The Demon Cat of the Capitol
The Demon Cat (also referred to as D.C.) is a giant ghostly cat purported to haunt the government buildings in Washington, D.C. It primarily haunts two national landmarks: the White House and the United States Capitol.
While this mythical creature is more unknown, its story dates back to the mid-1800’s when cats were brought into the US Capitol building to control the rat and mouse population. Legend states that the Demon Cat is one of these cats who never left, even after it died. Reports state it has made its home in the basement crypt of the building, which was originally intended as a burial chamber for George Washington.
While this cat never does much in way of physical damage, the Demon Cat has caused quite a scare among witnesses. According to legend, the cat is seen before elections or tragedies in Washington, D.C.
Security guards report seeing the creature before the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. It was also purportedly seen before the stock market crash in 1929. It is typically described as a black cat or dark tabby and the size of an average house cat. However, witnesses have reported the cat swelling to size of a tiger when alerted. The cat would then pound at the witness, disappearing before catching its victim.
In the 1890’s, the cat was said to have vanished after security fired at it and another guard supposedly died of a heart attack after seeing it.
So what inspired this monstrous creature?
Like many ghost stories, this has been an interesting tale to track back to the beginning. The presence of cats in the Capitol Building was common as they were brought in to be mousers. However, according to the head of the US Capitol Historical Society, the Capitol Police force was notorious for hiring unqualified relatives and friends of Congressmen. These men would see this job as easy and would frequently come to work intoxicated.
The idea of the Demon Cat may have started from one of these drunken security guards seeing the shadow of one of these building cats or was lying down and licked by one of the cats and mistook it as a giant cat. Upon reporting the incident, the man was sent home to recover. Later the other guards found out they could get the day off if reporting this cat, perpetuating the story.
An explanation for why the Demon Cat eventually made its way to Pennsylvania Avenue is the influence of Tige, a wandering cat owned by President Calvin Coolidge. Tige lived at the White House, but liked to visit the other federal buildings and disappeared for days at a time. During these disappearances, it was reported widely in the news. This wanderlust may have contributed to the belief that the Demon Cat occasionally switched locations.
The legend of the Demon Cat has benefited from the oral tradition of ghost stories, which date back to Shakespearean Renaissance England. Even as the robust oral tradition of the ghost story waned in the early 1800s, due to increased human mobility and urbanization, the practice of sharing ghost stories by word of mouth persists today, leading to the continued tales of Demon Cat.
Sources:
Blakemore, E. (2022, November 23). The legend of the “demon cat” that roams the U.S. capitol. History. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/demon-cat-legend-us-capitol-building-washington-dc
Shogan, C. (2021, September 29). Demon cat. WHHA (en-US). https://www.whitehousehistory.org/demon-cat
Tangalakis-Lippert, K. (n.d.). An elephant-sized demon cat is said to appear at the US Capitol before National Emergencies, according to reports as far back as 1862. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/demon-cat-appears-at-us-capitol-before-national-emergencies-2022-10
