Born in 1804 in Philadelphia, Walter was the son of mason and bricklayer Joseph S. Walter and his wife Deborah. His grandfather, Frederick Jacob Walter emigrated from Germany in 1749 and arrived as an orp… 展开

• Spruce Street Baptist Church, 418 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1829)
• Portico Row, 900–930 Spruce St., Philadelphia (1831–32)
• Moyamensing Prison, Philadelphia (1832–35) … 展开

The most famous of Walter's constructions is the dome of the U.S. Capitol. By 1850, the rapid expansion of the United States, and thus the U.S. Congress, had caused a space shortage in the Capitol. Walter was selected to desig… 展开

For their architectural accomplishments, both Walter and Benjamin Latrobe are honored in a ceiling mosaic in the East Mosaic Corridor at the entrance to the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress.
Walter's grandso… 展开

• Old Patent Office Building
• 1877 U. S. Patent Office fire 展开