The Wisconsin State Capitol Building is an iconic landmark located in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Built in the Beaux Arts style between 1906 and 1917, it replaced the previous state capitol, which burned down in February 1904. The current capitol houses both the Wisconsin State Assembly and the Wisconsin State Senate, as well as the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor of Wisconsin. It is the fourth state capitol to house the state government since the state’s establishment in 1848 and is the third building to sit on the present site.
The first capital of Wisconsin was in the village of Belmont, Wisconsin, with the first legislature meeting in a hastily constructed wood-frame building. The legislature later designated the future site of Madison as the state capitol, holding further sessions of the legislature in the much better-developed Mississippi River port town of Burlington (now in Iowa) until a capitol building could be completed in Madison. Upon Burlington becoming part of the new Iowa Territory, the state legislature moved to a log and stone building on the present site of the state capitol, a relatively humble Greek Revival-style building constructed in 1837. It was most similar to the Old State House in North Carolina and the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, though these two similar buildings were built almost entirely of stone blocks rather than fieldstone.
The original building was demolished and replaced with a larger, Classical Revival-style structure with Romanesque Revival elements constructed in stages between 1857 and 1869. This building was oriented with the semi-circular original porticoes aligned with State Street and King Street, with the wings being oriented towards both sections of Hamilton Street, though the building appeared rather small within the large parklike expanse of Capitol Square. 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 by that point, so study of a replacement capitol building began in 1903.
The capitol building burned down in February 1904, and the entire structure had to be replaced. The new capitol building was built on the site of the previous building, and construction was done one wing at a time to provide space to the state government with as much fiscal efficiency as possible due to financial limitations. The present building was the last work of George B. Post, who died before the building was completed.
The exterior of the building is clad in Bethel white granite, sourced from Vermont. An additional 42 types of stone, sourced from eight states and six countries, were utilized on the interior of the building. The dome is the largest in the world to be entirely clad in granite, and is the tallest building in Madison. It 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. This places the building at a unique 45-degree angle orientation relative to the edges of Capitol Square and most buildings on adjacent streets.
The building underwent a major renovation in the 1970s that added modern features to the interior and covered up many original features. Later projects between 1988 and 2002 restored the building while updating the building’s systems and functions for the modern needs of the state government. The exterior of the building’s wings features 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 created by several sculptors.
The center of the building is the rotunda, which is topped with a large dome that rises from a tall base. The dome was sculpted in 1920 by Daniel Chester French as a personification of the state of Wisconsin, with the outstretched arm of the statue representing the state motto, “Forward.”
The Wisconsin State Capitol Building is a significant landmark in Madison, Wisconsin, representing the state’s rich history and cultural heritage. As a functioning government building, it continues to serve as the seat of government for the state of Wisconsin.