The Wisconsin State Capitol, located in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, houses both chambers of the

Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republ ...

along with the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

and the Office of the Governor. Completed in 1917, the building is the fifth to serve as the Wisconsin capitol since the first territorial legislature convened in 1836 and the third building since Wisconsin was granted statehood in 1848. The Wisconsin State Capitol is the tallest building in Madison, a distinction that has been preserved by legislation that prohibits buildings taller than the columns surrounding the dome. The Capitol is located at the southwestern end of the

Madison Isthmus The Madison Isthmus is where the downtown and near east portion of Madison, Wisconsin is situated, between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. It is located between Madison's northeast side to the east and the University of Wisconsin campus to the we ...

in downtown Madison, bordered by streets that make up the Capitol Square.

History

The first capitol was a prefabricated wood-frame council house without heat or water that had been sent hastily to Belmont. Legislators met there for 42 days after Belmont was designated the capital of Wisconsin Territory. The session chose Madison as the site of the capitol, and

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000 United States Census, 2000. Burlington ...

, as the site of further legislative sessions until Madison could be ready. The council house and an associated lodging house still stand and are operated by the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

as the First Capitol Historic Site. The second capitol was constructed in 1837 in Madison of stone cut from Maple Bluff and oak cut locally. Located on the site of the present capitol, it was a small but typical frontier capitol that cost $60,000 to build . Growing government needs forced the state to construct a new capitol on the same site. This structure, with a similar U.S. Capitol-inspired dome, was designed by Madison architects August Kutzbock and Samuel Hunter Donnell and built between 1857 and 1869. During 1882, it was expanded at a cost of $900,000, with two wings to the north and south. In 1903, however, a commission began researching replacement of the structure. On the night of February 26, 1904, a gas jet ignited a newly varnished ceiling in the third capitol building. Although the building had an advanced fire-fighting system, the nearby

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

's reservoir, which supplied the capitol, was empty, allowing the fire to spread substantially before the switch to alternative city water supplies could be made. Madison firefighters could not handle the blaze on their own, so additional men and equipment had to be brought from

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. The effectiveness of the reinforcements was initially hampered by very cold temperatures; by the time they reached Madison, their equipment had frozen and needed to be thawed. As a result, the entire structure, except the north wing, burned to the ground. Numerous records, books, and historical artifacts were lost, including the mount of

Old Abe Old Abe (May 27, 1861 – March 26, 1881) was a bald eagle who was the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War. Later, his image was adopted as the eagle appearing on a globe in Case Corporation's ...

, a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

mascot. However, through the efforts of university students, much of the state law library was saved. The fire occurred just after the state legislature had voted to cancel the capitol's fire insurance policy.

Construction and design

Construction of the present capitol, the fourth building and the third in Madison, began in late 1906 and was completed in 1917 at a cost of $7.25 million. The architect was

George B. Post George Browne Post (December15, 1837November28, 1913) was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition. Active from 1869 almost until his death, he was recognized as a master of several contemporary American architectural genres, an ...

& Sons from New York. He made the Capitol look the same on every side so that none of the businesses on the Square felt like they were on the back side. Because of financial limitations and the need for immediate office space to house state government employees, the construction of the new building was extended over several years and emphasized building one wing at a time. The Capitol is tall from the ground floor to the top of the ''Wisconsin'' statue on the dome. The ''Wisconsin'' statue on the dome was sculpted in 1920 by

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...

of New York. Its left hand holds a globe surmounted by an eagle and her right arm is outstretched to symbolize the state motto, "Forward". It wears a helmet with the state animal, the badger, on top. It is made of hollow bronze covered with gold leaf. ''Wisconsin'' is 15 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs three tons. The statue is commonly misidentified as ''Lady Forward'' or ''Miss Forward'', which is the name of another statue on the capitol grounds. The capitol ceiling, visible from the center of the building, features ''Resources of Wisconsin'', a mural by

Edwin Howland Blashfield Edwin Howland Blashfield (December 5, 1848October 12, 1936) was an American painter and muralist, most known for painting the murals on the dome of the Library of Congress Main Reading Room in Washington, DC. Biography Blashfield was born i ...

. Due to the domed shape of the ceiling, the mural was painted in pieces and was assembled similarly to a

jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaicked pieces. Typically each piece has a portion of a picture, which is comple ...

. It features a woman sitting on a throne of clouds, representing Wisconsin. Wisconsin is surrounded by other women, wrapped in a large American Flag, who are reaching for goods such as tobacco, lead, and fruits. The capitol was constructed of 43 types of stone from six countries and eight states. The exterior stone is Bethel white granite from Vermont, making the exterior dome the largest granite dome in the world. The corridor floors, walls and columns are of marble from the states of Tennessee, Missouri, Vermont, Georgia, New York, and Maryland; granite from the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota; and limestone from the states of Minnesota and Illinois. Marble from the countries of France, Italy, Greece, Algeria and Germany, and

syenite Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations (< 5%). It is considered a National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 2001. A 1990 state law prevents any building within one mile of the capitol from being taller than the base of the columns surrounding and supporting its dome.

Restoration

From 1988 to 2002, the capitol underwent a renovation and restoration project costing $158.8 million. The project was performed wing by wing, the same as the original construction of the capitol. The purpose of the project was to convert the capitol into a modern working building, while restoring and preserving its original 1917 appearance. Remodeling projects of the 1960s and 70s had introduced features out of character with the architecture of the building, such as dropped ceilings, movable partitions and fluorescent light fixtures, and many original decorative stencils were painted over. The restoration project returned public spaces to their original appearance. Original decorative stencils were repaired. Stairs, which had been sealed during the 1970s, were uncovered. The exterior granite was cleaned and repaired by workers who rappelled down from the dome. The renovation plan also included integrating modern technology into the original architecture. Electrical, mechanical (such as plumbing and heating), and communications systems were upgraded; asbestos was removed, and air conditioning was added. The capitol basement floor was lowered two feet to provide additional usable office space. Legislative offices were rebuilt as two-room suites (originally legislators did not have offices in the capitol, only their desks in the Senate and Assembly chambers). Modern office furniture was designed to look like the original oak furniture.

Sculpture program

Architect Post planned an elaborate sculpture program for the building. Initially the commission for the statue of ''Wisconsin'' on the top of the dome was promised to

Helen Farnsworth Mears Helen Farnsworth Mears (; December 21, 1872 – February 17, 1916) was an American sculptor. Early years Mears was born December 21, 1872, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, daughter of John Hall Mears and Elizabeth Farnsworth Mears (pen names "Nellie Wildwo ...

but when

agreed to produce the finial figure, the commission was switched to him. This work, often referred to as the "Golden Lady", consists of an allegorical figure reminiscent of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

, dressed in Greek garb, and wearing a helmet topped by a badger, the Wisconsin state totem. In the left hand it holds a globe with an eagle perched on top. Across its chest is a large W, for Wisconsin. Post's original concept for the building required four small domes to be placed at the base of the large one, but the plans were changed and the domes were replaced by four sculptural groups by

Karl Bitter Karl Theodore Francis Bitter (December 6, 1867 – April 9, 1915) was an Austrian-born American sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture, memorials and residential work. Life and career The son of Carl and Henrietta Bitter, he was ...

. These groups (again, in Greek clothing) symbolized ''Faith'', ''Strength'', ''Prosperity and Abundance'' and ''Knowledge''. Each of the four wings of the building is fronted by a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

whose figures relate to the principal activities that were to occur within. Thus the east wing, housing the Supreme Court, features a pediment by Bitter entitled ''Law''; the south has

Adolph Alexander Weinman Adolph Alexander Weinman (December 11, 1870 – August 8, 1952) was a German-born American sculptor and architectural sculptor. Early life and education Adolph Alexander Weinman was born in Durmersheim, near Karlsruhe, Germany. He immigrated ...

's ''Virtues and Traits of Character'', for the wing containing the State Senate. Bitter's other pediment, the west, is ''Agriculture'', while

Attilio Piccirilli Attilio Piccirilli (May 16, 1866 – October 8, 1945) was an American sculptor. Born in Massa, Italy, he was educated at the Accademia di San Luca of Rome. Life and career Piccirilli came to the United States in 1888 and worked for his fa ...

's ''Wisdom and Learning of the World'' adorns the north pediment. The carving of all these sculptures is attributed to the

Piccirilli Brothers The Piccirilli Brothers were an Italian family of renowned marble carvers and sculptors who carved many of the most significant marble sculptures in the United States, including Daniel Chester French’s colossal ''Abraham Lincoln'' (1920) in the ...

Fossils

Naturally occurring fossils are found throughout the capitol:''Fossils in the Wisconsin State Capitol: A Guide to Some of the Most Prominent Fossils in the Capitol''. Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Council, 2010. *

Starfish Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

: North wing, left grand stairs, 1st to 2nd floor, fourth step from bottom *

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

: West wing, second floor, railing overlooking central corridor, outside of Assembly chamber *

Nautiloid Nautiloids are a group of cephalopods (Mollusca) which originated in the Late Cambrian and are represented today by the living ''Nautilus'' and ''Allonautilus''. Fossil nautiloids are diverse and species rich, with over 2,500 recorded species. Th ...

: North wing, second floor, left of north hearing room entrance *

Gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

: West wing, left grand stairs; 1st to 2nd floor railing, above 9th step from top *

Ammonoid Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...

: North wing, second floor, north hearing room * Bryozoan: South wing, second floor, left grand stairs, top step *

Burrow file:Chipmunk-burrow (exits).jpg, An eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of Animal lo ...

s: Northwest, second floor, wall to right room 225 NW *

Brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the fron ...

: East wing, ground floor, pillars near entrance

Images

File:Wisconsin State Capitol reconstruction ca.1909.png, The current building under construction in 1909 File:Wicapitol 1915.jpg, The current building in 1915 File:Wisconsin State Capitol as viewed from the Inn on the Park Best Western hotel.jpg, Capitol dome File:Lady Wisconsin.jpg, ''Wisconsin'' by

File:WiscCap5AP.jpg, North pediment by

File:WiscCap3AAW.jpg, South pediment, ''Virtues and Traits of Character'' by

Adolph Weinman Adolph Alexander Weinman (December 11, 1870 – August 8, 1952) was a German-born American sculptor and architectural sculptor. Early life and education Adolph Alexander Weinman was born in Durmersheim, near Karlsruhe, Germany. He immigrate ...

File:WiscCap2.jpg, East pediment by

File:WiscCap4.jpg, West pediment by Karl Bitter File:Madison Capitol 2.jpg, Rotunda floor File:Wisconsin State Capitol dome interior.jpg, Dome interior File:Secretary Pompeo Delivers Remarks in the Senate Chamber of the Wisconsin State Capitol (50378281008).jpg,

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

chambers File:Interior view - Wisconsin Supreme Court - DSC03163.JPG,

chambers

References

External links

Wisconsin State Capitol National Historic Landmark Nomination

Wisconsin State Capitol Historic Structure Report (1995–2005)

Information on the State Capitol
from the State of Wisconsin {{Authority control Government buildings completed in 1917 Museums in Madison, Wisconsin History museums in Wisconsin Government of Wisconsin State capitols in the United States National Historic Landmarks in Wisconsin Government buildings with domes Rotundas in the United States Buildings and structures in Madison, Wisconsin Culture of Madison, Wisconsin Government buildings in Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Madison, Wisconsin Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Fires at legislative buildings National Register of Historic Places in Madison, Wisconsin Terminating vistas in the United States Skyscrapers in Madison, Wisconsin Skyscraper office buildings in Wisconsin Beaux-Arts architecture in Wisconsin