Patent Office
The Patent Office and Post Office shared a building. Because these were government offices, they were targets of the British troops during their occupation of Washington. However, Dr. William Thronton, designer of the original Capitol and Superintendent of the Patent Office, met the British soldiers outside the office and apparently convinced them to leave this building intact.
Daily Federal Republican (Georgetown, DC) August 30, 1814: "The General Post-Office was spared on the representation of Dr. Thornton, that a part of the building was a museum of the arts, containing models of the patent machines, and the cause of general science would suffer by its conflagration."
William Thornton in the Daily National Intelligencer (September 7, 1814): " Major Waters, who was then on guard and waiting the command of Colonel Jones, informed me that the private property might be taken out, I told him that there was nothing but private property of any consequence, and that any public property to which he objected might be burnt in the street, provided the building might be preserved, which contained hundreds of models of the arts, and that it would be impossible to remove them, and to burn what would be useful to all mankind, would be as barbarous as formerly to burn the Alexandrian Library for which the Turks have been ever since condemned by all enlightened nations. The Major desired me to go again with him to Col. Jones, who was attending some of his men engaged in destroying Mr. Gale's types and printing apparatus. I went to the Avenue and was kindly received by the Colonel; they took their men away and promised to spare the building."