing room built for senators at a time when indoor plumbing was still uncommon. Today, surrounded by HVAC equipment, servers, and painted-over tile, the old baths feel almost absurdly out of place. But the bathtubs of the (2:28) United States Capitol are also a strange reminder of how ideas about government, luxury, preservation, and public space have changed over time.

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