photo #8921926

The gutted interior of the White House May 1950 ... By 1948, the White House was literally falling apart. Floors sagged. Plaster cracked. A leg of Margaret Trumans piano once punched straight through the floor of the Second Floor sitting room. Decades of ad hoc additions heavier furniture wiring plumbing and steel safe installations had overloaded a mansion whose core structure dated to the 1790s. Engineers determined the house was in danger of collapse. President Harry Truman chose a radical solution. They saved the exterior walls but removed everything inside. The building was gutted down to its shell. What you see in this photo is not a new factory or warehouse. This was the White House completely hollow with construction crews working inside it like a cathedral ruin. A new internal steel frame modern utilities new floors and reinforced foundations were installed. Truman lived across the street in Blair House while the project went on. The new White House reopened in 1952. George Washington never actually lived in the White House. He chose the site and approved the design but died before it was completed. © Vintage American Photos #archaeohistories