The Wisconsin State Capitol Building was built between 1906 and 1917, after the previous Capitol Building burned down in 1904. Designed by George B. Post in the Beaux Arts style, the new Capitol Building was built on the same site as the previous structure in Madison, Wisconsin. It replaced the previous state capitol, built in 1857-1869 and expanded in 1882, which was inadequate for the growing population and government by the 1850s.
The Wisconsin State Capitol Building 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 built in the shape of a Greek cross with four five-story wings aligned with 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’s exterior 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, and is the tallest building in Madison. A state law passed in 1990 stipulates that any building within a one-mile radius of the capitol is limited in height to the base of the columns of the dome, which stand at 187 feet, preserving the visibility of the building from the surrounding landscape.
The building underwent a major renovation in the 1970s that covered up many original features, with later projects between 1988 and 2002 restoring the building while updating its 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. Different sculptures have been created by various artists, including Karl Bitter, Adolph Alexander Weinman, and Attilio Piccirilli, and have different meanings embodied by their design.
In 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 and is a personification of the state of Wisconsin, with the outstretched arm of the statue representing the state motto, “Forward.” The Capitol Building is one of the last works of the prolific architect George B. Post, who died before the building was completed.