The California State Capitol is the seat of the

California state government The government of California is the governmental structure of the U.S. state of California as established by the Constitution of California, California Constitution. California uses the separation of powers system to structure its government. It ...

, located in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, the state capital of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The building houses the chambers of the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, made up of the Assembly and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, along with the office of the

governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

. The Neoclassical structure, designed by Reuben S. Clark, was completed between 1861 and 1874. Located at the west end of Capitol Park and the east end of the

Capitol Mall The Capitol Mall or Capitol Mall Boulevard is a major street and landscaped parkway in the state capital city of Sacramento, California, United States. Formerly known as ''M Street'', it connects the city of West Sacramento, California, West Sac ...

, the building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973. The

California State Capitol Museum The California State Capitol Museum consists of a museum in and grounds around the California State Capitol in Sacramento, California, United States. The building has been the home of the California State Legislature since 1869. The State Ca ...

is housed on the grounds of the capitol.

History

The structure was completed between 1860 and 1874, designed by architect Reuben S. Clark of Clark & Kenitzer, one of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

's oldest architectural firms, founded in 1854. Although not generally considered earthquake country, Sacramento was hit by two earthquakes within days of each other in 1892 which damaged the Capitol."More Terrestrial Chills – Sacramento Shivers Again, But Not Damaged to Any Extent". ''

The Sacramento Union ''The Sacramento Union'' was a daily newspaper founded in 1851 in Sacramento, California. It was the oldest daily newspaper west of the Mississippi River before it closed its doors after 143 years in January 1994, no longer able to compete with ' ...

''. April 22, 1892. p. 3. "The Capitol was given a lively shaking, in the course of which a small portion of one of the plaster statuettes tumbled off and the Assembly chamber ceiling cracked. Of course, there was a general exodus of State officials and clerks, too." The Capitol was remodeled, adding seventy rooms and elevators, between 1906 and 1908. Between 1949 and 1952, the Capitol's apse was demolished to make way for the building's expansion with the construction of the Capitol Annex adjoining the historic Capitol building to its east. The offices of the

were housed in the Capitol Annex. The Capitol and grounds were listed on the office of the

in 1973, and listed as a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

in 1974, with a re-dedication on January 9, 1982, to commemorate the close of the bicentennial restoration project. The building underwent a major renovation known as the California State Capitol Restoration, from 1975 until 1982, involving an architectural restoration and structural reconstruction for earthquake safety. In 2012, many protesters stormed the building and were arrested. The Capitol Annex was vacated in 2021 in preparation for its demolition and replacement with a new Annex on the same site, due to its obsolescence and decayed state. Demolition was delayed until 2023 by lawsuits about the project's environmental impacts to the trees in Capitol Park, which is immediately adjacent to the Annex site. The offices and personnel previously in the Annex moved into the newly constructed Capitol Annex Swing Space building until the new Annex is constructed.

Construction and design

Exterior

The building is based on the U.S. Capitol building in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The west facade ends in projecting bays, and a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

projects from the center of the building. At the base of the portico, seven

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

archways brace and support the porch above. Eight fluted

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

line the portico. A

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

supports the pediment above depicting

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

surrounded by

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, Industry and

Mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

. Above the flat roof with

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

are two drums supporting a dome. The first drum consists of a colonnade of Corinthian columns; the second, Corinthian pilasters. Large arched windows line the drum walls. The dome is high, and supports a lantern with a smaller dome capped with a

gold-leaf upA gold nugget of 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter (bottom) can be expanded through hammering into a gold foil of about 0.5 m2 (5.4 sq ft). The Japan.html" ;"title="Toi gold mine museum, Japan">Toi gold mine museum, Japan. Gold leaf is gold that has ...

ed orbed

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

Interior

The

California Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. N ...

chamber seats its forty members in a large chamber room decorated in

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

, which is a reference to the

British House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest extant institutions in the world, its origi ...

(also the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of a

bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single ...

). The chamber is entered through a second-floor corridor. From the coffered ceiling hangs an electric reproduction of the original

gas Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...

chandelier A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...

. A hand-carved dais caps off a recessed bay framed by Corinthian columns. The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

phrase "''Senatoris est civitatis libertatem tueri'' ("It is the duty of the Senator to guard the civil liberties of the Commonwealth") lines the cornice. A portrait of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

by Jane Stuart, the daughter of

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter born in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-k ...

, is on the wall above. The State Seal hangs above. Statues of the Roman goddess of wisdom

once overlooked both chambers. Today, Minerva, sculpted by Michael H. Casey, appears only in the senate chambers. Californian Legislature from Capitol Mall

Californian Legislature from Capitol Mall

Gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

Corinthian columns support the gallery above, and dark red curtains that can be drawn for privacy are tied back along the columns. High arched windows run along the bottom below rectangular pane windows. Behind the rostrum, there are two chairs with red velvet cushions, reserved for the president ''pro tempore'' of the senate and the speaker of the assembly, but they are never used. The

California Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Neithe ...

chamber is located at the opposite end of the building. Its green tones are based on those of the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

, the lower house. The dais rests along a wall shaped like an "E", with the central projection housing the rostrum. Along the cornice is the Assembly motto, in Latin: ''Legislatorum est justas leges condere'' ("It is the duty of legislators to establish just laws").

California Capitol Museum and Park

The

is a museum housed within the capitol and on the grounds of Capitol Park, run by

California State Parks California State Parks is the state park system for the U.S. state of California. The system is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, a department under the California Natural Resources Agency. The California State ...

. The Capitol Museum includes the historic offices of the governor and legislature. The capitol's grounds are known as Capitol Park, an area of 10 undivided city blocks running from 10th to 16th and from L to N Streets. The entire Capitol Park area is included in the National Register historic district listing. With Capitol Park contains numerous monuments and memorials, including the California Firefighters Memorial and El Soldado Monument.

Gallery

File:California State Capitol Dome Interior, June 2019.jpg, Interior of the Capitol Dome File:Assembly Chamber at the California State Capitol.JPG, Chamber of the

File:California Senate chamber p1080899.jpg, Chamber of the

File:CaliforniaStateCapitolGovernorOffice.JPG, Former Office of the

Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

, in the now-demolished Annex File:California Grizzly Bear Statue Capitol Museum.jpg,

California Grizzly Bear The California grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos californicus''), also known as the California brown bear, California golden bear, or chaparral bear, is an extinct population of the brown bear, generally known (together with other North American brow ...

Monument in the now-demolished Annex File:California State Capitol in Sacramento.jpg, View from the Southwest File:California State Capitol (top), NW view up.jpg, Pediment and rotunda detail File:Sacramento capitol (23294571196).jpg, South façade File:California State Capitol during blue hour-3982.jpg, Night view

References

External links

Capitol restoration collection, 1979–1980. Collection Guide, California State Library, California History Room.

California State Capitol Museum
{{Authority control 1874 establishments in California Beaux-Arts architecture in California California Historical Landmarks Government buildings completed in 1874 Government buildings in California

State Capitol A capitol, or seat of government, is the building or complex of buildings from which a government such as that of a U.S. state, the District of Columbia, or the organized territories of the United States, exercises its authority. Although m ...

Government buildings with domes

Capitol Capitol, capitols or The Capitol may refer to: Places and buildings Legislative building * United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C. * National Capitol of Colombia, in Bogotá * Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas, Venezuela * National Ca ...

Historic district contributing properties in California National Register of Historic Places in Sacramento, California Neoclassical architecture in California Office buildings in Sacramento, California State capitols in the United States Terminating vistas in the United States Tourist attractions in Sacramento, California