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Wisconsin State Capitol
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Wisconsin State Capitol
The Wisconsin State Capitol, located in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court 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 a state law that prohibits buildings within one mile of the Capitol from being taller than the 187 feet (57 m) columns surrounding the dome. The Capitol is located at the southwestern end of the Madison Isthmus in downtown Madison, bordered by streets that make up the Capitol Square.
The first capitol of Wisconsin Territory, upon its separation from Michigan Territory in 1836, was a prefabricated wood-frame council house without heat or water that had been sent hastily to Belmont, the temporary territorial capital. The council house and an associated lodging house still stand and are operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society as the First Capitol Historic Site. Legislators met there for 42 days, tasked with among other things choosing a site for the permanent capital. "Madison City", then an uninhabited plot of land owned by delegate James Duane Doty, was chosen. Until a capitol building had been constructed there, legislative sessions were to be held in Burlington (now part of Iowa).
From the beginning, Doty had laid out the plat of Madison City around a large central square which would house the capitol building. Construction on the first capitol building in Madison began with the laying of the ceremonial cornerstone on July 4, 1837. The building was constructed out of stone cut from Maple Bluff and oak cut locally. It was a small but typical frontier capitol that cost $60,000 to build (equivalent to $1,710,000 in 2025).
In 1838, Iowa Territory was split off from Wisconsin Territory, removing the temporary capital at Burlington from Wisconsin. Since construction on the Madison capitol was well underway, the legislature agreed to meet there beginning on November 26, 1838. However, the building was not completed in time, and for weeks the legislators held their meetings in the basement of the American Hotel. When the legislative chambers were ready, the delegates moved in, only to find that the building still lacked insulation and did nothing to protect them from the freezing winter weather.
Doty was responsible for disbursing the federal funds that were provided to build the Capitol, but several thousand dollars could not be accounted for. Without that federal money, the territorial legislature was forced to issue its own bonds to complete the unfinished building. By the time these bonds were issued in 1841, Doty had been named governor of Wisconsin Territory and began using his position to ensure that Madison would remain the capital.
Unhappy with the quality of the building they had been provided, the legislature considered moving to Milwaukee and having the Madison capitol converted into a penitentiary, although this measure failed. The Capitol's ill-fitting tin dome led the inadequate structure to be derisively nicknamed "Doty's Washbowl". Work continued on the building on and off until 1844, and the cost of the construction was double the amount the legislature had authorized. To keep the capitol in Madison, the owner of the Madison Hotel offered free room and board to legislators. As conditions improved, the calls to move the legislative seat eventually subsided.
Madison in its early years had a reputation as a lawless frontier town, where gambling and heavy drinking were rampant, and the Capitol was not immune, as its legislators often partook in these activities. In 1842, during a heated argument over the appointment of a sheriff in Grant County, delegate James Russell Vineyard shot and killed Charles C. P. Arndt on the floor of the Wisconsin Territorial Council chamber in the Capitol. Vineyard was indicted for murder in the same building but was ultimately acquitted. Charles Dickens (who had been doing a lecture tour of the United States at the time of the incident) described the attack as an example of the violent depravity of American culture in his American Notes for General Circulation.
As Wisconsin Territory prepared to become a state, the Capitol was the site of its two constitutional conventions in 1846 and 1847. The state constitution drafted at the 1846 convention was rejected by voters, but the second constitution was successful and remains the governing document of the state today. When Wisconsin was granted statehood on May 29, 1848, the 1837 building remained in use, becoming the first Wisconsin state capitol. Since it lacked enough space for the new state government apparatus, the state began renting rooms in nearby buildings until a replacement could be built.
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Wisconsin State Capitol
The Wisconsin State Capitol, located in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court 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 a state law that prohibits buildings within one mile of the Capitol from being taller than the 187 feet (57 m) columns surrounding the dome. The Capitol is located at the southwestern end of the Madison Isthmus in downtown Madison, bordered by streets that make up the Capitol Square.
The first capitol of Wisconsin Territory, upon its separation from Michigan Territory in 1836, was a prefabricated wood-frame council house without heat or water that had been sent hastily to Belmont, the temporary territorial capital. The council house and an associated lodging house still stand and are operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society as the First Capitol Historic Site. Legislators met there for 42 days, tasked with among other things choosing a site for the permanent capital. "Madison City", then an uninhabited plot of land owned by delegate James Duane Doty, was chosen. Until a capitol building had been constructed there, legislative sessions were to be held in Burlington (now part of Iowa).
From the beginning, Doty had laid out the plat of Madison City around a large central square which would house the capitol building. Construction on the first capitol building in Madison began with the laying of the ceremonial cornerstone on July 4, 1837. The building was constructed out of stone cut from Maple Bluff and oak cut locally. It was a small but typical frontier capitol that cost $60,000 to build (equivalent to $1,710,000 in 2025).
In 1838, Iowa Territory was split off from Wisconsin Territory, removing the temporary capital at Burlington from Wisconsin. Since construction on the Madison capitol was well underway, the legislature agreed to meet there beginning on November 26, 1838. However, the building was not completed in time, and for weeks the legislators held their meetings in the basement of the American Hotel. When the legislative chambers were ready, the delegates moved in, only to find that the building still lacked insulation and did nothing to protect them from the freezing winter weather.
Doty was responsible for disbursing the federal funds that were provided to build the Capitol, but several thousand dollars could not be accounted for. Without that federal money, the territorial legislature was forced to issue its own bonds to complete the unfinished building. By the time these bonds were issued in 1841, Doty had been named governor of Wisconsin Territory and began using his position to ensure that Madison would remain the capital.
Unhappy with the quality of the building they had been provided, the legislature considered moving to Milwaukee and having the Madison capitol converted into a penitentiary, although this measure failed. The Capitol's ill-fitting tin dome led the inadequate structure to be derisively nicknamed "Doty's Washbowl". Work continued on the building on and off until 1844, and the cost of the construction was double the amount the legislature had authorized. To keep the capitol in Madison, the owner of the Madison Hotel offered free room and board to legislators. As conditions improved, the calls to move the legislative seat eventually subsided.
Madison in its early years had a reputation as a lawless frontier town, where gambling and heavy drinking were rampant, and the Capitol was not immune, as its legislators often partook in these activities. In 1842, during a heated argument over the appointment of a sheriff in Grant County, delegate James Russell Vineyard shot and killed Charles C. P. Arndt on the floor of the Wisconsin Territorial Council chamber in the Capitol. Vineyard was indicted for murder in the same building but was ultimately acquitted. Charles Dickens (who had been doing a lecture tour of the United States at the time of the incident) described the attack as an example of the violent depravity of American culture in his American Notes for General Circulation.
As Wisconsin Territory prepared to become a state, the Capitol was the site of its two constitutional conventions in 1846 and 1847. The state constitution drafted at the 1846 convention was rejected by voters, but the second constitution was successful and remains the governing document of the state today. When Wisconsin was granted statehood on May 29, 1848, the 1837 building remained in use, becoming the first Wisconsin state capitol. Since it lacked enough space for the new state government apparatus, the state began renting rooms in nearby buildings until a replacement could be built.
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