The Wisconsin State Capitol building is a Beaux Arts-style structure built between 1906 and 1917 by architect George B. Post on the site of a previous capitol, which burned down in February of 1904. The building stands 284 feet tall with a Greek cross footprint and is one of the tallest buildings in Madison. The building houses the Wisconsin State Assembly, the Wisconsin State Senate, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the Office of the Governor of Wisconsin. The exterior of the building is clad in Bethel white granite, with an additional 42 types of stone from a total of eight states and six countries used on the interior.
The building is the third to sit on the present site and the fourth to house the state government since the state’s establishment in 1848. The first capitol was in the village of Belmont, and the legislature met in a hastily constructed wood-frame building before choosing Madison as the state capitol. The original capitol building was a humble Greek Revival-style building constructed in 1837, which was replaced with a larger Classical Revival-style structure with Romanesque Revival elements in 1857-1869, which was modified and extended in 1882.
The building has four wings, aligned with the compass directions and radial streets following the compass directions that slice through the surrounding street grid, which is at a 45-degree angle to compass directions, instead of roughly paralleling the shorelines of nearby Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. The building is at a unique 45-degree angle orientation relative to the edges of Capitol Square and most buildings on adjacent streets.
The exterior of the building features porticoes with corinthian columns, arched windows, rusticated bases, decorative reliefs featuring festoons over the windows on the porticoes, cornices with modillions and dentils, and pediments with sculptural reliefs that have different symbolism. The building underwent a major renovation in the 1970s and later projects between 1988 and 2002 restored the building while updating its systems and functions.
In the center of the building is the rotunda, which is topped with a large dome sculpted by Daniel Chester French in 1920, depicting a personification of the state of Wisconsin with the outstretched arm of the statue representing the state motto, “Forward”. The dome is the largest in the world to be entirely clad in granite and is the tallest building in Madison.
The building’s east wing houses the Wisconsin Supreme Court and has a sculpture known as Law, created by Karl Bitter, on the portico pediment. The west wing houses the chamber of the Wisconsin Assembly and has a sculpture known as Agriculture, also created by Karl Bitter. The north wing, which is home to a hearing chamber, is adorned with the sculpture known as Virtues and Traits of Character, created by Adolph Alexander Weinman, while the south wing, housing the chamber of the Wisconsin Senate, has a sculpture known as Wisdom and Learning of the World, created by Attilio Piccirilli.
Overall, the Wisconsin State Capitol building is an iconic and historic structure that has been central to the governance of the state throughout its history. Its design and construction reflect the changing needs and aspirations of the state and its people over time, and it remains a symbol of Wisconsin’s proud heritage and bright future.