The Beaux Arts-style Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin, was built between 1906-1917 by architect George B. Post to house the state house of representatives, the state senate, and the offices of the Wisconsin State Government. It was the fourth state capitol to house the state government since Wisconsin’s establishment in 1848, and it replaced the previous state capitol which had burned down in February of 1904. The building stands 284 feet tall and has a Greek cross footprint with four, five-story wings aligned with the compass directions.
The exterior of the building, made up of Bethel white granite, features porticos with Corinthian columns, arched windows, and rusticated bases with entrance doors and decorative keystones. Various sculptures were used to decorate the exterior of the state capitol, including Law, Agriculture, Virtues and Traits of Character, and Wisdom and Learning of the World. The dome on the top of the building is the largest in the world to be entirely clad in granite, and is the tallest building in Madison. The building was one of the last works of the prolific architect George B. Post, who died before it was completed.
The capitol building underwent a major renovation in the 1970s that added modern features to the interior and covered up many original features. Further projects between 1988 and 2002 worked to restore the building while updating its systems and functions for the modern needs of the state government.
The first capitol of Wisconsin was established in the village of Belmont, and the legislature met in a hastily constructed wood-frame building. Later, the site of Madison was designated as the state capitol, and the legislature held sessions in the Mississippi River port town of Burlington (now in Iowa) until a capitol building could be completed in Madison. The present capitol building sits on the site of the previous state capitol, which had become inadequate for the growing needs of Wisconsin, and had burned down in 1904.