Virginia State Capitol

Coordinates: 37°32′20″N 77°26′01″W / 37.538758°N 77.433594°W / 37.538758; -77.433594
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Virginia State Capitol
The Virginia State Capitol Building in Richmond in August 2017
Map
Location1000 Bank St, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Built1785–1788
ArchitectThomas Jefferson; Charles-Louis Clérisseau
Architectural styleEarly Republic, Palladian
NRHP reference No.66000911[1]
VLR No.127-0002
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966
Designated NHLDecember 19, 1960[3]
Designated VLRNovember 5, 1968[2]

The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the state capital. It houses the oldest elected legislative body in North America, the Virginia General Assembly, first established as the House of Burgesses in 1619.

The Capitol was conceived of by

Maison Carrée in Nîmes. Construction began in 1785 and was completed in 1788. The current Capitol is the eighth built to serve as Virginia's statehouse, primarily due to fires during the Colonial period. The building also served as the Confederate States Capitol during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. In the early 20th century, two wings were added, leading to its present appearance. In 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark
.

History

Colonial precursors in Jamestown and Williamsburg

See also: Capitol (Williamsburg, Virginia)
Remains of the 1639 tower of the old church, photographed c. 1900
Reconstruction of the first Williamsburg capitol
Reconstruction of the first state capitol in Williamsburg

During the

Virginia House of Burgesses, met in 1619. The new government used four state houses at different times at Jamestown due to fires. The first Representative Legislative Assembly convened on July 30, 1619 at the Jamestown Church which served as the first Capitol.[4]

With the decision to relocate the government inland to Williamsburg in 1699, a grand new Capitol building was completed in November 1705. Nearby was the grand Governor's Palace. It burned in 1747 and was replaced in 1753. On June 29, 1776, Virginians declared their independence from Great Britain and wrote the state's first constitution, thereby creating an independent government four days before Congress voted for the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4.

The Capitol at Williamsburg served until the American Revolutionary War began, when Governor Thomas Jefferson urged that the capital be relocated to Richmond. The building was last used as a capitol on December 24, 1779, when the Virginia General Assembly adjourned to reconvene in 1780 at the new capital, Richmond. It was eventually destroyed.

Richmond and state capitol design

"Old Capitol" where the Ratifying Convention met[5]

When it convened in Richmond on May 1, 1780, the legislature met in a makeshift building near Shockoe Bottom. By 1788, the "Old Capitol" where the Virginia Ratifying Convention met was at the New Academy by the Chevalier Quesnay.

Plans were begun for a new building to serve a new state, the

James River
.

Maison Carrée

Maison Carrée at Nîmes in southern France, an ancient Roman temple.[6] The only other state to accurately copy an ancient model is the Vermont State House, which based its portico on the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. Jefferson had Clérisseau substitute the Ionic order over the more ornate Corinthian column designs of the prototype in France. At the suggestion of Clérisseau, it used a variant of the Ionic order designed by Italian student of Andrea Palladio, Vincenzo Scamozzi.[7]

The cornerstone was laid on August 18, 1785, with Governor Patrick Henry in attendance, prior to the completion of its design. In 1786, a set of architectural drawings and a plaster model were sent from France to Virginia, where it was executed by Samuel Dobie. It was sufficiently completed for the General Assembly to meet there in October 1792.

It is one of only twelve Capitols in the

Ohio, Oregon and Tennessee.)[8]

American Civil War

The building also served as the Capitol of the Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861–65) (It was the Confederacy's second home, the first being the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama).

Virginia State Capitol depicted on an 1864 Confederate $5 banknote
Virginia State Capitol depicted on an 1864 Confederate $5 banknote

The Capitol, the adjacent

Virginia Governor's Mansion, and the White House of the Confederacy (about three blocks to the north on East Clay Street) were spared when departing Confederate troops were ordered to burn the city's warehouses and factories, and fires spread out of control in April 1865. John Brown's carpet-bag, full of documents including many unpublished ones, was kept in the Virginia Capitol from 1860 to 1865 by Andrew Hunter, at that time a state senator. When Richmond fell, "so Yankees can't find them", the carpet-bag was hidden "between the wall and the plastering". It has never been found.[9]

The first

Washington, DC
.

From April 6 until April 10, 1865 Lynchburg served as the Capital of Virginia. Under Gov. William Smith, the executive and legislative branches of the commonwealth moved to Lynchburg for the few days between the fall of Richmond and the fall of the Confederacy.

On July 24, 2020, House Speaker

J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and other Confederates from the historic Old House Chamber.[10][11]

1870 Tragedy

Capitol in 1865

After the end of the

Reconstruction period, Virginia was under military rule for almost five years, ending in January 1870. In the ensuing months, a dispute over leadership of the Richmond government resulted in the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals holding a hearing on April 27, 1870, in the large courtroom on the second floor of the Capitol. Several hundred people crowded in. Before the proceedings could begin, the gallery gave way and fell to the courtroom floor. This added weight, in addition to the crowd already there, caused the entire courtroom floor to give way, falling 40 feet (12 m) into the House of Delegates
chamber.

The injured stumbled, crawled or were carried out onto the Capitol lawn during the mayhem that followed. Sixty-two people were killed and 251 injured.

Montgomery D. Corse
was partially blinded by the collapse.

Rebuilding, expansion, renovation

Modern renovation with wings on both sides

Despite demands for the building's demolition, the damage from the tragedy of 1870 was repaired. In 1904, two wings (not in the original plans) were added to the east and west ends of the building to provide much-needed additional space for the growing legislature. These additions were built to the collaborative designs of three of Virginia's leading architects and architectural firms:

Noland & Baskervill of Richmond.[13]

In 2003, the assembly approved $83.1 million for the renovation, restoration and expansion of the Capitol. Work began in 2004 and was completed on May 1, 2007. Among major changes are a completely new

Americans with Disabilities Act, plus office space and meeting rooms, and better security management. The final cost of the restoration was approximately $104 million. The extension was designed by architect Sonja Bijelić of RMJM.[14]

The

FBI warning of possible armed protests at US capitals.[15]

Individuals known to have lain in state/repose

Interior

  • Rotunda, with Jean-Antoine Houdon's statue of George Washington in the center
    Rotunda, with
    statue of George Washington
    in the center
  • Roof of the rotunda
    Roof of the rotunda
  • Old House of Delegates Chamber
    Old House of Delegates Chamber
  • (New) House of Delegates Chamber
    (New) House of Delegates Chamber
  • Senate Chamber (in session)
    Senate Chamber (in session)

Capitol Square

Bell Tower
LocationCapitol Sq., Richmond, Virginia
Area14.1 acres (5.7 ha)
Built1824
ArchitectSwain, Levi
Architectural styleFederal
NRHP reference No.69000347[1]
VLR No.127-0121
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 11, 1969
Designated VLRNovember 5, 1968[2]

The area around the Capitol is known as Capitol Square. It contains several monuments to prominent Virginians and events in Virginia:

  • Washington Monument
    , 1858
In 1869, the monument was completed, with statues of the following encircling the base:

In film and television

Given its

The White House featured in the movie The Contender (2000) starring Gary Oldman, Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater.[16]

In the 1993 comedy-drama film Dave with Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella; the House of Delegates chamber served as the set for the United States House of Representatives, where the title character President addresses a joint session of Congress.

In the 2012 film Lincoln, the Virginia State Capitol was used as a stand-in for the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. during the Civil War era with some film retouching.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 15, 2006.
  2. ^ a b "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Confederate Capitol". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  4. ^ "Jamestown Churches". National Park Service. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  5. Richmond Theater
  6. ISBN 0-06-430158-3
    .
  7. ^ Brownell, Charles E. (1992). The Making of Virginia Architecture. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. pp. 46–53, 214–217.
  8. ^ "Domes, Domes, Domes". National Conference of State Legislators. January 21, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  9. newspapers.com
    .
  10. ^ Schneider, Gregory S. (July 24, 2020). "Confederate memorials quietly removed from Virginia Capitol overnight". Washington Post. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  11. ^ "Virginia evicts Confederate monuments from its state Capitol". AP NEWS. July 24, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  12. ^ Christian, George L. (1915). The Capitol disaster. A chapter of reconstruction in Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Richmond Press, Inc.
  13. ^ Engineering News 9 June 1904: 447. New York.
  14. ^ ArchSTUDIO2227: The Virginia Capitol Extension
  15. ^ "U.S. capitals on edge for armed protests as Trump presidency nears end". Yahoo. January 16, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  16. ^ ""The Contender" – filmed on location in Virginia and starring Gary Oldman, Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges – opens October 13" (PDF) (Press release). Virginia Film Office. September 28, 2000. Retrieved January 30, 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virginia State Capitol.

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