The east wing, designed by architect Robert Mills was completed in 1844. Complications in design and congressional approval delayed construction of the south wing until 1.
This historic view of the southeast corner of the Treasury building looking north up 15th street merged a design by Thomas U. Walter (architect of the U.S. Capitol building) with the Greek Revival style of the east wing.
A legend holds that Andrew Jackson selected the site of the southeast corner of the building to block the view of the White House from the U.S. Capitol at the opposite end of Pennsylvania Avenue see in the distance in this photograph.
An enduring legend of the Treasury building is that a frustrated President Andrew Jackson thrust a shovel into the ground, demanding the South Wing be built at a location that blocks the view of the White House from the Capitol.
The southeast corner of the Treasury building appears in a lot of historic prints and photographs of parades that were held in Washington, DC many of which turned the corner from 15th Street onto Pennsylvania Avenue.