The Wisconsin State Capitol Building is a Beaux Arts-style structure that was built between 1906 and 1917 to house the Wisconsin State Government. It is the third building to be constructed on the site, replacing the previous state capitol building that burned down in 1904. The Wisconsin State Capitol Building accommodates the Wisconsin State Assembly, the Wisconsin State Senate, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the Office of the Governor of Wisconsin.
The first Wisconsin Capitol Building was located in the village of Belmont and was a hastily constructed wood-frame building that housed the legislature before the state government designated the future site of Madison as the state capitol. The second capitol building, constructed in 1837, was a relatively humble Greek Revival-style building that looked similar to older capitol buildings in the eastern United States, with doric columns and a rusticated fieldstone exterior.
The third Wisconsin Capitol Building was built in the Classical Revival-style, with Romanesque Revival elements. Its construction began in 1857 and was completed in stages until 1869, with additional wings added in 1882. However, by the turn of the 20th century, the old Capitol had become inadequate for the growing needs of Wisconsin, which had become wealthy, industrialized, and heavily populated.
In February 1904, the old State Capitol burned to the ground when a gas jet ignited a newly varnished ceiling inside the building. Most of the building was destroyed, with only the north wing surviving, and many relics, records, and important historical items were lost in the fire. The present building was built on the site of the previous building, with its construction process focusing on completing each wing one at a time to provide space to the state government with fiscal efficiency due to financial limitations.
The Wisconsin State Capitol Building is 284 feet tall and has a greek cross footprint with four five-story wings that are aligned with the compass directions and radial streets following the compass directions that slice through the surrounding street grid. The building is clad in Bethel white granite, sourced from Vermont, with an additional 42 types of stone from a total of eight states and six countries being utilized on the interior of the building. The dome is the largest in the world to be entirely clad in granite.
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, which were created by several sculptors and have different symbolism embodied by their design.
The Wisconsin State Capitol 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 an iconic landmark in Madison and is an important symbol of the Wisconsin State Government.