On his return, two years later, he opened a studio in Baltimore, where he executed numerous busts, a fountain-figure for the main U.S. Post Office in Washington, DC; and two bronze figures, Backwoodsman and Indian, flanking the clock in the House of Representatives Chamber of the U.S. Capitol.

In 1858 he settled in Rome where he would live the rest of his life, except for trips back to the United States in 1866 and 1872.

[citation needed] Rinehart's burial was funded by his friends William Thompson Walters and Benjamin Franklin Newcomer and he was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.

American patrons often traveled to Italy to meet Rinehart and plan projects for their estates back in America.

William Henry Rinehart left his estate in trust for the teaching of sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art.