U.S. Department of the Interior

City: Washington

State: District of Columbia

The U. S. Congress created the Department of the Interior on March 3, 1849 in An Act to Establish the Home Department, and to Provide for the Treasury Department an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and a Commissioner of the Customs. Occasionally referred to as the Home Department, it is headed by the secretary of the interior. Its responsibilities are loosely defined as all those pertaining to the interior welfare of the nation.

"An Act to Establish the Home Department, and to Provide for the Treasury Department an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and a Commissioner of the Customs," 3 March 1849, Statutes at Large of the United States 9 (1862):395-97.