| Washington State Capitol Historic District | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| U.S. Historic District | |
 North entrance of the Legislative Building.
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| Location: | 416 Sid Snyder Avenue SW, Olympia, Washington 98504 |
| Coordinates: | 47°02′07″N 122°54′23″W / 47.03528°N 122.90639°W |
| Area: | 230,400 ft2 (21,404 m2) |
| Built/Founded: | 1922 to 1928 |
| Architect: | Walter R. Wilder, Harry K. White |
| Architectural style(s): | American Neoclassical |
| Added to NRHP: | June 22, 1979 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 79002564 |
The Washington State Capitol in Olympia, Washington is the seat of government of the state of Washington. Instead of a single building, as in most states, the capitol consists of a campus with several buildings on it. The Washington State Legislature, Washington Supreme Court, and Washington Governor's Mansion are all located on the capitol campus.
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History
The First Capitol Building
After Olympia became the capital of the Washington Territory in 1854, the city's founder, Edmund Sylvester, gave the legislature 12 acres (49,000 m²) of land upon which to build the capitol, located on a hill overlooking what is now known as Capitol Lake. A two-story wood-frame building was constructed on the site, where the legislature met starting in 1928. When President Benjamin Harrison approved Washington's state constitution in 1889, he donated 132,000 acres (534 km²) of federal lands to the state, with the stipulation that income from the lands was to be used solely for construction of the state capitol.
The Second Capitol Building
The legislature formed the State Capitol Commission in 1893 to oversee the creation of a new capitol building on the property in Olympia. The commission held a nationwide competition to find an architect, and chose the submission of Ernest Flagg. Construction began on Flagg's plan, but was soon stalled by poor economic conditions with only the foundation completed. When the legislature finally passed an appropriation of additional funds in 1897, newly-elected Governor John Rogers vetoed it. Rogers advocated the purchase of an existing building for use as the state capitol: the Thurston County Courthouse in downtown Olympia, now known as the "Old Capitol" and home to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The legislature approved the new location, and began meeting there in 1905.
The Third Capitol Building
The courthouse became the location of all agencies of the state government, and within a few years the legislature decided the building was too small. A new State Capitol Commission met in 1911 to build a group of buildings, rather than a single facility, to serve as the capitol. The commission held another competition for an architect, and selected the design submitted by the firm of Walter Wilder and Harry White. Construction began in 1912, and the Temple of Justice was completed in 1920, followed by the Insurance Building and the power and heating plant. After multiple revisions to the plans, the Legislative Building was completed in 1928. Additional buildings on the capitol campus were constructed over the next several decades.
Buildings
Located on the campus are the Legislative Building, Temple of Justice, John A. Cherberg Senate office building, Irv Newhouse Senate office building, Insurance Building, John L. O'Brien House office building and several other office buildings. The Capitol Conservatory, built in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration, housed various types of flora until it was permanently closed on September 5, 2008[1]. The campus also hosts many veterans memorials.
The state seal, which is featured throughout the buildings on the state flag, tapestries, railing, door handles and elsewhere, was designed by Talcots by making two circles and putting a two-cent stamp of George Washington in the middle. There is even a brass seal embedded in the floor of the rotunda, whose nose has become flattened over time as a result of people walking on it; the seal is now roped off from foot traffic.
The Legislative Building
The Legislative Building houses the Washington State Legislature and the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, and Treasurer. This building is the dominant feature of the capitol grounds, with its dome reaching a height of 287 feet (87 m), making it the tallest self-supporting masonry dome in the United States, and fourth tallest in the world, surpassed only by St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome, St. Paul's Cathedral, London, and St. Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg. It features the largest quantity of marble of any state capitol, imported from four different countries (Belgium, France, Germany and Italy), and Alaska. The exterior sandstone was collected from Wilkeson Quarries, Pierce County, Washington. There are a number of features commemorating Washington’s addition to the Union as the 42nd state. 42 granite steps lead up to the building’s North entrance and the Legislative Building currently possesses one of five 42-star flags. These were never official flags because Idaho became a state shortly after their release.
All lamps and Roman fire pots in the rotunda were made by Louis Comfort Tiffany. These comprise the largest collection of Tiffany bronze in the world and Tiffany’s final large commission before his death in 1933. The five-ton (4.53 metric ton) chandelier above the rotunda is suspended 50 feet (15.24 meters) above the floor by a 101-foot (30.7 m) chain and measures 25 feet (7.62 meters) long. It can fit a full-size Volkswagen Beetle if put in sideways and features life-size faces, human figures and 202 lights. [2]
The Legislative Building is also home to a large brass bust of George Washington. Over time, the nose on the bus has become shiny from visitors rubbing it for good luck.
Other Buildings
Facing the Legislative Building is the Temple of Justice, home to the State Supreme Court and the State Law Library. Until 1924, the unused boiler and coal rooms located under the Temple of Justice housed the Division of Highways Testing Laboratory, which would later become the Department of Transportation Materials Laboratory.[3]
The Governor's Mansion is located immediately west of the Legislative Building. Built before the rest of the capitol campus in 1908, the four-story Georgian-style mansion was intended as a temporary structure, and over the years the state legislature has considered replacing it with an office building or a new mansion. The legislature decided to renovate and remodel the existing building in 1973, and since then the private, non-profit Governor's Mansion Foundation has furnished and maintained the mansion's public rooms.
Natural Disasters
Three major earthquakes have rocked the capitol since its construction. The first, in 1949, damaged the cupola of the Legislative Building's dome so badly it had to be completely replaced. A 6.5 magnitude quake in 1965 had even worse results, with the dome's brick buttresses left in such poor condition that a major aftershock could have caused them to collapse entirely, according to a state report.[4] The state worked on the capitol after both earthquakes to reduce the impact of future occurrences, and performed additional seismic improvements in 1975. The Nisqually earthquake of 2001 caused further damage, including a splintered buttress, but the earthquake-resistance work prevented more serious harm to the building.[5]
The capitol dome, weighing 26,000 metric tons, was not held in place by any bolts or fasteners, but by gravity alone. During an earthquake, the dome could shift, along with the sandstone columns supporting it. The columns moved up to three inches (76 mm) during the Nisqually quake. Renovations completed in 2004 by design firm Einhorn Yaffee Prescott permanently fixed the dome to the rest of the building.
Quirks of law and security
Because the Capitol grounds are outside the normal jurisdiction of Olympia and/or Thurston County, the police and sheriff do not investigate crime on the Capitol campus. The Washington State Patrol is responsible for law enforcement and investigations on the Capitol grounds as well as at the Old Capitol Building and adjoining Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia. The Senate and House also have stand-alone security details.
After the September 11th attacks, there had been a security checkpoint at the entrance to the Capitol building, complete with magnetometer and x-ray machine, but security has since reverted to its original state. Pocket knives are not allowed, but handguns are for concealed carry permit holders only.[6]
Controversies
In December 2008, as a result of an atheist sign being displayed by a nativity scene in the State Capitol as part of a Christmas display, there was wide media coverage and a controversy which ensued.[7][8] The sign was stolen, but eventually found and returned to the state capitol.[9] There was a rapid influx of requests from individuals and groups wanting to display other material, including a Festivus pole[10] and a request by the Westboro Baptist Church to display a sign saying (among other things) "Santa Clause will take you to hell."[11]
References
- Johnston, Norman J. Washington's Audacious State Capitol and Its Builders. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988.
- ^ http://www.ga.wa.gov/News/newsrel2008-09-03.htm
- ^ http://www.dlmark.net/capwash.htm
- ^ http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7236
- ^ Search Results | Seattle Times Newspaper
- ^ Search Results | Seattle Times Newspaper
- ^ http://www.theolympian.com/home/specialsections/CapitolRenovation/20050103/59317.shtml[dead link]
- ^ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,462686,00.html
- ^ http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/7hc9r/bill_oreilly_cries_over_atheist_display_at/
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/05/atheists.christmas/
- ^ http://www.komonews.com/news/local/35616504.html
- ^ http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/156716.asp
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Washington State Capitol |
- State Capitol Visitor Information
- State Capitol Virtual Tour
- Governor's Mansion
- Governor's Mansion Foundation
- Washington State Legislature
- Washington State Capitol - Photographs from a visit to the capitol
- [2] - Visitor Facts about the state capitol
Coordinates: 47°02′09″N 122°54′18″W / 47.035775°N 122.904916°W
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