The exterior of the Missouri State Capitol is notable for its architectural features: the Baroque dome, loosely modeled after St. Peter’s basilica in Rome, rising 238 feet (73 m) above ground level, topped by sculptor Sherry Fry’sbronze statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture; the eight 48-foot (15 m) columns on the south portico; the six 40-foot (12 m) columns on the north portico; the 30-foot (9 m)-wide grand staircase; and the bronze entrance doors, each 13 by 18 feet (4.0 m × 5.5 m)—at the time, the largest cast since the Roman era.[4]
The capitol’s first floor, home of the State Museum, is embellished with mural paintings and statuary. A prime attraction is a series of murals painted by Thomas Hart Benton in the House Lounge. The grand staircase is flanked by large heroic bronze statues of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and the third-floor rotunda is the site of the Hall of Famous Missourians, a group of bronze busts of prominent Missourians honored for their achievements and contributions to the state.
A whispering gallery high within the dome, and a small viewing platform on the dome's roof beneath the statue of Ceres, are areas normally not open to the public except for school tours and other special tours.
The capitol is Jefferson City's leading tourist attraction. It is a destination for school groups who arrive by busloads, particularly during General Assembly sessions. Students fill the galleries to watch the Senate and House of Representatives in action.
History of the structure
Missouri State Capitol and Fountain of the Centaurs (north side)
The present capitol, completed in 1917 and occupied the following year, is the third capitol in Jefferson City and the sixth in Missouri history. The first seat of state government was housed in the Mansion House, located at Third and Vine Streets in St. Louis and the second one was in the Missouri Hotel located at Main and Morgan Streets in St. Charles. St. Charles was designated as the temporary capital of the state in 1821 and remained the seat of government until 1826.
It was decided that the capitol should be located more in the center of the state and specifically that it should be located on the Missouri River within 40 miles (64 km) of the mouth of the Osage. A group was sent out to survey various locations. The present location on top of the bluffs in Jefferson City was chosen because it afforded the best view of the Missouri River of any place which they had seen within the limits prescribed by the Constitution.
The fourth capitol (the first in Jefferson City) was made out of brick, two stories tall, measured approximately 40 by 60 feet (12 m × 18 m), and took two years to complete. It was built for approximately $18,500 (equivalent to $478,497 in 2022). It was called the "Governor's House and State Capitol." This building burned in 1837. The site is now occupied by the present-day Missouri Governor's Mansion. It was designed by Stephen Hills and modeled on the first Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.[5] Hills also designed Academic Hall of the University of Missouri; the six Ionic columns that survived the 1892 fire that destroyed the building are now the campus's landmark columns at the David R. Francis Quadrangle.
The fifth capitol (which was at the current site) was completed in 1840 for approximately $350,000 (equivalent to $10,259,667 in 2022), with some claiming that there were bribes and kickbacks. This building also burned on February 5, 1911 when it was struck by lightning. This building was approximately 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) and by 1911, was far too small to meet the needs of the legislators. Missouri Senator William Warner said, "I have no tears to shed over the fact that the building has been destroyed as it was totally inadequate and not in keeping with the requirements of our great state."
The original budget called for a building to be constructed for $3 million (equivalent to $94.22 million in 2022), with an additional $500,000 (equivalent to $15,703,571 in 2022) allocated for site and furnishings. This was approved in general election by the public by a three-to-one margin, however, the state miscalculated on revenue projections, and ended up collecting $4,215,000 (equivalent to $132,381,107 in 2022). All of this money was eventually used for the entire project, which is one of the reasons why the sculptures and artwork are of such high caliber. Edwin William Stephens of Columbia served as chair of the Capitol Decoration Committee along with University of Missouri art professor John Pickard.
It was also decided that the architect would be selected from a design competition; names were redacted from the submissions so that there would be no local favoritism. A total of 69 architecture firms submitted for the competition, from which a short list of 11 was chosen. Tracy & Swarthout from New York was ultimately selected.
Missouri State Capitol
The building is symmetrical in plan, giving equal symbolic weight to both the House and Senate (though the interiors of the two chambers differ greatly). The style makes many historical references to the Capitol in Washington, D.C., as well as to Greek and Roman temples; however, the typical column capital is a unique variation on the canonical Corinthian capital, replacing the acanthus leaves with local flora.
The stone for the exterior is a dense marble from Carthage, Missouri. Some of the finer details have eroded after 90 years of freeze/thaw cycles. The state has committed $30 Million[6] to study, restore, and prevent further deterioration. The building measures five stories high, 437 feet (133 m) long, 300 feet (90 m) wide in the center, and 200 feet (60 m) wide in the wings. The dome is 238 feet (73 m) high and the height of the wings is 88 feet (27 m). It includes 500,000 square feet (50,000 m2) of floor space.
Rotunda chandelier incident
In November 2006, the 9,000 lb (4,100 kg) dome chandelier, which had been lowered almost to the floor for maintenance, fell the remaining five feet.[7] The chandelier was damaged by the impact and by the ornamental chains that fell on it. It was sent to St. Louis for repairs. Nearly a full year later, the chandelier was returned and raised in the capitol. The upper lights were also restored, after they had been turned off for four decades due to light damage to the mural above. Created in 1918 by the Guth Lighting Company of St. Louis for a cost of $5,000 (equivalent to $97,279 in 2022), the chandelier cost $500,000 (equivalent to $725,817 in 2022) to be restored.[8]
Hunter, Marie Nau, Missouri and Mississippi: Robert Ingersoll Aitken's Sculpture in Jefferson City, Missouri, Master's Thesis, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1996
Kvaran & Lockley A Guide to the Architectural Sculpture of America, unpublished manuscript
Pickard, John, The Missouri State Capitol: Report of the Capitol Decoration Commission, 1917–1928, Capitol Decoration Committee, Jefferson City Missouri, 1928
^"Missouri State Capitol Building and Grounds"(PDF). National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Missouri Department of Natural Resources. April 10, 1969. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
^"Missouri's State Capital". State Symbols of Missouri. Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved January 2, 2006.
