August 24, 2012
A Capitol
Idea
This year, the Wisconsin
State Capitol building marks
its 95th
anniversary as the State
Capitol, which I believe is
one of the most beautiful
capitol buildings in the
nation. The origins of how
Madison came to be the home
of Wisconsin’s State Capitol
are interesting, as well as
much of its storied past.
The Wisconsin State Capitol
boasts the largest dome by
volume in the nation, and
one of the largest domes in
the world. The current
building is actually the
third building in the City
of Madison to serve as
Wisconsin’s Capitol. Prior
to being located in Madison,
the first capitol for the
Wisconsin Territory was a
modest house located in
Belmont, Wisconsin in the
southwest area of the
state. In 1836, one of the
Legislature’s tasks was to
choose a permanent location
for the territory’s capitol
from the nineteen sites
being considered in
Wisconsin.
Of those nineteen sites, the
City of Madison was in the
mix. Former federal judge
James Doty, along with two
partners, purchased more
than 1,000 acres of forest
and swamp land on an isthmus
where downtown Madison now
stands with the intention of
building a city. Mr. Doty
hired a surveyor to design a
map of a city to propose to
the Legislature.
Discussions of the nineteen
possible capital sites began
on November 23, 1836. Keep
in mind, this was winter in
Wisconsin and the Capitol in
Belmont had no heat, with
many legislators sleeping on
the floor. Trying to sway
votes for his Madison site,
James Doty handed out
buffalo robes to legislators
and even gave legislators
land in Madison to obtain
more votes.
Also helping the Madison
site gain votes was its
appealing location between
Milwaukee, Green Bay, the
Prairie du Chien trading
post, and the lead mining
regions in the southwest.
Legislators also liked the
fact that the Madison site
was named after highly
respected President James
Madison, who was also one of
the signers of the United
States Constitution.
President Madison had
recently died in June of
1836, and many of the
streets in Madison were also
named for the other 38
signers of the U.S.
Constitution.
Within days, the Legislature
chose Madison as the capital
of Wisconsin on November 28,
1836. The State Capitol was
chosen to be on the highest
hill in the city, and Doty
and his partners ended up
earning more than $35,000 by
selling off lots of land to
pioneer settlers and
investors, compared to the
initial investment of
$2,400.
The first Capitol building
in Madison was constructed
the next year, in 1837, at a
cost of $60,000 and sat on
the grounds of the current
state building. As
government grew, a new
capitol was needed, to be
rebuilt on the same site.
This second State Capitol in
Madison was constructed from
1857-1869 and had a dome
similar to that of the
United States’ Capitol
dome. In 1882, a north wing
and a south wing were added,
at a cost of $900,000.
On the night of February 26,
1904, tragedy hit the
Wisconsin State Capitol when
a gas lamp ignited a
newly-varnished ceiling in
the middle of the night.
Due to a series of mishaps,
the fire quickly spread and
the entire Capitol, with the
exception of the north wing,
was destroyed. Ironically,
the fire took place a mere
five weeks after the
Legislature voted to cancel
the Capitol’s fire insurance
policy.
The third and current
Wisconsin State Capitol
building was constructed
from 1906-1917 and cost
$7.25 million. The
Wisconsin State Capitol is
only three feet shorter than
the nation’s capitol in
Washington D.C. The Capitol
is the tallest building in
downtown Madison, as 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.
The Wisconsin State Capitol
was built from 43 different
types of stone from six
countries and eight states.
The beautiful rotunda
contains marble from Italy,
France, Greece, and
Algeria. The exterior of
the capitol is made of
Bethel White granite from
Vermont, and the exterior
dome is the largest granite
dome in the world.
Throughout the Capitol are
fossils preserved in the
various stones.
From 1988-2002, a major
renovation took place,
bringing the Capitol back to
its original 1917
appearance. Office
furniture in the Capitol has
been designed to look like
the original oak furniture,
walls have been painted
identical to original paint
colors, and historically
correct hardware has been
installed.
The Capitol is open to the
public weekdays 8:00 a.m. to
6:00 p.m., and weekends and
holidays from 8:00 a.m. to
4:00 p.m. Daily guided tours
of the Capitol are offered
for free each day, Monday
through Saturday at 9:00,
10:00, 11:00 a.m., and 1:00,
2:00, and 3:00 p.m., and
Sundays at 1:00, 2:00, and
3:00 p.m. Tours are about
one hour long and offered
daily except on New Year’s
Day, Easter, Thanksgiving,
Christmas Eve and
Christmas.
To arrange a group tour, you
may call the Capitol Tour
Desk at (608) 266-0382, or
feel free to contact my
office for further
information. In addition, I
offer an on-line video tour
of the Capitol with me as
your tour guide. That video
is available on the Home
page of my Web site at
www.senatorkedzie.com
and I do hope you have a
chance to someday visit the
people’s House, the
Wisconsin State Capitol.
-30-
Sen. Kedzie can be
reached in Madison at P.O.
Box 7882, Madison, WI
53707-7882 or by calling
toll-free 1 (800) 578-1457.
He may be reached in the
district at (262) 742-2025
or on-line at
www.senatorkedzie.com
