Once upon a time, braves of the Algonquin nation met at the foot of a hill, not far from the banks of the mighty Potomac River, in order to hold their councils. Today, another nation holds its councils on this very spot. Their leaders erected an extraordinary building on the top of that hill, which has become a symbol of the most powerful nation on earth.

The building on the top of that hill is the United States Capitol. This magnificent monument was designed by a man who was born on a remote island, educated as a doctor, lacked formal training as an architect, and may be best known (at least in the Virgin Islands) for lending his name to a popular floating bar and restaurant anchored in The Bight at Norman Island. His name was William Thornton and he was born in 1759 in Great Harbour on Jost Van Dyke.

The events leading up to this unlikely connection tell an amazing tale.

After the successful American Revolution in 1776, the first congresses of the new nation were inconveniently convened in eight different cities: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton, and New York City.

In 1787, the U.S. Constitution provided for a permanent capital to be established, a federal district unto itself, part of no state, where the functions of the emerging government would be centralized in one location. The new capital, the District of Columbia, was to be named Washington, D.C., in honor of the country’s first president.

Formal procedures were established and qualified men were appointed to make the many decisions that this far-reaching project would require. In actuality, the inevitable atmosphere of chaos allowed hidden dramas, under-the-table deals, secret personal connections and international political alliances to determine who would be in charge of what.

George Washington wanted to appoint the idiosyncratic French engineer, Pierre Charles L’Enfant, as the chief city planner. L’Enfant was not well liked and had several powerful enemies, including John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It was only under intense pressure from President Washington himself that a reluctant Congress approved L’Enfant’s appointment.

L’Enfant’s vision of the capital city was inspired by the graceful and classic beauty epitomized by the Palace and Gardens at Versailles in his native Paris. The streets and avenues would be laid out on a geometric grid, which would be overlaid by diagonals.

The hill chosen as the site for the District’s predominant building, the Capitol, was described by L’Enfant as “a pedestal waiting for a monument.”

The most enormous of L’Enfant’s many tasks was to plan, design and supervise the construction of the U.S. Capitol building. The French engineer, however, proved to be extremely difficult to work with. He refused to recognize the authority of the commissioners, who were ultimately responsible for the project and who were, in effect, his bosses.

In addition, he continued to irritate other influential people. For example, parallel avenues running north-south were to be named after states; east-west streets were to be named after letters of the alphabet – that is, A Street, B Street, C Street, etc. The systematic progression of lettered streets was interrupted, however, with the omission of J Street. The childish L’Enfant did not want his enemy, John Jay, to be so honored.

When L’Enfant personally and without authorization tore up the porch of a rich landowner because it obstructed the path of the proposed New Jersey Avenue, the commissioners called the Frenchman in for a showdown. In that meeting, L’Enfant was asked to produce the design for the Capitol building. The engineer’s response was that it was unnecessary to have a written plan, because he carried the design “in his head.”

That was it for L’Enfant. He was fired. His city-planning duties were taken over by his assistant, Andrew Ellicot, who was more sympathetic to the compromises that were, from time to time, demanded by established private landholdings.

George Washington and the commissioners, however, now needed to find a new architect to produce a plan and construct a Capitol building worthy of their great vision.

In order to find a suitable candidate for the job, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson arranged for a competition in which a prize of $500 and a city lot would be awarded to the architect who produced the best plan by the middle of July.

An advertisement was placed in newspapers throughout the new nation. The contest was well underway by the time word of it reached an interested party on the faraway island of Tortola in the Virgin Islands: Dr. William Thornton.

Thornton, who was born in 1759 in Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke, received his early education in England and later studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. At the time of the contest, he was a practicing physician on Tortola. The young doctor was also a brilliant amateur architect, having previously won a competition for the design of a new building for the Philadelphia Library.

Thornton was intrigued with the idea of designing the Capitol and immediately wrote a letter asking permission to enter the contest, even though he knew his entry would arrive late.

By the time Thornton’s drawings reached the temporary Capitol in Philadelphia, the contest was indeed closed. Undaunted, he made an appointment to see George Washington, determined to show him the work.

It turned out that Washington was not satisfied with any of the designs that had been presented in the competition, and when he saw Thornton’s plans, he was extremely pleased. Washington then sent Thornton to submit his plans to the commissioners who were in charge of the project, along with a letter urging them to reconsider the contest deadline.

In the letter, Washington also praised Thornton’s work, writing, “Grandeur, Simplicity and Convenience appear to be well combined in the plan of Dr. William Thornton.” Thomas Jefferson, who was also a notable architect, characterized the design as “simple, noble, beautiful and excellently arranged.”

According to Thornton’s plan, the building would be comprised of three segments. The central portion, covered by a dome, would be flanked by two symmetrical rectangular wings, which would house the Senate and House of Representatives.

The commissioners agreed with Washington and Jefferson. They pronounced the young doctor from Jost Van Dyke to be the winner of the contest, and the Capitol was erected, substantially along the lines of his blueprints.

When the actual construction began, Thornton moved to the emerging District of Columbia. He became a friend of George Washington and was appointed one of the three commissioners who were responsible for building the city. Later, Thornton was selected as the first Commissioner of Patents, a post he occupied until his death in 1828.