Indiana Statehouse

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Indiana State Capitol
National Register of Historic Places
StateCapitolIndiana.jpg
Indiana Statehouse (Indiana)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
location Indianapolis , Indiana
Coordinates 39 ° 46 '7 "  N , 86 ° 9' 45.8"  W Coordinates: 39 ° 46 '7 "  N , 86 ° 9' 45.8"  W.
Built 1888
architect Edwin May, Adolf Scherer
Architectural style Greek Revival
NRHP number 75000043
The NRHP added August 28, 1975

The Indiana Statehouse is the state capitol of the US state Indiana . It houses the Indiana General Assembly , the Indiana Governor , the Supreme Court, and other state officials. It is located in the capital Indianapolis at 200 West Washington Street. The building, which dates back to 1888, is the fifth government building in Indiana's history.

Current Statehouse

Construction phase and description

With the rapid increase in Indiana’s population in the mid-nineteenth century, the administration grew larger and the previous government building became too small. In 1865 an administration building was built to house parts of the growing administration, the Supreme Court and various offices. Today's Statehouse was planned as a replacement. The new building was approved by legislation in 1878. After the third statehouse had been demolished, construction began at the same location. Two million US dollars were made available for the new building. The building was completed in 1888. Governor Williams, who was famous for his thrift, was able to complete the project for $ 1.8 million, with $ 200,000 flowing back into the treasury.

Site plan of the statehouse

A commission planned and monitored the project. The building was designed by Edwin May, an architect from Indianapolis. Not wanting to repeat the mistakes made when building the old statehouse, the legislature required that the building be built on solid foundations so that it would last for many decades. Construction began in 1880 and the foundation stone was laid on September 28, 1880. Edwin died in May 1880 and Adolph Sherrer took over the construction supervision for the entire construction period. The interior was designed in the style of the Italian Renaissance . Indigenous materials were used wherever possible. The doors were made from native oak and the building was constructed from Indiana limestone. The cornerstone of the building is a 10-ton block of limestone that came from a quarry in Spencer, Indiana. The central dome was completed in 1883. Power cables were being laid in the building even though there was no power grid in Indianapolis at the time. In 1887 the new Capitol was completed to the point that the first legislative period could take place there. The construction took a total of 8 years and in October 1888 the building was finally completed. The top of the dome is 78 meters high and the State Capitol was the second tallest building in Indiana at the time of its completion.

A time capsule with 22 objects was built into the foundation stone. Inside the capsule were annual reports from all government agencies, a Bible, samples of several varieties of Indiana crops, several new coins, local maps and newspapers, a book on Indianapolis history, and pamphlets from many of the city's institutions.

The building is in the shape of a cross. A large rotunda with a glazed dome connects the four wings of the building. The building has four floors. The ground floor houses the executive floor of the administration. The House of Representatives offices are in the east wing on the first floor and the Senate offices are in the west wing. The offices of the Supreme Court are located in the north wing on the first floor. On the wide upper floor is the Supreme Court library with its 70,000 books. It also houses the House, Senate and Supreme Court meeting rooms. On the third floor there are further administration offices and storage rooms. The building was designed to house the entire state administration. All offices were in the building for several decades. However, after the building became too small again, most of the administrative offices have moved out. In front of the statehouse is a statue of Oliver Morton , Indiana governor during the Civil War.

renovation

Statehouse dome

In 1988, Governor Robert D. Orr's administration proposed to the Indiana General Assembly to renovate the statehouse for the Hoosier Celebration '88, the centenary of the building. The proposal was accepted. The renovation work cost $ 11 million and lasted through 1995.

During the renovation, marble, granite and limestone were cleaned and polished. The woodwork has been repaired or replaced. In the dome of the rotunda, damaged panes were replaced. The chandeliers have been replaced by modern lights in the same design. A computer network was set up in the building so that the building is equipped for the technology of the 21st century.

In 1984 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places and it is still a listed building.

gallery

  • Interior hallway of the Indiana State House

  • Chamber of Representatives

  • Chamber of the Senate

  • Governor's Office

  • Main entrance

  • facade

history

First statehouse

The first statehouse in Corydon

When Indiana became a state in 1816, Corydon was the capital. The first state capitol was a modest, two-story limestone building built in 1813 to house the Indiana Territory government . The construction cost was $ 1,500 and was borne by the citizens of Harrison County . The construction time was 3 years. The building was one of the largest buildings in the country at the time of its completion.

There were three rooms in the building and it quickly became too small for the state government. who had erected large office buildings for the administration on the opposite side of the street. The ground floor was used by the House of Representatives, the two rooms on the upper floor by the Senate and the Supreme Court. The building was abandoned as the State Capitol in 1824 and given to Harrison County as a courthouse. The building is still in existence and is an Indiana historic site.

Second statehouse

After the government moved to Indianapolis in December 1824, she worked in the Marion County Courthouse. The construction of this building was funded by the state in 1822 after Indianapolis was chosen to be the location of the new State Capitol. The courthouse served as the state capitol for 12 years. At that time Indianapolis was in the wilderness, nearly 100 km from the nearest major settlement. That made it difficult to build a large building.

Moving to Indianapolis was a difficult task. It normally took eleven days to travel from Corydon to Indianapolis by horse. Since there was no road, you had to cut a swath in the dense forest for the procession. The move ultimately took over a month, and in January 1825, the first meeting of the Indian General Assembly was held in the new State Capitol.

Third statehouse

The third statehouse in Indianapolis

In 1831 the Indiana General Assembly decided to build a new statehouse. The building was funded through the sale of a lot of building lots in Indianapolis. A commission was set up and its member James Blake offered a price of 150 USD to the architect of the best design for the new statehouse. The Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis company won with its design. This was inspired by the Greek Parthenon . The building looked a lot like the Parthenon, but had a large dome in the middle. Town and Davis received the contract to build the building and were able to finish it earlier than planned in 1835.

The statehouse was built from blue limestone and had two floors. The governor and the Supreme Court occupied the first floor. The House of Representatives and Senate were upstairs, each in a separate wing. The building saw many major events in its history, including the laying out of Abraham Lincoln from April 30 to May 1, 1865. The building was popular after its completion, but its Greek Revival style went out of fashion and by the 1860s the building began to deteriorate. The limestone foundation began to fail and many feared that the building would collapse completely. In 1867 the ceiling of the House of Representatives collapsed. In 1873 there was a debate about saving the building, but without solving the problem. By the time Governor James Williams was elected, the building was doomed to be demolished. It was finally demolished in 1877.

Fourth statehouse

After the decision to demolish the building, the government moved out of the building in 1876. The General Assembly moved into a large office building built in 1865 that already housed the Supreme Court. The governor and senior staff moved to another office building. The state office building served as a statehouse until the new statehouse was completed. In 1887, before the new building was finally completed, the lower floors were finished to the point where the government could leave the crowded building and begin work in the new building.

literature

Web links

Commons : Indiana State Capitol  - Collection of Pictures, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ National Register Information System . In: National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 15, 2006. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ Gray, p. 181
  3. ↑ Gray, p. 184
  4. ^ A b c Indiana Historical Bureau: In Clear Arrangement . IN.gov. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  5. ^ Statehouse Guidebook, p. 16
  6. ^ Statehouse Guidebook, p. 9-10
  7. ^ Statehouse Guidebook, p. 11-12
  8. ↑ Nelson Price: Indianapolis Then & Now . Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, California 2004, ISBN 1-59223-208-6 , p. 143.
  9. ^ A b Indiana Historical Bureau: Restoration at its Best . IN.gov. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  10. ^ Indiana Historical Bureau: First One Hundred Years . IN.gov. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  11. ↑ Dunn, p. 295
  12. ↑ Dunn, pp. 309-310
  13. ↑ a b Dunn, pp. 367-370
  14. ^ A b Indiana Historical Bureau: In Character with the Parthenon . IN.gov. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  15. ↑ Gray, p. 223
  16. ^ Indiana Historical Bureau: History and Origins . IN.gov. Retrieved January 20, 2016.