For a few weeks in the spring of 1960, the Capitol dome turned red.
It was not paint, and it was not permanent. The dome was being refurbished, and the red was a rust-preservative coat, one of four the crews rolled on before the final color. A family passing through town between April 22 and 25 snapped it mid-process, and the shot resurfaced decades later online.
The Washington Post had described the job a few weeks earlier, on April 5, 1960.
A lone painter was suspended from the top of the Capitol dome yesterday in a bosun’s chair rig, giving what will be the final coat of paint in the dome’s refurbishing. Its color will be off-white, to conform with the rest of the Capitol. Right now, though, the dome shows four colors of the refurbishing process: an anti-rust dark tone, a red preservative, a beige primer, and the final, off-white coat.
The Architect of the Capitol documented the rest of the restoration. Here is another view of the work.
Source: Architect of the Capitol
Below is the caption from their Flickr feed.
In late 1959 through 1960, the Capitol Dome underwent a significant repair and restoration effort and at the end of 1959 the exterior of the Dome was surrounded by scaffold.
During the work, workmen using special pneumatic hammers removed paint from the iron, which was then sandblasted. Since bare iron rusts quickly it had to be treated with a red protective rust inhibiting coating within five hours of paint removal. Corroded and cracked metal was repaired or replaced where necessary, loose bolts were tightened, and missing bolts replaced. New bronze window frames were installed in the tholus and the interior bracing in the Statue of Freedom was reinforced. Repairs were made to the drainage system and flashing, and the Dome was completely inspected and repaired wherever extra strength was needed. The work also added lightning and bird protection.
This official Architect of the Capitol photograph is made available for educational, scholarly, news, or personal purposes. When used, the photographic credit line should read “Architect of the Capitol.”
The photo is reversed – look at the steering wheels of the cars!
Steering wheel on the right-hand side was standard practice early on. Though I think cars manufactured in the 1950s would’ve switch to left-hand side, there would’ve been stragglers on the road for some time.