The Wisconsin State Capitol Building is a historic government building located in Madison, Wisconsin. The current building, built in 1906-1917, is the fourth state capitol building that has housed the Wisconsin state government since its establishment in 1848. The building was designed by George B. Post in the Beaux Arts style and is clad in Bethel white granite sourced from Vermont. The building stands 284 feet tall to the top of the statue on the dome, which was sculpted in 1920 by Daniel Chester French, and features a greek cross footprint with four five-story wings aligned with the compass directions and radial streets following the compass directions that slice through the surrounding street grid.
The original Wisconsin State Capitol building was constructed in 1837 in a Greek Revival-style and looked much like older capitol buildings in the eastern United States, with doric columns and a rusticated fieldstone exterior. The second capitol building, built between 1857 and 1869, was a larger, Classical Revival-style structure with Romanesque Revival elements, featuring a dome inspired by the United Capitol Building, semi-circular porticoes with corinthian columns, and two short side wings with octagonal towers at the corners. The building was modified and extended in 1882 with new wings that increased the Classical Revival aspects of it and helped to downplay the Romanesque Revival elements. The building burned down in February of 1904, prompting the construction of the current Wisconsin State Capitol Building.
The exterior of the building’s wings feature porticoes on the ends with corinthian columns, arched windows on the third floor, rusticated bases with entrance doors and decorative keystones, decorative reliefs featuring festoons over the windows on the porticoes, cornices with modillions and dentils, and pediments with sculptural reliefs. The building underwent a major renovation in the 1970s that added modern features to the interior and covered up many original features, with later projects between 1988 and 2002 restoring the building while updating the building’s systems and functions for the modern needs of the state government.
The building is a significant attraction in the city of Madison, drawing visitors to its impressive architecture and historical significance. The Wisconsin State Capitol Building symbolizes the state’s rich history and plays a vital role in the functioning of modern-day Wisconsin.