Indiana Statehouse

The Indiana State House is the state capitol of the U.S. state of Indiana. It houses the Indiana General Assembly, the Governor of Indiana, the Supreme Court and other representatives of the state. It is located in the capital Indianapolis at 200 West Washington Street The building, dating from 1888 is the fifth government buildings in the history of Indiana.

2.1 First State House
2.2 Second State House
2.3 Third State House
2.4 Fourth State House

News Statehouse

Construction and description

With rapid increase in population in Indiana in the mid-nineteenth century, the government was getting bigger, and thus the former government building was too small. 1865 would built an administration building, the parts of the growing administration, the Supreme Court and various offices recorded. To replace the current State House was planned. The new building was approved by the legislature in 1878. After the third State House had been demolished, was started at the same location with the new building. For the construction of two million U.S. dollars have been made available. The building was completed in 1888. Governor Williams, who was famous for his frugality could complete the project for 1.8 million dollars, $ 200,000 flowed back into the state treasury.

A Commission planned and supervised the project. The building was designed by Edwin May, an architect from Indianapolis. Since you did not want to repeat the mistakes of the construction of the old State House, lawmakers demanded that the building is built on a solid foundation, so that it would last for many decades. Construction began in 1880 and the foundation stone was laid on 28 September 1880. Edwin died in May in 1880 and Adolph Sherrer took over the supervision of the entire construction period. The interior was designed in the style of the Italian Renaissance. Wherever it was possible, indigenous materials were used. The doors were made of native oak trees and the building was built of limestone from Indiana. The foundation stone of the building is a 10 -ton block of limestone, which comes from a quarry in Spencer (Indiana). The central dome was completed in 1883. In building power cables have been laid, although there was at the time in Indianapolis no power grid. 1887 the new Capitol was so far completed that the first legislative session could take place there. The construction period lasted a total of 8 years, and in October 1888 the building was finally completed. The top of the dome is 78 meters high, the State Capitol at the time of its completion, the second tallest building in Indiana.

The foundation stone for a time capsule with 22 items was installed. In the capsule were annual reports of all government agencies, a Bible, samples of several varieties of crops from Indiana, several new coins, local maps and newspapers, a book about the history of Indianapolis and pamphlets of many institutions of the city.

The building has the shape of a cross. A large rotunda with a glass dome connects the four wings of the building. The building has four floors. The ground floor houses the executive offices of the administration. The offices of the House of Representatives are located in the east wing of the first floor and the offices of the Senate lie west wing. The north wing of the first floor is the offices of the Supreme Court in the broad Upstairs is the library of the Supreme Court, with its 70,000 books. Next to this are the meeting rooms of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Supreme Court. On the third floor are more administrative offices and storage rooms. The building was designed to accommodate the entire administration of the state. For several decades, were also all the offices in the building. After the building was, however, again become too small, most administrative offices have now moved out. Before the State House is a statue of Oliver Morton, governor of Indiana during the Civil War.

Renovation

1988 this was the administration of Governor Robert D. Orr of the General Assembly of Indiana, a renovation of the State House on the occasion of the " Hoosier Celebration '88 ", the centenary of the building before. The proposal was adopted. The renovation cost $ 11 million and lasted until 1995.

During the renovation, marble, granite and limestone were cleaned and polished. The woodwork were repaired or replaced. In the dome of the rotunda damaged discs were replaced. The chandeliers were replaced by modern light in the same designs. In building a computer network has been created, so that the building is ready for the technology of the 21st century.

In 1984 the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it still stands under monument protection.

Gallery

Chamber of the House of Representatives

Chamber of the Senate

Office of the Governor

History

First State House

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

In the building there were three rooms and it quickly became too small for the state government. the wide on the opposite side of the street office building had been erected for the administration. The ground floor was used by the House of Representatives, the two rooms on the upper floor of the Senate and the Supreme Court. The building was abandoned in 1824 as the State Capitol and the Harrison County passed as a courthouse. The building is still standing and a historical site of Indiana.

Second State House

After the government's move to Indianapolis in December 1824, she worked in the courthouses of Marion County. The construction of this building was financed by the state in 1822, after Indianapolis was selected for the location of the new State Capitol. The courthouse served 12 years as State Capitol. At that time, Indianapolis was in the wilderness, away almost 100 km from the nearest major settlement. This made the construction of a large building..

The move to Indianapolis was a difficult task. Normally you need with the horse eleven days to travel from Corydon to Indianapolis. There was no road, you had to beat a path into the dense forest for the move entourage. The parade lasted over a month and finally in January 1825, the first meeting of the General Assembly of Indiana was held in the new State Capitol.

Third State House

1831 Indiana General Assembly decided to build a new State House. The building was financed by the sale of a quantity of building land in Indianapolis. It was established a Commission and its Member James Blake set a price of 150 USD for the architects of the best draft of the new State House from. The company of Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis won with his design. This was inspired by the Greek Parthenon. The building saw the Parthenon very similar, but had a large dome in the center. The building Looked very much like the Parthenon except for a large central dome. Town and Davis were awarded the contract for the construction of the building and could not find that, earlier than planned to finish in 1935.

The State House was built of blue limestone and had 2 floors. The governor and the Supreme Court occupied the ground floor. House and Senate were upstairs, each in a separate wing. The building saw many great 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 in the 1860s came to be Greek Revival - style out of fashion and the building began to fall. The limestone foundation began to fail, and many feared a complete collapse of the building. In 1867 the House of Representatives Deckke collapsed. 1873 debate on the rescue of the building was done, but without solving the problem. At the time, was elected as governor James Williams into office, the building was condemned to demolition. It was finally demolished in 1877.

Fourth State House

After the demolition of the building was decided, the government moved in 1876 from the building. The General Assembly moved into a large office building, which was built in 1865 and has welcomed the Supreme Court. The governor and the corporate office moved to another office building. The building of the State Office served as the State House until the new State House was completed. In 1887, prior to the final completion of the new building, the lower floors were so far completed that the government could leave the overcrowded buildings and his work could begin in the new building.