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ALABAMA
through MISSOURI
ALABAMA
Statehood 1819
One of the 13 Confederate States
A strip of Alabama along the Gulf coast was claimed by Spain as part of La Florida, a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, from the middle 1500s when their explorers traveled as far as our Texas. The rest of Alabama was part of La Louisiane, a District of New France claimed by France in 1682. Mobile (settled in 1702 and now known as Old Mobile) was the French district capital from 1702 to 1711. The town was moved to the site of our present Mobile in 1711, and it continued as the French capital until 1720.
In the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War, La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River was ceded to Great Britain. This included northern Alabama and Mississippi. Also in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Great Britain acquired the very southern section of our Alabama and Mississippi from lands ceded by Spain and named it West Florida. They soon moved the north boundary of West Florida north to 32 degrees 28 minutes north latitude. Spain re-conquered West Florida between 1779 and 1781 and set the northern boundary at the 31st parallel, well south of where Great Britain had put it. The rest of Alabama and Mississippi became U.S. territory with the 1783 Treaty of Paris, and West Florida was officially ceded back to Spain in the 1783 Peace of Paris Treaty. The difference in the two renditions of the northern border was disputed by the U.S. and Spain. Also in 1783, Georgia was able to claim roughly the northern half of our Alabama and Mississippi according to their original charter. In the 1795 Pinckney Treaty, the section disputed between the U.S. and Spain became part of Georgia with the settling of the northern border of West Florida at the 31st parallel.
In 1798, Georgia was forced to give up its claim on our northern Alabama and Mississippi to the federal government due to a land fraud scheme. The previously disputed portion became Mississippi Territory, and the rest was unorganized territory until 1804 when it was added to Mississippi Territory. In 1810, American frontiersmen took control of West Florida and declared the Republic of West Florida, which was soon controlled by the U.S.
In 1817, Mississippi Territory was split. The eastern portion became Alabama Territory with St. Stephens (founded in 1789 by the Spanish as Fort San Esteban) designated the capital. The border between them was established at the current Alabama/Mississippi border. The Alabama territorial legislature met in the Douglass Hotel in St. Stephens for two sessions. After that, most people moved two miles west from what became known as Old Saint Stephens to New Saint Stephens. Old St. Stephens was in ruins by the beginning of the Civil War, and is now Old St. Stephens historical Park.
The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 took effect in 1821 and ceded all of Spanish Florida to the United States. The west half of West Florida was split between Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The east half of West Florida was joined with East Florida as unorganized territory.
The Alabama Territorial capital was moved to Huntsville (a town that began with John Hunt's cabin in 1805) shortly before Alabama was granted statehood in 1819. The new legislature chose Cahawba (our Cahaba) as the state capital site, and the legislature met there in the first State House from 1820 to 1826. Cahawba was often flooded and considered unhealthy, and a massive flood in 1825 took part of the state house down. The decision was made in 1826 to move to a new capital city. By 1900, Cahaba was a ghost town, and now most buildings are reduced to ruins. The copper dome of the State House was salvaged and installed on an 1830 church in Lowndesboro.
Alabama's capital was moved in 1826 to Tuscaloosa (founded in 1819) to the second State House. It remained there until 1847. After 1847, that capitol building became the Alabama Central Female College, which burned in 1923.
To better serve the increasing population in the eastern counties, in 1846, the capital was promised to Montgomery (founded 1817), but the state would not pay for land or a capitol building. The citizens acquired Goat Hill and completed the first Montgomery capitol in 1847. That capitol was destroyed by fire in 1849. The current capitol was built on the foundations of the first one in 1851. Wings were added on the east side in 1885, the south side in 1903, and the north side in 1911.
Alabama, one of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1861 and was reinstated after the Civil War in 1868. Montgomery became the first capital of The Confederacy in February of 1861, but that lasted only until May. The weather was too hot, and there were too many bugs, so President Jefferson Davis and the assembly moved to Richmond, Virginia. They moved to Danville, Virginia when Richmond fell to the Union Army in 1865, but were only there for eight days when they again moved, this time to Greensboro, North Carolina.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; archive.org; archives.alabama.gov; oxfordreference.com; smithsonianmag.com; encyclopediaofalabama.org; infoplease.com
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ALASKA
Statehood 1959
Russia explored the Alaska coast in 1725 and claimed it as Russian America. In 1799, the governor of Russian America, Alexander Baranov, founded Old Sitka on what is now named Baranof Island on the outer coast of Alaska's Inside Passage. The original settlement was destroyed by the Tlingit natives in 1802. In 1804, the governor and many Russians and Aleuts returned with a warship, destroyed the Tlingit village, and built a fort establishing the permanent settlement of Sitka. In 1808, Sitka was named the capital of Russian America.
The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for 7.2 million dollars. Russia's knowledge of the eastern border was rudimentary, and it did not agree with Great Britain's boundary, especially in the area of our Alaska's panhandle. At first, the sparsely settled land drew little attention, and the border issue was set aside. Then the 1898 Alaska gold rush came, and the border became a major issue. The 141st meridian was designated as the northern majority of the border, but Great Britain wanted control of the heads of certain fjords, and the U.S. claimed the border was on land east of the fjords. Possibly to maintain good relations with the U.S., in 1902 or 1903, Great Britain conceded to the United State's border claim. In 1906, Great Britain and the U.S. signed a treaty to re-survey and mark the border. The 550-mile line was surveyed, cleared 10 feet on both sides, and marked with permanent, visible markers. The task was completed in 1912 and is maintained to remain visible.
Control of Alaska was transferred from Russia to the U.S. in Sitka, which became the American capital city at that time. The United States established the District of Alaska in 1884, and Sitka remained the capital.
Juneau was founded on mainland Alaska as Harrisburg in 1880 by Joe Juneau and Richard Harris when they struck gold there. It was renamed Juneau City in 1881. In 1900, since Juneau was well established in a more easily accessible location than Sitka, it became the official capital of the District. The transfer of the capital from Sitka to Juneau was completed in 1906. the Territory of Alaska was created in 1912 with Juneau remaining the capital.
The current capitol building was designed in 1923 and built from 1929 to 1931 as the Federal and Territorial Building. The Territorial Legislature met in the Elk's Lodge, now known as Rockwell, and other places before the capitol was completed.
Alaska was granted statehood in 1959, and Juneau became the state capital with the territorial capitol becoming the state capitol building.
Sources: juneau.com; alaskascapital.com; usacitiesonline.com; m.juneauempire.com/state; cityofsitka.com; sitka.org; nps.gov; u-s-history.com; thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
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ARIZONA
Statehood 1912
Most of our Arizona was part of Spain's Nuevo Mexico, and our Arizona west of Nuevo Mexico was part of Spain's Alta California. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, those became Provinces of Mexico. The portions north of the Gila River became U.S. territory in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the Mexican-American War. The territory ceded in that treaty was then known as the Mexican Cession. The Compromise of 1850 divided the Mexican Cession, and most of our Arizona became part of New Mexico Territory. The Gadsden Purchase in 1853 brought the land from the Gila River south to the current southern border of Arizona and New Mexico into New Mexico Territory. All of our Arizona was then in New Mexico Territory.
The Confederate States of America split New Mexico Territory in 1861, organizing the southern half as Arizona Territory in 1862 with Tucson (founded 1775) as their capital. The Union maintained their claim on the whole New Mexico Territory, and in 1863, divided it into Arizona and New Mexico Territories, each claiming half of the Confederate Arizona Territory. With the surrender of the Confederate Army in 1865, their Arizona Territory was dissolved.
Arizona Territory was established in 1863 with a provisional capital site at Camp/Fort Whipple, a U.S. Army post. From 1864 to 1866, the capital was Prescott (founded in 1864 to become the capital) where the legislature met in a log cabin. Today, that cabin is preserved at Sharlot Hall Museum. Then the capital was moved to Tucson in 1867 where it remained until 1876. The territorial legislature reportedly met in a privately owned adobe building on Main Street, and, possibly, the Congress Street Saloon. The capital was moved back to Prescott from 1877 to 1889. In 1884, a two-story, brick capitol was constructed. After the capital was moved to Phoenix, the brick capitol became Prescott's first high school. It was demolished in 1914, and a new high school was constructed on the site.
The first day the legislature met in Prescott in 1889, they voted to move to Phoenix (area first settled by Europeans in 1867, incorporated in 1881) because Phoenix was halfway between Prescott and Tucson. They then packed and moved immediately. Phoenix City Hall had a second story added to accommodate the legislature until 1901 when the new capitol was finished. A bell tower was added to the City Hall building in 1905. The City Hall was demolished after the city offices moved to a new building in 1929.
The Phoenix Territorial Capitol was constructed from 1898 to 1901.
Statehood was granted in 1912. Phoenix remained the capital, and the territorial capitol building became the state capitol. In 1919, a west/rear wing was added, and in 1938, a wing was added to the west side of the 1919 wing, with all three components now forming an "H" as seen from above. From 1956 to 1960, two matching buildings were added to the east section of the complex, in front, but one to each side of the original capitol and not blocking its view. These are the House and Senate buildings. In 1974, an Executive Tower with flanking wings was attached to the 1938 addition on the west side. All rear additions are centered on the original capitol building.
The original Phoenix capitol was in use by the legislature until 1960 When they moved to wings and buildings constructed in the same complex. The original capitol building, which Arizona still refers to as its state capitol, has been an Arizona history museum since 1981.
Sources: azgovernor.gov; azlibrary.gov; sharlot.org; phoenix.gov; arizona100.blogspot.com; prescottpast.blogspot.com; kjzz.org; infoplease.com; city-data.com; encyclopedia.com
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ARKANSAS
Statehood 1836
One of the 13 Confederate States
Our Arkansas was part of the land claimed by France in 1682 as a District of New France and later named La Louisiane. Their first permanent establishment in Arkansas was Arkansas Post in 1686, at that time a trading post consisting of a wooden house and a fence. It became the seat of local government from 1686 to 1821. The Post was moved twice by the French for strategic reasons. In the 1763 Treaty of Paris, France gave all their land west of the Mississippi River to Spain. Arkansas Post was moved back to the second French location by the Spanish and renamed Fort Carlos III for their king in 1779. In 1800, Spain retroceded La Louisiane back to France, but the French never reoccupied the Post.
Our Arkansas became US soil in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase. In 1806, the southern portion of New Madrid County in Louisiana Territory was designated as the District of Arkansas. In 1813, the district became Arkansas County in Missouri Territory with the county seat designated as Arkansas Post.
Arkansas Territory was created in 1819 with Arkansas Post as the capital. The new territory included land from the southern boundary of Missouri Territory south to Louisiana, and from the Mississippi River west to the Rocky Mountains. The Adams-Onis Treaty later in 1819 made the western border the 100th meridian from Red River north to the Arkansas River. Treaties with the Choctaw in 1824 and the Cherokee in 1828 moved the western boundary east to the present Arkansas/Oklahoma border. When Texas entered the Union in 1845, Miller County south of Red River seceded from Arkansas to join Texas.
Arkansas Post remained the capital until 1821 when it was moved to Little Rock in the center of the Territory. In 1863, during the Civil War, the Post was destroyed by the Union Army along with the settlement around it. Today, it is the site of Arkansas Post National Memorial.
The site of our Little Rock was known as Petit Rocher (French for little rock) by the French settlers for a rock formation sticking out of the Arkansas River. It was named around 1799 in comparison to the large bluffs up the river which came to be known as Big Rock. The first settlement in the area then referred to as The Rock was a cabin built in 1812. After the New Madrid Earthquakes the same year, speculators tried to claim the town and temporarily renamed it Arkopolis. Their claim failed because the Quapaw had not ceded the land yet.
The first Territorial Capitol was built in Little Rock from 1833 to 1845 and first used in 1836. Arkansas was granted statehood in 1836, and though unfinished, the capitol became the State House. In 1885, the State House was expanded and embellished. Second floors were added to the covered walkways between the three buildings, the river side of the center building was extended 50 feet or more, and a statue of the Three Graces, Law, Justice, and Mercy, was installed over the main entrance on the other side.
Arkansas, one of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1861. When the Union army was just 50 miles from undefended Little Rock in 1862, the government moved temporarily to Hot Springs, a permanent European settlement since 1807. In 1863, Union troops occupied Little Rock, the Arkansas Confederate Capital was permanently moved to Washington (founded 1824 on Washington's birthday), where their capitol from 1863 to 1865 was the Hempstead County Courthouse, constructed in 1836. A Provisional Union Government was installed at Little Rock. Arkansas was reinstated in the Union after the Civil War in 1868 with Little Rock the state capital. Today, Hot Springs is a National Park, and Washington is Historic Washington State Park where Hempstead County Courthouse was restored in 1929.
The State House in Little Rock became too small and was deteriorating enough by the 1890s that in 1899, a new State House was needed. When the legislature moved to the new State House in 1911, the old State House was temporarily abandoned. Later it was used as the first University of Arkansas School of Medicine from 1912 to 1935. It was given to the American Legion in 1921, renamed the Arkansas War Memorial, and used for offices for state and federal agencies and patriotic groups while sharing space with the School of Medicine. The statue over the main entrance was removed in 1928 under suspicious circumstances and never recovered. From 1947 to 1951, the old State House was restored to its 1885 appearance and is now the Old State House Museum.
In 1899, the current capitol was designed and construction was started. After many delays, it was first used in 1911.
Our Arkansas has had a few names. Some of them are French pronunciations of the Native American Quapaw names from the area, and there was much influence from the neighboring tribe's name for them, South Wind, as well. Names on record since the French arrived are Akansea, Acansa, Arkansaw, and Arkansas. Even after statehood was achieved, the names Arkansaw and Arkansas were debated as well as their pronunciations. In 1881, the Arkansas General Assembly declared the name would be spelled Arkansas and pronounced Arkansaw.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; cupola.com; harding.edu; encyclopediaofarkansas.net; okhistory.org; britannica.com; u-s-history.com; arkansas.com; sos.arkansas.gov
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CALIFORNIA
Statehood 1850
Our California was part of Spain's Alta California. There was also Baja California, and the capital of (both) Las Californias was Loreto from 1697 to 1777 in Baja California, territory belonging to Mexico today. The capital of both Californias was moved by Spain in 1777 to Monterey (founded 1770) in Alta California where it remained until 1848. In 1804, the current boundary between Baja California and Alta California was defined.
In 1819, the Adams-Onis Treaty between the US and Spain established the northern border of Alta California at 42 degrees north latitude, which is the border between California, Nevada, and Utah to the south, and Oregon and Idaho to the north today. When Mexico won their independence from Spain in 1821, Las Californias became Mexican territory. They kept Monterey as the capital of Alta California. They supposedly attempted to change it to Los Angeles in 1835, but never enforced it.
In June and July, 1846, American settlers in Northern California rebelled against the Mexican government. They took over the Mexican outpost of Sonoma without a fight, created a flag with a bear, a red star, and the words, California Republic across the bottom, and declared the Republic of California. This became known as the Bear Flag Revolt. Their aim was to join the United States, but they were unaware that the U.S. had declared war on Mexico in May, 1846, taken Monterey, and raised the United States flag over California. When they received the news, the Republic of California was disbanded. The Bear Flag became the official flag of the State of California in 1911.
Mexico ceded Alta California to the U.S. in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Monterey and its Spanish Capitol built in 1845 temporarily became the capital for the new U.S. territory then referred to as the Mexican Cession. San Jose (founded in 1777) was selected as the Territorial Capital in 1849.
Gold had been discovered in California in 1848, and miners and settlers rushed in. The value of the land and the population increased so dramatically, Congress bypassed the usual procedure of creating a U.S. Territory first and went straight to granting California statehood in 1850 with the borders of our current California. A two-story adobe hotel in San Jose built in approximately 1830 became the first state capitol and was used for the first legislative sessions in 1850 and 1851. The new state legislature was not happy there and chose to move the capital again, to Vallejo, a newly planned city where land had been donated for a capitol building. The site of the San Jose capitol is now the Circle of Palms Plaza with a historical marker at its center.
The legislative session for 1852 started in the newly selected capital, but there was such chaos, the legislature moved to Sacramento (founded 1848) to complete the session. They attempted to meet again in Vallejo in 1853, but it was still chaos. Since Sacramento was recovering from a flood, another location was needed, and Benicia (founded 1847) was chosen. Their City Hall was used from February 1853 to February 1854. It was inadequate, and Sacramento offered free use of its county courthouse and a site for a new capitol building if they were chosen as the permanent capital, so the next session again was in Sacramento. The Benicia temporary capitol was restored in 1958 and still stands as a State Historic Park.
The 1854 session was held in the Sacramento County Courthouse, which burned after the session ended. The new Sacramento County Courthouse was built in time for the 1855 session and offered to the state legislature as a temporary capitol. The legislature chose Sacramento as the permanent capital city, and the Courthouse became the capitol until 1869 when the new one was ready for use. The exception was for the 1862 session when the assembly temporarily moved to the Merchants Exchange Building in San Francisco (founded 1776) because of floods in Sacramento.
A new capitol was designed in 1856, and construction was started. Due to a political mess, that design was abandoned, and the current capitol was designed and constructed from 1860 to 1874 with the legislature first occupying it in 1869. In 1949, the semicircular apse in the rear of the building was removed, and a larger, rectangular east wing was added in that space.
The idea of the Proposed State of Jefferson began in earnest in 1941. The residents of the counties on either side of the California - Oregon border felt they were poorly represented in their state capitals due to their distance and their predominantly rural nature. The first talk of secession had actually come to Northern California in 1852, just two years after statehood, so this was not a new movement. Soon after the idea became popular in 1941, World War II took attention away from local issues and toward national allegiances. The idea of the State of Jefferson was muted for 70 years.
The movement resurfaced and gained strength in 2015, now including more of the northern California counties. The efforts to separate the counties from California and Oregon are following the same approach that separated Vermont (from New York in 1791), Kentucky (from Virginia in 1792), Maine (from Massachusetts in 1820), and West Virginia (from Virginia in 1862). In one of several proposals, the new state would be the 18th largest in the nation. Many are working toward the creation of Jefferson, with declarations expressing their interest in joining the new state on their way to the state capitals at the time of this writing.
Sources: americanhistory.about.com; cupola.com; parks.ca.gov; library.ca.gov; capitolmuseum.ca.gov; assembly.ca.gov; sfmuseumlorg; ecv1841.com; onevoter.org; history.com; nydailynews.com
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COLORADO
Statehood 1876
The northeast section of our Colorado east of the Continental Divide and north of the Arkansas River was claimed by France as part of their La Louisiane. In 1763, France ceded La Louisiane west of the Mississippi River to Spain. Spain ceded it back to France in 1800. Then the United States bought it in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
Spain claimed a section the full north-south length of our western Colorado as part of Alta California and an L-shaped portion through the center as part of Nuevo Mexico, though they had no settlements there. When the border between Alta California and the U.S. was defined in the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819, another portion of our Colorado became part of the Spanish territory. In 1821, Mexico won their independence from Spain and took over their claims west of the Mississippi, so Alta California and Nuevo Mexico became territories of Mexico.
In 1836, the Republic of Texas declared independence from Mexico, and part of our Colorado was in an area disputed between Texas and Mexico. In 1845, the U.S. admitted Texas to the Union, including the disputed land. The rest of the state was then part of the land acquired by the U.S. from Mexico in 1848 (the Mexican Cession) in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War, which also officially settled Mexico's previous dispute with the Republic of Texas.
The Mexican Cession was divided in 1850, placing parts of our Colorado in the new Utah and New Mexico Territories. In 1854, Nebraska and Kansas Territories were organized, and each contained a portion of our Colorado.
In 1859, the settlers in the Colorado area organized the Provisional Territory of Jefferson because they were too far from the Kansas Territorial seat of government. Their territory was the area of our Colorado plus 2 degrees north latitude and 1 degree south latitude. They formed a legislature which first met in Denver City (founded 1858) and then also in Golden City (founded 1859). Congress never recognized Jefferson Territory, and their work was abandoned when Colorado Territory was created in 1861.
In 1861, the eastern section of Kansas Territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas, and the western section with the portion of our Colorado became unorganized territory. Also in 1861, Colorado Territory was organized, taken from Nebraska, Utah, and New Mexico Territories, and the unorganized territory that had been in Kansas Territory. The boundaries of Colorado Territory were set at those of our State of Colorado. In 1862, the Colorado Territorial Capital was supposed to be Colorado City (founded 1859 as Short Creek). When the legislators met there, supposedly in a false-front log cabin built in 1859, they found the accommodations inadequate. Five days later, they named Golden City as the capital. The log cabin then became the El Paso County Courthouse. It has been moved and restored, and now stands in Old Colorado City, which was annexed to Colorado Springs in 1917, and in 1982 became a National Historic District. Golden City remained the territorial capital from 1862 to 1867. The territorial legislature rented available buildings, and the one they used in Golden City still stands as the Old Capitol Grill restaurant. From 1867 to 1876, the capital was Denver City. Denver City's name was shortened to Denver in 1867.
Colorado was granted statehood in 1876, and Denver was designated as the state capital. The state legislature continued to use rented buildings until the current capitol, designed and constructed from 1886 to 1907, was ready. The dome was gilded in 1908 to commemorate the Colorado Gold Rush.
Sources: encyclopedia.com; jeffco.us; coloradoterritory.org; infoplease.com; visitcos.com; denver.org; u-s-history.com; history.com; cityofgolden.net; cupola.com
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CONNECTICUT
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1788
In 1630, the English Plymouth Council gave a grant of the land from the length of the Narragansett River west to the Pacific Ocean. Feeling their claim was established, the English went up the Connecticut River in 1633, then settled and founded Dorchester, later renamed Windsor. In 1634, some Englishmen came from Massachusetts Bay Colony and founded Watertowne, later renamed Wethersfield. Thomas Hooker led a group from Massachusetts Bay Colony up the Connecticut River in 1636 and founded Newtowne, later renamed Hartford. Also in 1636, representatives from Windsor, Wethersfield, and Newtowne formed an alliance that became the foundation of the Colony of Connecticut.
In 1638, a group of 500 Puritans established a self-governing commonwealth on our Long Island Sound under the name Quinnipiack without a royal charter or any title from the English government. In 1640, they named their harbor settlement New Haven Colony. Because of the 1637 Pequot war, the first voluntary union of American colonies was formed in 1643 for mutual protection between Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven Colonies. It was named the New England Confederation.
King Charles II ignored the 1630 Plymouth Council grant and issued a charter for Connecticut Colony in 1662 which included New Haven Colony, annexing it into Connecticut Colony. The two colonies argued over the annexation until 1665 when New Haven gave in and they officially became part of Connecticut Colony. They continued to govern themselves, and in 1668, they built their first meetinghouse for governmental, religious, and public use.
In 1701, the Connecticut Colonial Legislature decided New Haven and Hartford should be co-capitals. They held their May sessions in Hartford, and the October ones in New Haven. The first State House in New Haven was built in 1714. It was replaced by their second State House in 1763. The assembly met in meetinghouses in Hartford until they built their first State House in 1720. It was badly burned in 1783 and demolished in 1828.
Connecticut was granted statehood in 1788. New Haven and Hartford remained co-capitals.
Hartford's second State House was built from 1792 to 1796. The portico was enclosed in 1816. A cupola was added with a statue on top in 1822 (some sources say 1826), and a clock was installed in the cupola in 1849. Over the years, the building was painted various colors, including white, gray, and yellow. In 1916, the paint was sandblasted off only to be painted again in 1936. After a new capitol was completed, the old State House was used as Hartford City Hall. It is currently partly a museum, and partly a venue for special events.
The third New Haven State House was built from 1828 to 1831. It became too costly to maintain two capitol buildings, and both were in need of repair and expansion by 1870. The public voted to make Hartford the sole capital. The New Haven State House was last used by the assembly in 1874, and it was demolished in 1885 (some sources say 1889).
Hartford's current capitol was designed and built from 1872 to 1879.
Sources: History of the American Nation by McLaughlin; americanhistory.about.com; connecticuthistory.org; cupola.com; usahistory.info; m.landofthebrave.info; colonialwarsct.org; ct.gov/kids; u-s-history.com; celebrateboston.com
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DELAWARE
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1787
When the Dutch took over New Sweden in 1655 and declared the territory a part of New Netherland, they changed the name of the town of Santhoeck (founded in 1651) in our Delaware to New Amstel. When England took over New Netherland in 1664, the Duke of York annexed our Delaware as part of New York Colony, and New Amstel was renamed New Castle.
William Penn requested sea access for Pennsylvania Colony in 1682, and the Duke of York granted him what was known as the Three Lower Counties, our Delaware. In 1704, the residents of the Three Lower Counties were granted the right to have a separate government. Their first assembly convened at New Castle, the capital of the new partial colony.
In 1732, a courthouse was built in New Castle on the site of the previous 1660s courthouse to serve as the meeting place of the Colonial Assembly, and as the County Court House. It became the first Colonial Capitol of Delaware until 1777. Originally just the center block, the Court House has since had alterations and additions in 1765 (two small side wings added), 1802, and 1845 (west wing added). It still stands as the New Castle Court House Museum.
The Delaware residents wanted to be independent of the Quakers of Pennsylvania. When they declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776 with the rest of the colonies, they revoked the royal charter tying them to Great Britain. That charter also tied them to the Pennsylvania colonial government. In effect, they had also declared their independence from Pennsylvania. Now a separate colony, they called it the Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Upon Delaware. In 1777, they moved their capital to Dover (established 1683) to be in a more central location and away from the river and possible British naval attack.
Delaware ratified the Constitution and joined the Union in 1787. At first, the assembly met in different cities all over the state. In 1781, they decided to only meet in the already designated capital, Dover. A new State House, the first in Dover, was built from 1787 to 1791 to also serve as the Kent County Court House. It was remodeled in 1873 in the Victorian style with a new, central, front tower, and it was enlarged about the same time. The mansard roof was removed and a new cupola taller than the original was installed in 1910. The east wing was added in 1921. The state government moved to a new capitol in 1933. The old State House was restored to its original appearance in 1976 and still stands as a museum.
The new capitol, known as Legislative Hall, was constructed between 1931 and 1933. The north and south wings were extended from 1965 to 1970. Two projecting wings were added to the ends on the east side from 1994 to 1996.
Most of the State of Delaware occupies Delmarva Peninsula. The rest of the peninsula is part Maryland, and part Virginia; hence, the Del-mar-va name taken from the three state names. The residents of the peninsula have proposed seceding from their respective states to form the State of Delmarva with Salisbury their provisional capital repeatedly since the 1830s and as recently as 1998. Even today, many do not consider this secession a closed issue.
Sources: americanhistory.about.com; colonialswedes.net; smplanet.com; brittanica.com; udel.edu; newcastlehistory.org; delaware.gov; visitdelaware.com; history.delaware.gov; cupola.com; waymarking.com; articles.baltimoresun.com
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FLORIDA
Statehood 1845
One of the 13 Confederate States
San Agustin was the first permanent European settlement in our United States, established by Spain in 1565. We know it now as Saint Augustine in our Florida. The area had been named La Florida by Ponce de Leon when he first came ashore in 1513. As was done in San Agustin, the Spanish custom was to build a Government House, which also served as the governor's residence, on the plaza. St. Augustine's served the Spanish, English/British, and American governments. The first of the government houses was built in 1598. That was replaced by a masonry building in the 1680s which was burned in 1702 by the English. It was rebuilt from 1706 to 1713 and renovated in 1759. There are no known images of the building(s) before that time.
Though Spain at one time claimed a great deal of our southeastern land, France and England were advancing on them. By 1700, their western border with French La Louisiane was the Perdido River, which is the western border of our Florida. Spain then only controlled what is now our Florida and some land at the southern edges of our Georgia and Alabama.
The 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War gave the British control of Spanish Florida. They merged it with some of the newly acquired French land and divided that into East Florida Colony with St. Augustine as its capital, and West Florida Colony with Pensacola (permanently established in 1754) as its capital. The Apalachicola River was the dividing line between the two Florida colonies. Great Britain then moved the northern border of West Florida to 32 degrees, 22 minutes north latitude.
During the Revolutionary War, Spain recaptured West Florida. At the end of that war, there were two treaties: In the 1783 Peace of Paris Treaty, East and West Floridas were ceded back to Spain without specifying the boundaries, and Spain assumed West Florida's northern border was 32 degrees, 22 minutes north latitude; In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the specified the border was the 31st parallel. The border was finally established at the 31st parallel in 1795.
William Augustus Bowles founded the State of Muskogee in our Florida in 1799. It was intended to be a sovereign nation set aside for the Seminole, Muscogee, Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Native American people. Originally based in San Marcos de Apalache, Bowles was forced by the Spanish to move his capital to Miccosukee near Tallahassee in the Indian-held lands in 1800. Bowles was captured in 1803 and imprisoned by the Spanish, and the State of Muskogee evaporated. Miccosukee was destroyed in 1818 during the first Seminole War.
American frontiersmen took control of West Florida from Spain in 1810 without much of a struggle. They then declared the Republic of West Florida under the Lone Star Flag. Unable to merge with the Mississippi and Orleans Territories, they started establishing a government and chose St. Francisville (established as a Spanish monastery in 1773) in our Louisiana as their capital. Before the year ended, President James Madison claimed the territory for the United States.
In 1811, Government House in St. Augustine was used for offices and not residences anymore. In 1821, it became a courtroom until 1823 when it became the capital of the U.S. Territory of Florida until 1824. Then it served as a courthouse, office building, and post office until 1891, and as just the post office until 1965. In 1966, it became the property of the State of Florida and has been renovated and restored, now housing the Government House Museum and offices for the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board.
The U.S. Territory of Florida was established in 1821 after Spain formally ceded East and West Floridas to the U.S. in the 1819 Adams-Onis Treaty. Disputes over the West Florida land were settled by dividing it between Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Florida Territory then had the boundaries of our Florida. The Territorial Council used Pensacola and St. Augustine as alternating capitals at first, but it was a 20-day trip between them. Tallahassee was designated as the capital in 1824 because it was midway between Pensacola and St. Augustine.
Three log cabins were built in Tallahassee to be used by the legislature temporarily. In 1924, the Boy Scouts built a replica of the one considered to be the first Tallahassee capitol. In 1826, the second Tallahassee capitol, a two-story masonry building, was constructed to eventually be one wing of a larger structure that was never completed. That capitol was razed in 1839 to make room for the third capitol. The center section of the third Tallahassee capitol was built from 1839 to 1845. It became the first Florida state capitol when Florida was admitted to the Union in 1845.
Florida, one of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1861 and was reinstated after the Civil War in 1868.
A small cupola was added to the Tallahassee capitol in 1891. From 1900 to 1902, the capitol was enlarged with flanking wings and a larger dome covered with copperized iron. It was again enlarged with two wings added in 1923 (east/front and west/rear). They added another wing in 1936, this time a flanking wing in front (north end wing), and finally the last wing in 1947, a matching flanking wing in front (south end wing). A new capitol tower with two domed, four-story office buildings on either side for the House and Senate was constructed from 1972 to 1977 behind the old capitol. The old capitol then had a major restoration from 1978 to 1982 which returned it to its 1902 appearance, and it now serves as the Historic Capitol Museum.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; m.georgiaencyclopedia.org; cupola.com; flhistoriccapitol.gov/brochure; floridamemory.com; myflorida.com; exploresouthernhistory.com; staugustine.com
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GEORGIA
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1788
One of the 13 Confederate States
Georgia Colony, named in honor of King George II, was founded in 1732 to create a buffer between British South Carolina and its two potential rivals; Spain in La Florida, and France in La Louisiane. The charter was for the land from the Atlantic Ocean west between the Savannah River on the north and the Altamaha River on the south. From the headwaters of those two rivers, the borders were to be straight lines west to the Pacific Ocean. Much of this land west of the Appalachians had already been claimed by France and Spain.
In 1733, the first Georgia colonists laid out a new settlement and named it Savannah. At first, the unusual structure of Georgia's colonial government didn't really allow for any seat of government outside of England. Then, in 1743, a "president" of the colony of Georgia was designated who lived in Savannah, so from that point, Savannah was the capital of sorts. As was stipulated in the original charter, Georgia became a Royal Colony in 1752. When the transition was completed in 1754, Savannah was declared the seat of government for the colony.
With the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War, all of France's La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River became British soil, and borders were finalized. The British Colonies' western border was now the Mississippi River. Part of Georgia's southern boundary was moved south, now starting at the St. Mary's River from the Atlantic to its headwaters, and north from there to the Altamaha River and along it to its headwaters as before. In 1764, England granted Georgia Colony the previously undesignated land between the Colony's southern border and the northern borders of the newly divided East and West Florida Colonies.
During the Revolutionary War, the colonial legislature had to move around to escape British forces. Savannah, Augusta, Heard's Fort, and New Ebenezer were used, and not all of the meeting locations are known. From 1782 to 1785, the capital rotated between Savannah and Augusta (founded 1735). Since the inland location of Augusta was more central than the coast location of Savannah, the legislature moved the capital to Augusta when they convened there in January of 1786.
When Georgia became a state in 1788, Augusta was in use as the capital. Some sources report Savannah was still occasionally used for the legislature's meetings. Also in 1788, a commission was appointed to find a location for the third capital city that would be truly centrally located. They purchased 1,000 acres for the new capital and named it Louisville in honor of Louis XVI of France for his assistance during the Revolutionary War. The first meeting in the new capital was in 1796 in a new, red brick, Georgian State House. There are reportedly no known images showing the whole capitol building.
In the 1795 Pinckney Treaty, the section of West Florida that had been disputed between the U.S. and Spain from 32 degrees, 8 minutes north latitude to 31 degrees north latitude became part of Georgia with the settling of the northern border of West Florida at the 31st parallel. Then in 1802, Georgia was forced to give up their western land from the Chattahoochee River to the Mississippi River and cede it to the federal government when the Yazoo Land Scandal was uncovered. The Georgia government officials had been selling land to themselves and chosen others for pennies and selling it for great profits. The federal government sorted out the now-complicated land ownerships afterward. This left Georgia with its current boundaries.
In 1803, the General Assembly chose to find yet another site for a new capital city. After the capital was moved, the Louisville State House became a public arsenal, then an Irish lodge, and also a county court building. It was eventually torn down, and the Jefferson County Courthouse now occupies the site. The fourth capital city was then founded and named Milledgeville in honor of the governor, John Milledge. A second State House was ready in 1807 and served as the capitol until 1868. The decision was made to move the capital yet again. The Milledgeville State House became the Baldwin County Courthouse, then the Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College, and finally Georgia Military College, which it is today.
Georgia, one of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1861 and was reinstated after the Civil War in 1868. For one month in 1865, Macon (founded 1823) served as the capital when Sherman's troops gained control of the Milledgeville State House. The legislature met in Macon's old City Hall in a special session. The next session was held back in Milledgeville.
In 1868, as a result of the Reconstruction, Atlanta became the official seat of government for the State of Georgia. Atlanta originated as a town called Terminus (founded 1837) at the southern end of a new railroad line. It was renamed Marthasville in 1843. That name didn't stick, and the name, Atlanta, was chosen in 1847 as a reference to the Western and Atlantic Railroad.
The post-reconstruction Georgia legislature first met in the joint Atlanta City Hall and Fulton County Courthouse built from 1853 to 1854. This building was too small, and the city offered to build an addition on the City Hall or finish the incomplete Kimball Opera House, which had been started in 1867 and abandoned in 1868. The state purchased the Opera House, and it became the capitol for the next 20 years. It was destroyed by fire in 1894.
In 1877, the site of the Atlanta City Hall was selected for the new state capitol. The City Hall was torn down, and the current capitol was designed and constructed from 1883 to 1889.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; u-s-history.com; m.georgiaencyclopedia.org; cupola.com; georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu; maconga.org
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HAWAI'I
Statehood 1959
In approximately 1780, "westerners" started coming to the Hawai'ian Islands. This greatly influenced the progression of government in the Islands. When the ruler of the Big Island, King Kamehameha, started conquering the other Islands in 1795, his troops had American and European weapons and western sharpshooters, aiding tremendously in his success. He conquered Oahu in 1810, and Kauai, the last independent island, was surrendered to him later that year. He had united the Islands under one rule. Hawai'ian legend had called for the Islands to eventually be united, and the peace the unification brought was welcome. But the flow of westerners continued, with the British holding Oahu for five months in 1843, the French taking it in 1849, and more.
About 1800 (sources found stating 1793, 1798, 1802, 1803), a brick palace was built for King Kamehameha I in Lahaina on the island of Maui. Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawai'i from 1820 to 1845. After the King moved to Honolulu in 1845, the palace was used as a warehouse and a meeting house. No mention of the time or cause of destruction of this building was found. The ruins were discovered and later excavated starting in 1964. The site of the palace is now marked with a descriptive plaque and a reconstructed outline of the building set in concrete.
In 1845, King Kamehameha III established a permanent seat of government in Honolulu. In 1793, the English Captain Brown landed at what is now our Honolulu harbor. He named it Fair Haven, but the common name became Brown's Harbor by the 1820s. More ships came to trade, and the city grew. In around 1825, the official name became Honolulu, meaning "protected bay" in Hawai'ian.
King Kamehameha III acquired the Hale Ali'i building built for his sister in 1844 for his palace. This palace was not used for the royal family's everyday living, but rather for state purposes. King Kamehameha V renamed it Iolani in 1863. It was in very bad condition, and was torn down in 1874. The site was used for the new, four-story Iolani Palace built from 1879 to 1882.
In 1894, Queen Lili'uokalani was overthrown by a cruel provisional government. She ceded her powers to the U.S. in hopes of retaining some control. President Cleveland agreed the overthrow was illegal, and he admitted the U.S. Minister to Hawai'i had been involved. In 1898, the U.S. annexed the Islands as the U.S. Territory of Hawai'i for their protection. They became a tremendous military advantage, especially Honolulu Harbor, in World War II.
The provisional government that took over in 1894 had remodeled the Palace and renamed it the Executive Building. When the U.S. annexed Hawai'i in 1898, the old throne room became the House of Representatives Chamber, and the state dining room became the Senate Chamber. Hawai'i was granted statehood in 1959. The Palace became the state capitol from 1959 to 1968. When the new capitol was completed in 1969, Iolani Palace was already in restoration which continued through the 1978 opening as a public museum. The current capitol was designed and built across the street from the Iolani Palace from 1960 to 1969.
Sources: cupola.com; totakeresponsibility.blogspot.com; city-data.com; hawaiihistory.org; aloha-hawaii.com; nps.gov
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IDAHO
Statehood 1890
The part of our Idaho east of the Continental Divide was included in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The rest west of the Divide was in Oregon Country, which became American soil with the 1846 Oregon Treaty with Great Britain. That treaty set the northern border of Oregon Country and our Washington, Idaho, and part of Montana at the 49th parallel. The southern borders of our Idaho and Oregon had been set in the 1819 Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain. In 1848, Oregon Country was organized as Oregon Territory. In 1853, Washington Territory was organized from northern Oregon Territory, placing the northern section of our Idaho in Washington Territory. In 1859, Oregon State was taken from Oregon Territory with its current boundaries, and our Idaho was all in Washington Territory.
Idaho Territory, which was much larger than our Idaho State, was organized in 1863 from parts of Washington, Dakota, and Nebraska Territories. Lewiston (founded 1861) was designated the capital city. A log building built in 1862 was used for the new government's capitol building until the capital was moved to Boise (founded 1864) in 1865. The log capitol collapsed under heavy snow in 1913 and was then razed. A replica was built in Lewiston and dedicated in 2013.
In 1864, Montana Territory was organized, and part of Idaho Territory was included. Lewiston was on the west side of the Bitterroot Mountains and too inaccessible from the east. There were more people, and there was more mining east of the mountains, and the Bitterroots were impassable in the winter. The Bitterroots became the new border between Idaho Territory and Montana Territory. With this change, the people east of the mountains had better access to their new capital in Montana, and Montana Territory had enough people to be organized. Then the Idaho Territorial capital was moved in 1865 to Boise due to the greater population there.
After Idaho lost the land east of the Bitterroot Mountains, the residents of the panhandle of Northern Idaho started proposing forming a new state. The first proposal was already made in 1865 to join the Idaho panhandle with Eastern Washington into the State of Lincoln. It, of course, failed. Working in agreement with other states, there were later proposals including joining the Idaho panhandle with Eastern Washington and Western Montana, just joining Northern Idaho and Western Montana, and joining Northern Idaho with Eastern Washington and Northeast Oregon. One proposal did not include Idaho at all, asking for Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon to be split off together as a new state. Most of the new states were to be named Lincoln, but East Washington, Columbia, and Kootenai were also proposed. The most recent proposal came in 2005, so there might still be a State of Lincoln, one of these days.
Wyoming Territory was organized in 1868, taking the south-eastern edge of Idaho Territory and leaving Idaho with its current borders. In 1886, construction began on a five-story, red brick Territorial Capitol in Boise. When statehood was granted in 1890, Boise remained the capital city with the Territorial Capitol building becoming the state capitol. The current capitol was designed and constructed next to the old one starting with the central portion from 1905 to 1912. From 1919 to 1920, side wings were added and the old capitol was torn down to make room for them.
Sources: idaho.gov; boisethegreat.com; imnh.edu; elmorecountypress.com; city-data.com; cupola.com; u-s-history.com; bendbulletin.com; otisgold.com; lewistonschools.net; sussle.org
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ILLINOIS
Statehood 1818
In 1682, France claimed our Illinois as part of a District of New France. The first permanent European settlement in our Illinois was either (opinions differ) the village that grew up around Fort St. Louis in 1691 (if it was spread across the Mississippi River), or the town of Cahokia in 1699. Native Americans and French Jesuit priests settled Kaskaskia in 1703 on a small peninsula in the Mississippi River. The District was named La Louisiane in 1717. France ceded all of La Louisiane that lay east of the Mississippi River, except New orleans, to Great Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris ending the French and Indian War. Under the 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War, that land became U.S. territory.
In 1787, The U.S. established the portion of its new lands north of the Ohio River as the Old Northwest Territory, formally called the Territory of the United States North and West of the River Ohio. While organizing and dividing the new territory, Indiana Territory was established in 1800. Congress divided Indiana Territory in 1809 and established Illinois Territory, which included our Illinois, Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota, and the western upper peninsula of Michigan. Kaskaskia was established as the Territorial Capital.
When statehood was granted to Illinois in 1818, the Territory was divided and Illinois was given its current boundaries. The earlier plan had been for the northern border to be in line with the southern tip of Lake Michigan, but it was moved north to its present location in order to give Illinois a port.
The first Illinois Territorial Legislature met in Kaskaskia in 1812 in a simple, rented, two-story, brick capitol. No mention was found of when this building was constructed. The legislature continued to meet there until after Illinois was granted statehood in 1818, and Kaskaskia became the state capital. The first Illinois General Assembly requested land for a new capital city that would be more centrally located. A committee selected Reeve's Bluff as the location, and the second capital city was created there and named Vandalia. After the capital was moved in 1820, Kaskaskia was flooded and eroded by the Mississippi River many times. In 1901, the state capitol building was completely swallowed up by the water. What remains of Kaskaskia is now on Kaskaskia Island, surrounded by the Mississippi River and only accessible from Missouri.
The second General Assembly met in Vandalia in 1820 in the first state-owned State House, a two-story frame building. That State House burned in 1823, and a second was built in 1824, but not very well. By 1834, the walls bulged, and the floors sagged. There was talk of moving the capital again, and Vandalia residents tore down their old State House and built a new, brick State House in 1836 in hopes of remaining the capital city. When the capital was moved in 1839 to Springfield (settled in 1819), ownership of the brick State House went to Fayette County, and it became the County Courthouse. The state bought it back in 1919, and in 1933, it was converted to a State Memorial.
The first capitol building in Springfield was designed and constructed from 1837 to 1853. It served as capitol until 1876 when a new capitol was completed. Then it became the Sangamon County Courthouse. From 1899 to 1900, a huge remodeling was undertaken. The building was raised so a lower floor could be added, and a new dome was constructed. From 1963 to 1969, the old capitol was dismantled and rebuilt without the lower floor, and it was restored to its original appearance. It now serves as the Illinois State Historical Library.
The current capitol was constructed from 1867 to 1876.
Sources: wiu.edu; history.howstuffworks.com; peoriahistoricalsociety.org; prairieghosts.com; ilstatehouse.com; u-s-history.com; illinoisinfocus.com; vandaliaillinois.com; illinois.gov; cupola.com
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INDIANA
Statehood 1816
In 1682, France claimed our Indiana as part of a District of New France. The District was named La Louisiane in 1717. The first permanent European settlement in our Indiana was Vincennes, founded in 1732 as a French fur trading post. In the 1763 Treaty of Paris that ended the French and Indian War, France ceded La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans, to Great Britain. Under the 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War, that land became U.S. territory. In 1787, the U.S. established the portion north of the Ohio River as the Old Northwest Territory, formally called the Territory of the United States North and West of the River Ohio.
Congress split the Northwest Territory into two in 1800; most of it from the centerline of our Michigan west became Indiana Territory, and the remaining eastern section remained Northwest Territory. They chose Vincennes as the Indiana Territorial Capital. The legislature met in a few different private homes and a tavern in Vincennes.
In 1805, Congress divided Indiana Territory, creating Michigan Territory. In 1809, Congress divided Indiana Territory again, creating Illinois Territory and the current Indiana State boundaries for the Territory of Indiana. This put Vincennes on the western edge of the Territory.
The capital was moved to Corydon (founded 1808), a more central location, in 1813. Between 1814 and 1816, the two-story, brick building with a cupola first used there as the Territorial Capitol was built. The legislature met there to draft the state constitution. When statehood was established in 1816, Corydon remained the capital city, and the Territorial Capitol building became the state capitol.
The Indiana population was moving northward, so Indianapolis was founded in 1821 to become the new capital city, which it did in 1825. The Corydon capitol became the Harrison County Courthouse. In 1929, a new Harrison County Courthouse was completed and the old one was vacated. It was reopened in 1930 as a State Memorial, and still stands.
The first building built to be the Indiana Statehouse was constructed in Indianapolis from 1831 to 1835. It was demolished in 1877 due to unstable construction.
The current Statehouse was built from 1877 to 1888 to replace the 1831 capitol. In 1964, the dome was painted with gold epoxy, and in 1978, it was clad in copper.
Sources: indianamuseum.org; in.gov/history/2496; ducksters.com; cupola.com; thecorydongroup.com
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IOWA
Statehood 1846
Our Iowa was part of France's District of New France, claimed in 1682 and named La Louisiane in 1717. In the 1763 Treaty of Paris, France gave La Louisiane west of the Mississippi River, which included all of our Iowa, to Spain. In 1800, in the Treaty of San Ildefonio, Spain gave it back to France. This was the land the U.S. bought from France in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
Most of the Louisiana Purchase land, including our Iowa and not including what would become Louisiana State, was later named the District of Louisiana, then Louisiana Territory, and then Missouri Territory. In 1834, Iowa became part of the new Michigan Territory, and in 1836, Wisconsin Territory was created including Iowa. The Wisconsin Territorial Capital was Burlington (founded 1833), which is in our Iowa. The legislature had built a wooden building for their capital, which soon burned, and they then met at a Methodist church called "Old Zion".
Iowa Territory was created in 1838. It extended from its current southern and eastern state borders north through western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota to Canada. Burlington was made the temporary Territorial Capital. The new legislature was to choose a permanent capital site, and the existing cities were eager to be chosen. A new city, Iowa City, was created in 1839 to be the capital and settle the arguments between the existing cities. At that time, the site contained only one log cabin and was called the "City of Iowa." The Iowa Territorial Capitol building in Iowa City was built between 1840 and 1842. In the interim, a frame building built by Walter Butler was used as the capitol.
The Territorial Legislature submitted a constitution with their long-debated boundaries to Congress with their petition for statehood. Congress changed the boundaries to what they are now. Iowans accepted the changes, and Iowa was granted statehood in 1846. Iowa City remained the capital, and its Territorial Capitol known as the "Old Stone Capitol" became the state capitol.
In 1855, an act was passed that moved the capital to Des Moines due to its geographically central location. Des Moines had been settled in 1843 and incorporated in 1853 as Fort Des Moines. The name was shortened to Des Moines in 1857, shortly before it became the state capital. Iowa City was promised the state university for compensation. Their capitol building was deeded to the University of Iowa in 1857, and it was the University's first permanent building, housing the University from 1857 to 1863. It still stands on the campus. The Old Stone Capitol was restored in the 1970s and re-opened in 1976 as a state historical museum.
A temporary state capitol was built in Des Moines from 1856 to 1857, known as "The Old Brick Capitol." It was used for 26 years, until 1883, when the new capitol was complete enough to use. Then the Old Brick Capitol was left vacant, and it burned in 1892.
The new and current capitol was designed and built from 1870 to 1886.
Sources: iagenweb.org; uchicago.edu; iptv.org; dmgov.org; thehawkeye.com; city-data.com; cupola.com; citytowninfo.com; oldcap.uiowa.edu
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KANSAS
Statehood 1861
Most of our Kansas was part of France's La Louisiane claimed in 1682, and then acquired by the U.S. in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The small portion south of the Arkansas River was in Mexico's Nuevo Mexico and was claimed by both Mexico and the Republic of Texas after the Texas Revolution in 1836. That became part of the Mexican Cession territory acquired by the U.S. in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American War. The eastern boundary of Kansas Territory was the Missouri border, the northern was the 40th parallel north, the southern was the 37th parallel north, and the western boundary was the summit of the Rocky Mountains. This area, as well as our Oklahoma, Nebraska, and part of Iowa had previously been set aside as Indian Territory to be used for the relocation of the eastern tribes.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act established Kansas and Nebraska Territories in 1854 from unorganized territory. This was a turbulent time when slavery was heavily debated. The Kansas-Nebraska Act gave the people of the new territories the ability to choose whether they would become a slave state, or a free state. In Kansas, the appointed government officials were pro-slavery, but the Kansas residents were anti-slavery. When the assemblies were elected and proposed state constitutions were voted on, people from Missouri, a slave state, reportedly flooded over the border and voted in Kansas, swaying the results. Many other tactics were also employed to ensure Kansas would be a slave state. The Kansas anti-slavery public did not tolerate that, which caused so much conflict in the territory it became known as "Bleeding Kansas". As a result, there were actually two different governments in operation in Kansas Territory, one pro-slavery and recognized by the Federal Government, and the other anti-slavery and operating extra-legally.
When Kansas Territory was established, Fort Leavenworth (founded 1854) was selected as the temporary first capital. The new, pro-slavery legislature held meetings there in 1854 in a building that has been preserved as the First Capitol of the Kansas Territory even though it was a temporary capitol.
Later in 1854, the Governor changed the capital city to the Shawnee Methodist Mission (established in its new location in 1839). In 1855, he moved it again, to Pawnee (founded 1854), a former town now within Fort Riley. A stone capitol building was constructed there to be the permanent capitol, but it was used for only four or five days by the pro-slavery legislature in 1855. When the legislature met in Pawnee, they quickly moved the seat of government back to Shawnee Methodist Mission because the accomodations in Pawnee were inadequate. The stone capitol was preserved in the 1920s as the First Territorial Capitol Historic Site.
In 1856, the pro-slavery legislature selected Lecompton (founded 1854) as the permanent capitol. They met in 1857 in what is now known as Constitution Hall and wrote their proposed Kansas State Constitution. After the capital was moved from Lecompton, the Hall became an Odd Fellows Lodge, a Rebekah Lodge, and finally a State Historic Site in 1986. Construction began on a new capitol building which was abandoned when it became clear Lecompton would not be the new state capital city. In 1882, Lane University completed the building and used it until 1902. It still stands as a community historical museum.
The anti-slavery movement in Kansas centered in Lawrence (founded 1854) and then also in Topeka (founded 1854) starting in late 1855. Topeka's Constitution Hall was the first stone building in Topeka. The original owners had abandoned it in 1855 before completion, and the City Fathers took it over and plastered the walls so the new, extra-legal, anti-slavery legislature could meet there. The Hall held five meetings of the Topeka Free State Legislature under the Topeka Constitution written in Constitution Hall. They were dispersed by Federal troops in 1856, but continued to meet in Topeka.
In the 1858 elections, Free State Legislators finally took the majority of the seats in the federally recognized assembly. The extra-legal government was no longer necessary. The now-united legislature would often meet in Lawrence, in the Babcock & Lykins building. Lecompton, which was the legally recognized capital, and Lawrence in effect became alternate capitals until 1861.
Several possible state boundaries were heavily debated. After the Colorado Gold Rush, moving Kansas' western border east was discussed. Also, Nebraska Territory south of the Platte River was considered for annexation to Kansas by both Kansas and Nebraska residents. By 1860, four statehood bills were written in four different cities; Topeka, Lecompton, Leavenworth, and Wyandotte (founded 1838, now Kansas City, Kansas). They all specified different boundaries.
Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1861 under the Wyandotte Constitution. According to this plan, the western boundary was moved eastward to its present location at 102 degrees longitude, and none of Nebraska Territory was annexed. Topeka was named the state capitol. The first Kansas State Legislature under the Wyandotte Constitution met in Topeka in 1861. They used a variety of buildings, including the Ritchie Block, the Gale Block (now Crawford's Opera House), the Congregational Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1864, they leased Constitution Hall for five years. The Hall had been enlarged with additional structures abutting each side, and it served them until the new capitol was sufficiently completed in 1869. The Hall became offices, meeting places, and in 1910, the second floor was converted to apartments. It was saved from demolition in 1998, and since 2011 is undergoing restoration as Constitution Hall State Historic Site.
The current capitol was designed and built from 1866 to 1903. The legislature met there for the first time in 1870 during construction of the first wing, the east wing, before its completion. The east wing was completed in 1873, the west wing in 1881, and the central section with the north and south wings, dome, and cupola were completed in 1903. In 2002, the statue of "Ad Astra" was placed on the cupola.
Sources: kshs.org; territorialkansasonline.org; moran.senate.gov; lecomptonkansas.com; lvks.org; cupola.com; history.rays-place.com; civilwaronthewesternborder.org; theodora.com; freedomfrontier.org; cjonline.com; visittopeka.com
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KENTUCKY
Statehood 1792
One of the 13 Confederate States
Our Kentucky was part of France's La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River that was ceded to Great Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War. Kentucky was the first area west of the Allegheny Mountains to be settled by American Pioneers. The first permanent American/European settlements were Fort Harrod, now Harrodsburg, in 1774, and Boonesboro, founded in 1775 by Daniel Boone's Transylvania Company.
The Transylvania Company sent a representative to the Continental Congress in 1775 to request the creation of the 14th Colony to be named Transylvania. The Colony was to be created from land purchased from the Cherokee, which included most of our Kentucky and a large portion of our Central Tennessee. The plan failed to gain adequate support and was abandoned when most of the territory became Kentucky State in 1792.
After the Revolutionary War, Great Britain's holdings south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River became American soil. Our Kentucky was made a county of Virginia because the original charter for Virginia included all land directly west to the Pacific Ocean. Because of the mountains between Kentucky and Virginia, aid and control were not made readily available to Kentucky. The residents threatened to join Spain when opposition to Kentucky statehood had been feared for several years, possibly due to her probable status as a slave state. After the Statehood Admissions Act in 1791, Vermont was admitted as a free state and was paired with Kentucky gaining statehood as a slave state in 1792. The peaks of the mountains were made the border between Virginia and Kentucky, so the border established then matches the current one. Kentucky is one of the very few states after the original 13 that did not become a Territory before gaining statehood.
Kentucky's first general assembly met in a two-story log building in the temporary capital of Lexington (founded 1775). They chose Frankfort (founded 1786) as the permanent capital city. The first State House in Frankfort was constructed from 1793 to 1794. It burned in 1813. The second State House was constructed on the same site from 1814 to 1816. It burned in 1824. The third capitol was built from 1827 to 1829 and used as capitol from 1830 to 1910. After the current capitol was ready for use in 1910, the old capitol became the headquarters of the Kentucky Historical Society until 1968. It still stands, restored to its 1850s appearance, as a museum.
Kentucky is considered one of the 13 Confederate States because it was accepted by the Confederacy, but excluded by those who claim there were only 11 Confederate States because it never formally seceded from the Union. Kentucky was torn between its Union and Confederate loyalties. There were enough Confederate sympathizers there to establish a Provisional Confederate Government. Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy in 1861 with Bowling Green (founded 1798) the designated Confederate Capital. At the same time, the original elected government in Frankfort remained in power. Kentucky's secession was not recognized as legal by the Union government, so reinstatement was not necessary after the Civil War (1861 - 1865) ended.
The current capitol was designed and constructed from 1905 to 1910.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; m.datesandevents.org; penelope.uchicago.edu; infoplease.com; pr51st.com; kentuckytourism.com; lrc.ky.gov; capitol.ky.gov; uky.edu; cupola.com; athena.uky.edu; transy.edu
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LOUISIANA
Statehood 1812
One of the 13 Confederate States
The southeast corner of our Louisiana was claimed by Spain as part of La Florida, a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, from the middle 1500s when their explorers traveled along the Gulf coast as far as our Texas. The Spanish did not establish settlements there, and their control ceased when our Louisiana became part of a District of New France claimed in 1682 and named La Louisiane in 1717.
The first capital of La Louisiane was Fort Maurepas (constructed 1699) near our Biloxi, Mississippi. In 1702, the capital was moved to Fort Louis de la Mobile (founded 1701) near our Mobile, Alabama, and in 1710, the settlement and capital were moved slightly upstream to the present site of Mobile (founded 1702). The site of Fort Maurepas is now Ocean Springs, Mississippi. A replica of Fort Maurepas has been constructed there on Front Beach. Fort Louis de la Mobile was renamed Fort Conde in 1720 and rebuilt with brick and a stone foundation. It was no longer needed and was dismantled starting in 1820. A replica of Fort Conde opened in 1976 in Mobile, Alabama.
The area was lightly settled by Europeans when Nouvelle-Orleans (our New Orleans) was established as a trading colony in 1718. Although it was at the southern edge of La Louisiane, the area was considered so important as a future port that New Orleans was made the French District Capital in 1722. The first New Orleans Cabildo, which was both the Capitol Building and Town Hall, was constructed on the foundations of an old prison starting in 1718. It had two stories built of stuccoed brick, and was occupied as the French Capitol in 1722. The territory became a Royal French Colony in 1731, and New Orleans remained the French Colonial Capital. In 1761, the French built Government House, another building used for colonial government purposes besides the Cabildo.
In 1762, the secret Treaty of Fontainbleau transferred New Orleans to Spain. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ceded La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain, and all of the rest of La Louisiane west of the Mississippi River to Spain, who called it the District of Alta Louisiana. Government House and the Cabildo continued in use as Spanish city and territorial government buildings. The Cabildo burned in the Great New Orleans Fire of 1788. New government buildings were constructed by the Spanish to replace the ones lost, only to be destroyed by fire in 1794. Government House survived both fires.
The Spanish built a new Casa Capitular (familiar name Cabildo) from 1795 to 1799 in New Orleans on the site of the previous Cabildo. Some of the original walls and foundations from both the previous Cabildo and the earlier prison were used in its construction and remain in the Cabildo today.
La Louisiane and New Orleans were retroceded to France in 1800 in the Treaty of San Ildefonso. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 made La Louisiane west of the Mississippi River and New Orleans American territory. Most of the boundaries of the territory were loosely defined, except for the river. Estimates of the size of the territory vary from 500 thousand to 800 thousand square miles. The price the United States paid was $15 million.
After 1803, the Cabildo served New Orleans as their City Hall, Courthouse, and Police Station, and Louisiana Territory as their Courthouse. It has also been used in a variety of ways including as a hospital, banquet hall, and by various libraries. The third floor with the mansard roof and cupola were added to the Cabildo in 1847. In 1853 (1868 in other sources), it became the headquarters for the Louisiana State Supreme Court. It avoided demolition and was transferred to the Louisiana State Museum in 1908. In 1911, the Cabildo became one of the buildings in the Louisiana State Museum complex.
Government House continued as the capitol building under the U.S. government. In 1804, the Louisiana Purchase was divided into the Territory of Orleans and the District of Louisiana. From the Arroyo Hondo River west to the Sabine River was an area bordering on the Gulf of Mexico that was contested between Spanish Texas and the U.S. It became a neutral zone until 1819.
The District of Louisiana was organized as the Territory of Louisiana in 1805. The Territory of Orleans, except for the northwest tip which was ceded to Louisiana Territory, but including the southwest neutral zone, was admitted as the State of Louisiana in 1812. Also in 1812, the western tip of West Florida was added to Louisiana, resulting in the state's current boundaries. New Orleans remained the capital, and Government House became the first Louisiana State capitol building. Later in 1812, Louisiana Territory's name was changed to Missouri Territory since the new state was also named Louisiana. The 1819 Adams-Onis Treaty established the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase at the Sabine River, confirming the previously mentioned neutral zone as U.S. soil and part of Louisiana State.
Government House was the seat of the Louisiana Legislature until it burned in 1828. In 1829, the capital was moved to Donaldsonville (founded 1805). An image of the Donaldsonville capitol building was found, but no description or history. In 1831, the capital was moved back to New Orleans, and in 1846, a safer place was sought for the capital. They looked for a location still on the Mississippi River, but upstream and elevated. Baton Rouge (founded 1719) was chosen. The first capitol in Baton Rouge was constructed from 1847 to 1852.
Louisiana, one of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1861. During the Civil War (1861 to 1865), Donaldsonville was destroyed by Union warships. The capitol in Baton Rouge suffered a severe fire in 1862 while being used as a garrison by Union troops. The building was unusable, but the exterior walls were in perfect condition and salvageable. The capital was moved back to New Orleans until the State House in Baton Rouge was rebuilt. Louisiana was reinstated to the Union in 1868.
The old St. Louis Hotel in New Orleans was originally built in 1836, then rebuilt 1841 to 1843 using the same plans after being destroyed by fire. It was used by troops during the Civil War and was then closed. In 1874, the hotel was sold to the State. Also known as the St. Louis Exchange Hotel, it served as the de facto State House from 1874 to 1882 while the Baton Rouge capital was unusable and then rebuilt. In the 1890s, the St. Louis Hotel became the Hotel Royal, but was empty again by 1906. It was destroyed in the 1915 New Orleans hurricane.
The Baton Rouge capitol building was rebuilt from 1880 to 1882 with a fourth floor and upper turrets added. The upper turrets were removed in 1915. The capitol was becoming obsolete, and the legislators moved out when a new capitol was ready in 1932. More turrets were removed from the Old Capitol in a 1937 renovation. The Old Capitol currently houses the Governmental History Museum.
The current capitol building was designed and constructed from 1930 to 1932.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; cupola.com; civilwar.org; publications.newberry.org; gonola.com; the-wombat.com; u-s-history.com; history.state.gov; ushistory.org; libraryofcongress.gov; infoplease.com; donaldsonvillela.gov; city-data.com; storyvilledistrictnola.com; louisianastatemuseum.org; nps.gov; knowla.org; neworleanshistorical.org; museumofmobile.com
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MAINE
Statehood 1820
Though the settlement of our Maine began in colonial times, Maine was not one of the 13 original colonies. Land from the Merrimac River in our New Hampshire and Maine, to Sagadahok River in Maine, was granted by the Council for New England to Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason in 1622 for a commercial venture. This formed a proprietorship. In 1629, Mason and Gorges divided their land and named their portions New Hampshire (Mason) and Maine (Gorges). The border between them was the Piscataqua River from its mouth to its headwaters at Salmon Falls, then north in a straight line.
The first permanent European settlement in our Maine was a trading and fishing post named Casco on the Portland Peninsula in 1633. In 1658, it was renamed Falmouth (Fairmouth according to some sources).
Gorges received a Royal Charter for Maine in 1639. In 1677, Gorges' heirs sold the rights to Maine, and the territory became the District of Maine. It was governed as such until its statehood in 1820.
A new charter was issued to Massachusetts in 1691 which united Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Maine into the Royal Colony of Massachusetts. In the first part of the 1700s, England and France disputed ownership of Maine. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended all French claims to Maine. The 1783 Treaty of Paris ended all British claims, but did not specify the border between now U.S. territory in Maine and British territory in New Brunswick. The dividing line was supposed to be where the watershed split between running to the St. Lawrence and to the Atlantic, but they did not agree on where that was. The border between Maine and New Brunswick was disputed until the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty with Great Britain. Many of the residents of the disputed area which became part of Maine at that time still feel their land rightfully belongs to Canada.
After the town was destroyed twice in the Revolutionary War, the citizens of Falmouth created another town nearby in 1786 and named it Portland. Meanwhile, the town of Hallowell was incorporated in 1777. In 1797, the north and middle parishes of Hallowell broke off and formed another town, first named Harrington and renamed Augusta four months later.
The people of Maine were anxious for statehood. Being a District of Massachusetts put their capital in Boston quite far away, and New Hampshire was between them, too. The 1820 Missouri Compromise brought Maine into the Union as a free state while Missouri gained statehood as a slave state. Maine's first, temporary capital was selected at that time as Portland. The two-story Portland State House was built in 1820 and used until the capital was moved in 1832. The State House was destroyed in the Great Fire of July 4, 1866, which was apparently set off by fireworks.
The legislature wanted a more central location for their capital and selected Augusta as the permanent capital of Maine in 1827. The legislature stayed in Portland while a new State House was built in Augusta. Designed in 1828, the Augusta State House was completed in 1832. A large, rear wing was added in 1890, but by 1907, the working space in the capitol was inadequate. It was extensively remodeled from 1909 to 1911. The building was demolished except for the front and rear walls and rebuilt with extended north and south wings and a taller, more impressive dome.
Sources: americanhistory.about.com; usahistory.info; maineencyclopedia.com; infoplease.com; legislature.maine.gov; maineguide.com; m.dailyks.com; augusatmaine.gov; u-s-history.com; cupola.com; mainelegislature.org
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MARYLAND
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1788
Virginia's first charter included all the land that became Maryland, but that charter had been revoked in 1624, and Virginia Province had reverted to the crown. George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, obtained a charter from King Charles I of England in 1632 for land on either side of Chesapeake Bay that gave him the land and the sole power of government. This was called a palatinate. The boundaries stated in the charter were the 40th parallel to the north, the southern bank of the Potomac River to the south, the meridian passing through the source of the river to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. This included all of our Delaware and parts of our Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Before the charter was issued, the first Lord Baltimore died, and the plan and charter passed to his son, Cecilius, the second Lord Baltimore.
Maryland was founded in 1634 when two ships of colonists led by Lord Baltimore's brother, Governor Leonard Calvert, landed and made a settlement at St. Mary's City. This was the first permanent European settlement in Maryland and effectively its capital.
King Charles' sons, Charles II and James, the Duke of York, disregarded Lord Baltimore's original charter and annexed our Delaware to New York Colony in 1664. Then in 1682, the Duke gave Delaware to William Penn. The dispute was finally settled in 1769 by the establishment of the Mason-Dixon Line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania and its Three Lower Counties, our Delaware, at their current borders.
In 1692, Maryland became a royal colony when the Crown supported a Protestant takeover of the government in St. Mary's City. This was the end of Lord Baltimore's rule. The new government moved the capital in 1695 to a more central location, Anne Arundel Town, previously known as Providence (founded 1649), and renamed it Annapolis in honor of Princess Anne.
The first State House was built soon after the 1695 move to Annapolis. It burned in 1704. The second State House was completed on the same site in 1709. It became too small and was in poor condition by 1770, and it was torn down.
The third and current State House was originally designed and built from 1771 to 1779 on the same site as the previous two. By 1784, it still was not complete, the roof leaked, and the cupola was considered inadequate. The State House cupola was replaced with the current dome during remodeling from 1785 to 1797.
While the State House was being constructed and remodeled, three events important to Maryland took place. First, from November of 1783 to August of 1784, Annapolis was the National Capital. Second, Maryland ratified the Constitution and became a State in 1788. And third, in 1791, Maryland donated over half of the land for the planned new National Capital, our Washington, D.C.
Congress had passed a law in 1790 permitting President George Washington to select a location for the new National Capital. Washington chose a square section of land, 10 miles on each side and turned 45 degrees so it appears as a diamond on a map. The Potomac River runs through the diamond with Virginia on the west side of the River and Maryland on the east side. Virginia and Maryland donated the land chosen. In 1791, the commission developing the plan settled on the names, the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia with the two encompassing the same land. This became the world's first planned capital. Later, Virginia was uncomfortable with this arrangement because of the growing struggle over slavery. Their portion, approximately a third of the new territory, was returned to Virginia in 1846.
When the State House became too small, it was enlarged rather than replaced. In 1858, a semi-octagonal bay at the rear was replaced with a larger octagonal annex for the State Library. In 1886, an annex was added to the back of the library annex. In 1902, the 1858 and 1886 annexes were removed and a new, rectangular annex was built for the Senate and House Chambers.
Currently, the General Assembly meets in the State House three months every year, and the Governor and Lieutenant Governor have their offices there.
Sources: History of the American Nation, by McLaughlin; americanhistory.about.com; annapolis.gov; cupolas.com; m.landofthebrave.info; usahistory.info; msa.maryland.gov; freepages.geneology.rootsweb.ancestry.com; city-data,com
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MASSACHUSETTS
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1788
The first European settlers in our Massachusetts were the Puritans on the Mayflower, later known as Pilgrims, who settled Plymouth in 1620. They did not use their original charter. Instead, they formed their own government through the Mayflower Compact and governed themselves. They grew into the Plymouth Colony with the settlement of Plymouth the seat of government. Their second Meeting House was constructed in 1683, and demolished and replaced in 1747.
Other colonies were established as the Puritans spread through the area. In 1628, they established Salem Towne (our Salem) on Massachusetts Bay. Those settlers obtained a land grant from the Council for New England with boundaries stated as three miles south of the Charles River, to three miles north of the Merrimack River, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Then they also obtained a Royal Charter in the name of the Massachusetts Bay Company and created the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their seat of government was Salem Towne. Their first church and Meeting House was small and simple.
In 1630, several hundred Puritans arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony from England. They landed in Salem Towne, settled briefly in Charlestown (founded 1629), and before the end of 1630, moved across the river to the Trimountaine Peninsula. They named their new town Boston. In 1632, Boston became their official Colonial Capital. The first Town House in Boston was constructed of wood in 1657. The main floor was a market and business meeting space, and the top floor held the government offices and meeting hall. It burned in 1711.
After the 1637 Pequot war, the first voluntary union of American colonies was formed in 1643 for mutual protection between Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven Colonies. It was named the New England Confederation. The rest of the 17th century saw several changes. The Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter was revoked in 1684 because they ignored royal control. The section of the coast of Maine held by New York was transferred to Massachusetts in 1686. Also in 1686, Boston was declared the Capital of King James II's new Dominion of New England, which dissolved in 1689. A new Charter was issued in 1691 which united Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and Maine Colony into the Royal Colony of Massachusetts. Boston remained the capital. The Provisional Charter of 1692 added Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and other adjacent islands to Massachusetts.
After the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts gave up its claim on its western land (our southern Wisconsin and Michigan, and our western New York) as most of the Colonies did. Then Massachusetts ratified the Constitution and became a state in 1788. Maine was still a District of Massachusetts even though New Hampshire lay between Maine and Massachusetts, and Maine was too far from their capital in Boston. Finally in 1820, the Missouri Compromise brought Maine into the Union as a free state while Missouri gained statehood as a slave state. This left Massachusetts with its current boundaries.
Construction of the first State House in Boston, now Old State House, began in 1712 on the same site as the earlier Town House that had burned in 1711. The State House also suffered from fire in 1747 and was repaired in 1748. After completion of a new State House in 1798, the old State House was renovated for commercial use. From 1830 to 1840, it was Boston City Hall. From 1840 to 1880 it was used commercially again, and a mansard roof, a porch, and billboards were added in those years. In 1881, the old State House was restored to a more original appearance, and the upstairs became a museum. More restoration work was done in 1907, 1990, and 2008. Today, Old State House is a museum of Boston history run by the Bostonian Society.
The front, central portion of the current State House was designed and built from 1795 to 1798. In 1831, they built a rear addition. More rear expansions and rear additions were made in 1853-56 and 1889-95. From 1914 to 1917, the two side wings were added. For a while, the original building was painted white to match the wings, but has since been returned to its original color.
Sources: americanhistory.about.com; u-s-history.com; searchboston.com; localhistories.org; hopefarm.com; connecticuthistory.org; cupolas.com; landofthebrave.com; usgennet.org; bostonhistory.org; iboston.org
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MICHIGAN
Statehood 1837
Our Michigan was part of France's La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River that was ceded to Great Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the 1783 Treaty of Paris made that territory American soil. In 1787, the U.S. established the portion north of the Ohio River as the Old Northwest Territory, formally called the Territory of the United States North and West of the River Ohio. That territory was divided in preparation for forming states by an east-west line drawn from the southern tip of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie. The wording in the 1787 Northwest Ordinance regarding that border was vague, and the best map of the time was wrong, placing the line incorrectly. As a result, the southern border of Michigan was debated until 1835.
In 1800, the western half of our Michigan became part of Indiana Territory. In 1803, the eastern half also became part of Indiana Territory when Ohio became a State. Michigan Territory was created in 1805 with Detroit (founded 1701) designated as the capital. The Territory included the Lower Peninsula of our Michigan and the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula. In 1819, Michigan Territory was expanded to include the whole Upper Peninsula, our Wisconsin, and our eastern Minnesota. Michigan Territory was then expanded again in 1834 to include all of our Minnesota and Iowa, and parts of our North and South Dakota.
TheTerritorial Capitol building in Detroit was under construction in 1823 and occupied in 1828. After the capital city was moved in 1847, the building became a school and a library, then burned in 1893.
In preparation for Michigan's statehood, the debate around the southern border needed to be settled. The two accepted border interpretations ran parallel, one to the north, and the other to the south of 486 square miles of land. The area inside was called the Toledo Strip, since Toledo was located inside the strip at the eastern end. Ultimately, the northern border of the strip was chosen by Congress in 1835 as the official southern border of Michigan even though it was north of the southern tip of Lake Michigan. The Toledo Strip went to Ohio, and Michigan got the rest of the Upper Peninsula as compensation.
Michigan was granted statehood in 1837. Detroit remained the capital. Michigan came in as the free state, and Arkansas came in as the slave state in the pair, as was customary since the 1820 Missouri Compromise.
In 1847, the capital was moved to Lansing (founded in 1835 as Biddle Town, then renamed Lansing Township) to provide distance from the British troops in Windsor, Ontario, and to help develop the interior of the state. A new, temporary state capitol was under construction in 1847 and first used in 1848. After the current, permanent capitol was completed, the 1847 one was used for light industry. It burned in 1882.
The current capitol was designed and constructed from 1871 to 1879.
In 1895, the Proposed State of Superior made the news. It was to be made up of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the portion of Wisconsin approximately north of Green Bay. Some proposals also include more of Wisconsin and the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The geographical separation between this region and the southern areas which contained a greater population as well as the two state capitals caused enough concern for the residents that the proposal is still being considered, with it being discussed seriously as recently as 1970.
Sources: cupola.com; michigan.gov/ legislature.mi.gov; michiganinbrief.org; toledowar.com; geo.msu.edu; encyclopedia.com; wisconsinhistory.org
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MINNESOTA
Statehood 1858
All of our Minnesota was part of La Louisiane, a District of New France claimed in 1682. A portion of our eastern Minnesota, the land east of the Mississippi River, became British land with the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War, and American land with the 1783 Treaty of Paris at the end of the Revolutionary War. The northeastern tip and a northwest section of our Minnesota did not become American land until later. In 1787, all the American land north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River to the Pennsylvania border was established as Old Northwest Territory, formally called the Territory of the United States North and West of the River Ohio. The source of the Mississippi River was not yet determined, so the northwestern boundary of the new Territory was vague.
Western Minnesota became U.S. land with the Louisiana Purchase, except for the northwest section mentioned previously. With both sides of the Mississippi River now U.S. soil, the exact course of the river and the location of its source within our Minnesota no longer mattered. The Treaty of 1818 with Great Britain established the 49th parallel as the northern border of Minnesota from its western boundary to Lake of the Woods, which brought the northwest section of our Minnesota into the U.S.
As the lands were divided into territories and states, our western Minnesota became part of the District of Louisiana (1804), Louisiana Territory (1805), Missouri Territory (1812), unorganized territory (1821), and Michigan Territory (1834). Eastern Minnesota was in Michigan Territory since 1818, having previously been in Indiana Territory (1800) and Illinois Territory (1809). Then all of our Minnesota was in Wisconsin Territory (1836). The western portion was split off and became part of Iowa Territory (1838) and unorganized territory (1846) again. In 1842, that northeastern tip became U.S. land with the Webster-Ashburton Treaty with England.
Minnesota Territory was first created in 1849 with St. Paul (settled as Pig's Eye Landing 1838, renamed St. Paul 1841) chosen for the Territorial Capital. The Territory included all of our Minnesota and the eastern portions of the Dakotas. The first meetings of the Territorial Legislature were held in a log hotel. The first territorial capitol building was finished in 1854.
Minnesota became a state in 1858 with today's borders. St. Paul remained the capital city, and the Territorial Capitol became the state capitol. The capitol was enlarged in 1872, and again in 1878. Then it was destroyed by fire in 1881. The second capitol was constructed on the same site as the first and was completed in 1882, but it was already too small and being replaced. After the new, current capitol was completed, the second one was in public use until 1937 when it was torn down.
The current capitol was designed and constructed from 1893 to 1905.
Sources: cupola.com; mnterritorialpioneers.org; infoplease.com; mnhs.org; city-data.com; wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_evolution_of_the_United_States
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MISSISSIPPI
Statehood 1817
One of the 13 Confederate States
A strip of our Mississippi along the Gulf Coast was claimed by Spain as part of La Florida, a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, from the middle 1500s when their explorers traveled from our Florida as far west as our Texas. The rest of Mississippi was part of La Louisiane, a District of New France claimed in 1682. Biloxi in our Mississippi, then known as Biloxi Bay (founded in 1699 by the French), was the District Capital from 1720 to 1722.
In the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War, La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River was ceded to Great Britain. This included Northern Alabama and Northern Mississippi. Also in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Great Britain acquired the very southern sections of our Alabama and Mississippi from lands ceded by Spain and named it West Florida. They soon moved the north boundary of West Florida north to 32 degrees 28 minutes north latitude.
Spain re-conquered West Florida between 1779 and 1781 and set the northern boundary at the 31st parallel, well south of where Great Britain had put it. The rest of Alabama and Mississippi became U.S. territory with the 1783 Treaty of Paris, and West Florida was officially ceded back to Spain in the 1783 Peace of Paris Treaty. The Treaty did not specify the northern border of West Florida, and the difference in the two renditions was disputed by the U.S. and Spain until 1795. Also in 1783, Georgia was able to claim roughly the northern half of our Alabama and Mississippi according to their original charter.
In the 1795 Pinckney Treaty, the section of land disputed between the U.S. and Spain as mentioned above became part of Georgia Territory with the settling of the northern border of West Florida at the 31st parallel. In 1798, Georgia was forced to give up its claim on our northern Alabama and Mississippi to the federal government due to a land fraud scheme. The previously disputed portion became Mississippi Territory with Natchez (founded in 1716 by the French) the capital. No capitol building was built, and the assembly used space wherever it could be found. In 1802, the Territorial Capital was relocated to Washington (founded about 1800) in our Mississippi where space was found in various places including a de France's Tavern, Government House, and Methodist Meeting House. The rest of Georgia's old claim was unorganized territory until 1804 when it was added to Mississippi Territory.
In 1810, American Frontiersmen took control of West Florida and declared the Republic of West Florida, which came under U.S. control shortly after that. In 1812, it was added to Mississippi Territory, which now reached from Tennessee to the Gulf of Mexico. The Territory was too large, so in 1817, the eastern portion was organized as Alabama Territory. The border between the two territories was established at the current Alabama/Mississippi border.
The Mississippi State Constitutional Convention moved their capital back to Natchez, where they met through 1820. Statehood was granted to Mississippi in late 1817 with nearly its present-day boundaries. The new State Legislature chose the temporary capital location of Columbia (founded early 1800s) in 1821 at the Stovall Springs Hotel. They appointed a commission to find a site for a permanent capital near the center of the state. They chose LeFleur's Bluff on the Pearl River in 1821 and planned the town of Jackson, named for Andrew Jackson. The first state-owned capitol building, a simple, 2-story brick structure, was built from 1821 to 1822 to be the temporary capitol and first used in 1822. No mention was found of this building after its capitol use ended in 1839.
By 1833, a larger and more permanent capitol was needed. Construction was started on one in 1834, but it was torn down in 1835. They started over and first used their second capitol building in 1839. It was used as the capitol until 1903, then renovated to be used for state offices. From 1959 to 1961, it was renovated again and reopened as the Museum of Mississippi History, also called the Old Capitol Museum, which it is today.
Mississippi, one of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1861 and was reinstated in 1870. During the Civil War, Jackson was occupied by Union troops several times, so Macon (founded 1833 as Taladega) and Columbus (founded 1821) both served as temporary Confederate Capitals.
According to legend and minimal surviving documentation, in 1864, the Free State of Jones was declared in Jones County, Mississippi. Many of the farmers and cattlemen of the county were opposed to Mississippi's secession from the Union, and the cruelties of the Civil War deepened that divide. The Unionists overthrew the Confederate authorities in the county, raised the Union flag over the Ellisville Courthouse, wrote their Declaration of Independence and delivered it to Union General Sherman, and regained control of their land and belongings. A few months later, the Confederacy fell and the Free State of Jones was disbanded.
In 1900, construction of the current capitol was authorized. It was built from 1901 to 1903 and dedicated in 1903.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; britannica.com; muse.jhu.edu; scholarship.rice.edu; infoplease.com; mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us; cupola.com; civilwarstudies.org
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MISSOURI
Statehood 1821
One of the 13 Confederate States
Our Missouri was part of a District of New France claimed in 1682 and named La Louisiane in 1717. The first permanent European settlement in our Missouri was reportedly Ste. Genevieve sometime between 1730 and 1750. In the 1763 Treaty of Paris, France gave La Louisiane to Spain, who called it the District of Alta Louisiana. In 1800, France regained control of La Louisiane, and in 1803, it became U.S. territory with the Louisiana Purchase. Some sources report the capital of the territory through the alternating Spanish and French control was St. Louis, now in our Missouri. Most sources show New Orleans as the French and Spanish District Capital.
In 1804, the Louisiana Purchase territory was divided with everything north of our Louisiana becoming the District of Louisiana with St. Louis (founded in 1764 by the French in the Spanish territory) designated the capital. St. Louis then became the capital of the Territory of Louisiana in 1805, and the Territory of Missouri in 1812. There was never a particular capitol building there.
When Missouri statehood was approaching, the State Constitution was written with instructions for where the new state capital would be. St. Charles, founded in 1769 as Les Petit Cotes, renamed San Carlos in 1791, and renamed St. Charles in 1804, offered free accommodations if their city could be the temporary capital while the new one was determined and a capitol building constructed. So St. Charles became the territorial capital in 1820, and the temporary state capital in 1821 with statehood. It remained the capital until 1826. Space was provided for the legislature on the second floors of two adjoining two-story, brick buildings. They have been restored and are now a State Historic Site.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 brought Maine and Missouri into the Union as a pair, Maine a free state and Missouri a slave state. When it became a state in 1821, Missouri's borders were nearly those of the present-day state. A commission appointed by the Missouri State Legislature chose the location for the new capital. It was named Jefferson City for President Thomas Jefferson. Construction of Missouri's first state capitol building started in 1823, and the General Assembly moved there in 1826. The new capitol burned in 1837. Also in 1837, the Platte Purchase added a triangular section to the northwestern boundary of Missouri, resulting in the state's current borders.
Even though Missouri was brought into the Union as a slave state in 1821, by the time the Civil War started, there was a lot of Union support in the state. A large portion of the population wanted to remain neutral. Those in office in Jefferson City were pro-slavery, and it was their capital until they retreated to Neosho when Union forces took Jefferson City over. In Neosho, they established a Provisional Government and wrote their Ordinance of Secession. They later moved to Cassville for a week and were admitted into the Confederacy. Finally, they became a government-in-exile in Marshall, Texas. Though Missouri was accepted into the Confederacy, their secession was not considered official by the Union because it was never accepted by the general population, and they did not need reinstatement after the war.
The second capitol building in Jefferson City was constructed from 1838 to 1840. It burned in 1911 after a bolt of lightning struck the dome. The construction of the third and current capitol was begun in 1913 on the same site as the previous one and was completed in 1917.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; ancestry.com; u-s-history.com; greatriverroad.com; sos.mo.gov; stlouis-mo.gov; cupola.com; constitution.org; cassville.com
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MONTANA through WYOMING
plus WASHINGTON, DC
MONTANA
Statehood 1889
The portion of our Montana west of the Continental Divide was in unclaimed land that became Oregon Country, territory shared by the U.S. and Britain, in 1818. In 1846, the Oregon Treaty established the border between the U.S. portion of the territory and British Canada at the 49th parallel, and all of our Montana was then in an American unorganized territory. In 1848, Oregon Territory was organized, and it included the same western portion of Montana as Oregon Country had. That western portion became part of Washington Territory in 1853.
All of our Montana east of the Continental Divide was part of the Louisiana Purchase. It was in unorganized territory until 1854 when it was included in the newly organized Nebraska Territory. In 1861, the northern part of Nebraska Territory, including eastern Montana, became Dakota Territory.
In 1863, Idaho Territory was established with parts taken from Washington, Nebraska, and Dakota Territories, including all of our Montana. In 1864, Montana Territory was established with today's Montana State boundaries.
The selected capital of the new Montana Territory was Bannack, a town founded in 1862. That same year, gold was discovered in Grasshopper Creek. The legislature met in Bannack just once in 1864 and established Grasshopper Creek as the Territorial Capital, and it was renamed Virginia City. Today, Bannack is a State Park, and many buildings have been restored.
Many sources claim the Meade Hotel in Bannack was the site of the first territorial legislative meeting in 1864. However, according to bannack.org by Bannack State Park, the hotel was not constructed until 1875, and they make no mention of where the legislature met.
The legislature met in many places in Virginia City from 1865 to 1875. The only one of those buildings still standing is Stonewall Hall, built in 1864. It has been drastically changed for later uses including a garage, but no image of its original facade or images of any of the other meeting sites was found. Virginia City is a living ghost town now with about 200 restored or preserved buildings.
In 1875, after gold was discovered in Last Chance Gulch, the Territorial Capital was moved there, and the name was changed to Helena. Montana was granted statehood in 1889, and Helena became the state capital.
The current capitol building in Helena was designed and built between 1896 and 1902. It wasn't long before they enlarged the capitol with a new wing on either side from 1909 to 1912.
Sources: americaslibrary.gov; ultimatemontana.com; bannack.org; cupola.com; nezperce.com; virginiacity.com; historicmapworks.com
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NEBRASKA
Statehood 1867
Our Nebraska was part of the District of New France claimed in 1682 and named La Louisiane in 1717. The part of La Louisiane west of the Mississippi River, which includes our Nebraska, became U.S. territory with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
In 1854, the Omaha and Otoe Indians ceded their land along the Missouri River to the U.S. That same year, the Nebraska Territory was organized. It reached from Kansas to Canada, and from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri River. Omaha (founded 1854) was selected as the Territorial Capital, and an Omaha businessman offered his building as the temporary Territorial Capitol until a new one could be built. This building was eventually torn down. The first legislature met there in 1855 and selected Omaha as the permanent capital.
The Territory was divided by the Platte River, which was too wide to cross, and nobody could afford to build a bridge over it. The debate over the proper location for the capital included, among other things, two major considerations: a greater population south of the river but more land north, and free state intentions north of the river but slave state south. In 1857, the legislature voted to move the capital to Douglas, a town only on paper, but the Governor vetoed the bill, and today, nobody knows where Douglas would have been.
In 1858, the new Territorial Capitol building was constructed in Omaha. It was shared with the public high school beginning with the school's first session in 1859. This capitol building was used until 1868 when a new one was built in a new capital city. The old Omaha capitol was granted to the city, and they tore it down in 1870 and built a new building on the site for the high school.
In 1861, Colorado Territory was organized, and it included the gold country previously in Nebraska Territory at the foot of the Rocky Mountains that was discovered in 1859. That same year, South Platte (Nebraska south of the Platte River) tried to secede and join Kansas but failed. From 1861 to 1863, western parts of Nebraska Territory were included in the new Colorado and Idaho Territories, and northern parts were included in Dakota Territory. By 1864, Nebraska Territory was pared down to nearly the shape of our Nebraska State.
When Nebraska statehood came in 1867, a new capital south of the Platte River was to be chosen due to the greater population there. Lancaster (founded 1856) was selected, and the name was changed to Lincoln. The first state capitol building in Lincoln was already under construction when statehood was granted. It started crumbling, and in 1881 a second new capitol was started on the same site. It, too, suffered from poor construction.
In 1882, a section of Dakota Territory south of 43 degrees north latitude and north of the Keya Paha and Niobrara Rivers was transferred to Nebraska, finally giving the state its current shape.
The third and current state capitol was constructed, again on the same site, in four phases from 1922 to 1932. At some point after the first phase, the old capitol was torn down to make room for the new one.
Sources: nebraskahistory.org; olden-times.com; capitol.nebraska.gov; journalstar.com
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NEVADA
Statehood 1864
Our Nevada was part of Spain's Alta California. In 1821, Mexico won their independence from Spain, and Alta California became Mexican territory. The United States acquired the area containing our Nevada in 1848 after their victory in the Mexican-American War. That ceded land was then known as the Mexican Cession.
In 1850, our western Nevada became part of Utah Territory, and the southeast tip was in the Territory of New Mexico. Mormon Station, later called Genoa, the first permanent white settlement in western Nevada, was founded in 1850. Carson City, previously a trading post named Eagle Station, was founded in 1858 by Abraham Curry. He planned Carson City as the capital of his envisioned state of Nevada and set aside 10 acres in the center of town for the capitol building, and Nevada wasn't even a U.S. Territory yet.
The Nevada Territory was established in 1861. When the selected governor was shown around, he designated Carson City as the capital. Warm Springs Hotel was leased to the Territorial Legislature for their meetings. It was purchased in 1864 by the new state and became a state prison. It burned in 1867, and a new prison was built on the same site.
Nevada's eastern border was moved from the 39th meridian to the 38th in 1864. The eastern border was then moved farther east to the 37th meridian in 1866. The southern boundary was moved south from the 37th parallel to its current location along the California border, the Colorado River, and Lake Mead in 1867. This established the final borders of the State of Nevada.
Nevada was granted statehood in 1864, and Carson City remained the capital. With the discovery in 1859 of the Comstock Lode, an immense gold and silver deposit, and the end of the Civil War with its accompanying pressures regarding the free or slave status of new states, Nevada's statehood came quickly and before the population reached the required number.
The current capitol was first constructed from 1870 to 1871. North and south wings were added in 1915. The Supreme Court moved out in 1937, and the legislature moved to a new Legislative building in 1971. Today, the capitol houses the governor's offices and historical exhibits.
Sources: city-data.com; carson.org; nps.gov; visitcarsoncity.com; encyclopedia.com; noehill.com
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1788
New Hampshire was one of the 13 Original Colonies. Land from the Merrimac River in our New Hampshire and Maine, to Sagadahok River in our Maine, was granted by the Council for New England to Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason in 1622 for a commercial venture. This formed a proprietorship. In 1629, Mason and Gorges divided their land at the Piscataqua River and named their portions New Hampshire (Mason) and Maine (Gorges). The management of these two areas was insufficient, and the people looked for assistance. Massachusetts Bay Colony gained control of New Hampshire in 1641 when the New Hampshire residents agreed to be under Massachusetts' jurisdiction.
New Hampshire became a Royal Colony in 1679 to settle the disputes between Massachusetts and Sir Gorges' heirs. The King separated New Hampshire and Massachusetts and made Portsmouth (founded about 1630 as Strawberry Banke) New Hampshire's capital. He rejoined New Hampshire and Massachusetts in 1686 and reseparated them in 1691. Until 1741, the New Hampshire governor was under the authority of the Massachusetts governor.
Portsmouth began to plan for a State House in 1752. They selected a site in the center of the street and town square. The first stage of the Colonial State House was built in wood from 1758 to 1760, and from 1764 to 1769, the State House was completed with a cupola, balcony, roof balustrade, and exterior steps. When Concord was designated the permanent capital in 1809, the Portsmouth State House became the Rockingham County Courthouse. The townspeople had it removed from the square, and part was sold, moved, and converted to a house. They are currently working to identify that original State House partial structure and include it in a replica.
Both New Hampshire and New York claimed land west of the Connecticut River called the New Hampshire Grants. When the King settled the dispute in favor of New York in 1765, the settlers had to re-purchase their land. They rebelled and declared the New Hampshire Grants an independent state named Vermont.
In 1774, the Provincial Assembly was dissolved by the governor because they rebelled against King George's Boston Port Bill. The governor believed the Assembly would cease to exist legally if he proclaimed it dissolved. He would not allow them to meet in the Portsmouth Colonial Capitol, so the First Provincial Congress of New Hampshire had the provincial records seized and brought to Exeter (founded 1638). They had first met in Exeter and planned the seizure in July of 1774. The Revolutionary War took care of King George's control and the Boston Port Bill. The provincial government met in the Old Townhouse or the meeting house in Exeter until 1782, after which the legislature moved around and most sessions were held in Concord. The 1788 meeting of the Constitutional Convention in Exeter was the town's last event of statewide importance. New Hampshire ratified the Constitution and was granted statehood in 1788.
Concord was settled about 1725 as Penacook Plantation, incorporated as Rumford in 1734, and renamed Concord in 1765. After the completion of a canal and lock system in 1807 that allowed vessel passage to Boston, Concord was named the official seat of state government in 1808.
The current State House was designed in 1814, constructed from 1816 to 1819, and first used in 1819. From 1864 to 1866, it was enlarged and remodeled with a new mansard roof and a new portico, dome, and cupola. In 1910, the third floor was added in another enlargement that eliminated the mansard roof, and in 1937, an annex was added behind the building.
In the early 1800s, the boundary between British Canada and U.S. New Hampshire was not officially determined in an area then known as Indian Stream Territory. Since both governments were demanding taxes from the inhabitants of the disputed land who held a 1796 treaty with the St. Francis Tribe of Native Americans giving them rights to the territory, the settlers declared their independence from both Canada and the U.S. Starting with a meeting in 1829, they proceeded to write their own constitution and develop their own government, including a militia and a school system. In 1832, they declared the United Inhabitants of Indian Stream Territory, also known as the Indian Stream Republic. Skirmishes started taking place, and the New Hampshire Militia was sent in to occupy the territory. In 1836, British Canada gave up their claim to the territory. In 1837, the Republic was dissolved, some inhabitants accepted New Hampshire citizenship, and the rest moved to Canada. The area was then called Indian Stream. The boundary between Canada and the U.S. was established in the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty. The land is now part of Pittsburg Township in Coos County, New Hampshire.
Sources: americanhistory.about.com; usahistory.info; smplanet.com; exeternh.gov; theexeterinn.com; visitnh.gov; ereferencedesk.com; m.landofthebrave.info; nearchitecture.com; exeterhistory.org; seacoastnh.com; city-data.com; concordnh.gov; cupola.com; cowhampshireblog.com
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NEW JERSEY
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1787
New Sweden was settled in the Delaware Valley in 1638. It was taken over by the Dutch and annexed to New Netherland Colony in 1647. The Dutch surrendered New Netherland to England in 1664, and part became the English Province of New Jersey to be under the control of their chosen governor, Colonel Nicholls.
Also in 1664, the Duke of York ignored the Crown's appointment of New Jersey's Governor and gave the Province to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Phillip Carteret was named the governor and sent to settle the land. Colonel Nicholls and Phillip Carteret worked together in spite of the dual ownership, established Elizabethtown, the first permanent British settlement in New Jersey, and designated it as the capital. The first assembly meeting was in Elizabethtown in 1668. They held no more meetings for seven years.
The Dutch reconquested some of their old territory, including our New Jersey, in 1673 for one year, then lost it to the British again. Two Quakers bought western New Jersey from Lork Berkeley in 1674. In 1676, the Province was officially divided between East Jersey and West Jersey, creating two colonies; a Puritan colony in East Jersey, and a Quaker colony in West Jersey.
In 1677, Burlington was founded in West Jersey and designated as their capital in 1681. That same year, the Assembly began yearly meetings in private homes. The first Meeting House was completed in 1685. In the Quaker custom, the Meeting House was used for meetings for all purposes; religion, government, and public. This first one was hexagonal with a steep roof and cupola. After a larger and warmer Meeting House was built, the first was enlarged and finally replaced after a century of use. The second Meeting House was built in 1716. There is some confusion in the records regarding this building, and no images were found.
When the proprietor of East Jersey, Sir George Carteret, died in 1680, East Jersey was sold to private parties. They designated Perth Amboy (founded 1683 as Amboy) as their capital in 1686. Government and ownership of both Jerseys soon became such a mess, a decision was made to surrender both Jerseys to the Crown. They were combined as New Jersey again and became a Royal Colony in 1702. Both capitals, Burlington and Perth Amboy, were maintained.
Perth Amboy's Court House, originally built from 1717 to 1718, housed rooms for the Provincial Assembly until 1775. It burned in 1731 and was rebuilt in 1745, only to burn again in 1765 and be rebuilt in 1767, apparently still in use the whole time. Then it was renovated in 1826, 1872 when it officially became the City Hall, and 2006. Some of the original 1717 structure still exists in today's City Hall. Over its 300-year life, City Hall has been used for courts, community meeting rooms, a jail, church services, concerts, shows, public school classes, and probably more.
During the Revolutionary War and until 1790, the State Legislature met in Princetown, located in between the two capitals. Nassau Hall was built in 1756 in Princetown (our Princeton) to house the College of the Museum of Natural History. It is said to have been the first state capitol building, which should make Princetown the unofficial state capital for those years. The Hall also acted as the National Capitol for a few months in 1783.
Statehood was established in 1787. Trenton (founded 1719) was declared the state capital in 1790, officially replacing Burlington, Perth Amboy, and Princetown.
The State House in Trenton was originally built from 1790 to 1795. Additions were made seven times: an 1845 renovation added a third floor, porticos, and the first dome, and extended the facade; in 1872, the library wing was extended; in an 1885 to 1889 restoration with an addition completed after a fire, the current dome and a three-story wing on the State Street side were added; in 1891, the 1872 wing was replaced with a larger wing parallel to the existing center wing, and the third floor was extended; in 1900, the center wing was extended to the edge of the creek; in 1906, the original east wing from 1792 was replaced with a four-story section; from 1911 to 1912, the east and west sides were extended.
Sources: americanhistory.about.com; faculty.njcu.edu; historyplace.com; m.landofthebrave.info; state.nj.us; usahistory.info; infoplease.com; publicbookshelf.com; njpostalhistory.org; ci.perthamboy.nj.us; jerseyman-historynowandthen.blogspot.com
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NEW MEXICO
Statehood 1912
The Spanish first settled in our New Mexico in a native village named Ohkay-Owingeh (some sources call it Caypa) in 1598. They renamed it San Juan de los Caballeros and declared it the capital of the Province of Nuevo Mexico. In 1599, they moved across the Rio Grande, and the old capital returned to the Tewa-speaking village but became known as San Juan Pueblo. In 2005, the name was changed back to Ohkay-Owingeh.
When the Spanish moved their capital across the river, it was to a village named Yunge-Owingeh. The villagers moved out, and the Spanish moved in and established San Gabriel de Yunge there as their capital. They moved the seat of government again in 1608 and abandoned San Gabriel. The town returned to the villagers, who destroyed evidence of the cruel Spanish occupation. San Gabriel was located in excavations in the 1960s. In 1984, the ruins were leveled and the land was used for alfalfa fields. San Gabriel is now a National Historic Landmark.
When a new, hopefully less cruel, governor was sent to rule Nuevo Mexico, he moved the capital to Santa Fe, which was the Spanish capital from 1609 until 1680 when it fell in the Apache and Pueblo Uprising. Santa Fe was retaken by the Spanish and became the capital again from 1696 to the present. The Palace of Governors was built in Santa Fe in 1610 as Spain's seat of government. It eventually housed the governments of Spain, Mexico, and the Arizona Territory until 1886. It is now a museum.
Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, and much of our southwest, including all of our New Mexico, became the Mexican Province of Nuevo Mexico. In 1836, the Republic of Texas declared independence from Mexico and included roughly the east half of our New Mexico, among other lands, as theirs. Much of this land remained disputed between Mexico and the Republic of Texas, and later the U.S., until the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, when all of Mexico's holdings north of the Rio Grande became American soil with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The Compromise of 1850 created New Mexico Territory and established the Territorial Government. The Territory included our Arizona and New Mexico. Santa Fe remained the capital.
In anticipation of statehood, plans were started for the first new capitol building in 1850. Construction started in 1853, but due to a lack of funds and workmen, and complications of the Civil War, construction was halted in 1855 and the building was basically abandoned. In 1886, construction started again, and the second story and roof were finally finished in 1889. No mention was found of whether the original plans were followed for the completion. Since another statehouse had already been built, this first one was finished as a courthouse. First occupied by a land claims court, it has housed various federal courts since and was used as the capitol from 1892, when the new capitol burned, to 1900, when the next one was occupied. A 1929-30 addition doubled the overall size with another building placed parallel to the courthouse's north side. The two buildings are connected by a two-story vestibule at their midpoints. Also in 1929-30, the south elevation of the original building was replaced. The 1850 building can be recognized today by the huge bronze doors at its main entrance and an obelisk memorial to Kit Carson in front of them.
The Gadsden Purchase of 1853 brought the land from the Gila River south to the current southern border of our Arizona and New Mexico into New Mexico Territory. The United States paid Mexico 10 million dollars for the almost 30,000 square miles of land. In 1861, a northeastern portion of the Territory was attached to Colorado. In 1863, the Territory was divided nearly in half, with the western part becoming Arizona Territory.
After the first new capitol was abandoned in 1855 before completion, the second new capitol was completed in 1886, and it replaced the Palace as the second Territorial Capitol. This capitol was four stories with two domes and colossal bronze statues on top, and it was not very well liked by the people. It burned in 1892.
To replace the burned 1886 building, the third new capitol was designed in 1895. It became the third Territorial Capitol when it was completed in 1900. From the surroundings shown in photographs, it was likely built on the site of the burned capitol. New Mexico's borders were finalized, and statehood was granted in 1912. The Territorial Capitol building became the first state capitol
The 1895 capitol was drastically enlarged with various additions in the next several decades. In 1950, an effort was made to unify the architectural appearance. The dome and portico were removed from the original portion, and a tower was added to the north end of the original building. Construction was completed in 1966. The expanded capitol stands today as the Bataan Memorial Building housing several offices of the state government. The original building can still be seen behind the tower.
The current capitol was constructed from 1964 to 1966. It is the only round capitol in the country, built in the shape of a Zia sun symbol.
Sources: nmgs.org; newmexicohistory.org; u-s-history.com; santafe.org; nps.gov; newmexico.org
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NEW YORK
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1788
After Henry Hudson's exploration of the coast of our New York and the North River (our Hudson River) for the Dutch East India Company in 1609, Dutch exploration of and claims to the region began. The Dutch West India Company was created in 1621, not to colonize North America, but as a trading business. They built Fort Orange and other forts on the shores of the North River. The first settlements in the newly recognized New Netherland were started in 1624 in several locations in order to establish farms to feed the soldiers in the forts and the trading post personnel. The town that grew up near Fort Orange was named Beverwijck.
Peter Minuit, as an officer of the Dutch West India Company, purchased Manhattan Island from the natives in 1625. In 1626, New Amsterdam was established at the mouth of the North River at the southern tip of Manhattan Island and designated the capital of New Netherland.
In 1652, a group of Dutch settlers bought land from the Native Americans near our Kingston. They were granted a charter and named their land Wiltwyck.
Also in 1652, the English and Dutch began a war which England won in 1664. New Netherland was surrendered to the English, King Charles II gave part of it to his brother, the Duke of York, and that part officially became the Province of New York. At that time, New Amsterdam was renamed New York City, Beverwijck was renamed Albany, and Wiltwyck was renamed Kingston. The Province was recaptured by the Dutch in 1673 only to be lost again in less than a year. The Province of New York became a Royal Colony in 1685. The seat of government for the English Colony of New York was New York City Hall, built from 1699 to 1703.
The first Senate of the State of New York held its sessions in what is now known as the Senate House in Kingston. It was originally built in 1676 as a one-room Dutch house. A second room and a detached kitchen were added around 1700. New York declared its independence in 1776, and the British burned Kingston in 1777. The Senate House was rebuilt, and a third room used as the Senate Chamber was added in 1777. It has been altered in every century, and there are no records of how much of the original building is left. Senate House is now owned and operated by New York State as a museum.
From 1785 to 1790, New York City was the first Capital of the United States. In 1788, New York City Hall was remodeled for the use of the new Federal Government and renamed Federal Hall. In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia. Federal Hall was then used for city government until 1812 when it was demolished.
New York State was admitted to the Union in 1788. The legislature met in Kingston, Albany, New York City, and possibly other places for several years. Albany was declared the state capital in 1797. The legislature still met in different towns and buildings before 1811, including Old Albany City Hall. Designed and built in Albany from 1809 to 1812, the building known as First Capitol was used from 1812 to 1879. No mention has been found of the fate of this building.
The current capitol design was chosen through a design contest in 1867 for a new capitol to be built just west of First Capitol. The cornerstone was laid in 1871, and the Assembly met there for the first time in 1879. The building was declared complete in 1899 after several changes in architects, though the central tower from the original design was never built. Each facade, as well as different interior areas, show the influence of the different architects. A 1911 fire destroyed the west facade of the current capitol, which was reconstructed.
Sources: americanhistory.about.com; albanyny.org; albany.edu; iloveny.com; datesandevents.org; jwwerner.com; newnetherlandinstitute.org; coins.nd.edu;townkingstonny.us
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NORTH CAROLINA
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1789
One of the 13 Confederate States
North Carolina was part of the Carolina Colony founded in 1653 by a charter granted by King Charles II to eight Lords Proprietors. The land granted was from the Virginia Colony to the north, to Spanish Florida to the south, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. This covered a vast territory without even considering anything west of the Appalachian Mountains, and soon it became apparent it was too big for one governor and one assembly to govern. In 1691, a deputy governor was appointed to help with the northern portion of Carolina Colony, which then was referred to as North Carolina. Then in 1712, the colony was officially divided into North Carolina Colony and South Carolina Colony. The border between them was debated, apparently, for a century.
The 1722 North Carolina Colonial Assembly founded Edenton as their capital. Both North Carolina and South Carolina became Royal Colonies in 1729. When France ceded La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain in 1763, North Carolina claimed the part that lay to their west because of their original charter. In 1766, the Assembly moved the capital to New Bern (founded 1710). The first permanent seat of the British Colonial Government was Tryon Palace, constructed from 1767 to 1770 in New Bern.
During the Revolutionary War, the government moved around to avoid attack, and the Palace was neglected. When North Carolina became a state in 1789, like most of the colonies, they ceded their claim to their western land to the new Federal Government to pay their war debt. New Bern remained the capital, and the Palace became the State House. In 1798, all but one wing of the Palace burned to the ground. That wing was rented as a Masonic lodge, private school, and boarding house. No mention was found of when it was torn down, but the stable office is all that survives today of the original buildings. The Palace was rebuilt on the old foundations after research uncovered them under more than 50 buildings and part of NC Route 70 which included a bridge. All of that was moved or removed, and the replica of the Palace opened in 1959 as a museum.
In 1788, the decision had been made to follow the shifting population west. A new capital city was planned on 1,000 purchased acres, and it was named Raleigh. Construction was started on the first Raleigh State House in 1792. It was first used in 1794. The building became inadequate, and from 1820 to 1824, the State House was enlarged. East and west wings were added as well as a domed rotunda. This State House burned in 1831.
The 1832 Assembly ordered the new, current capitol built as an enlarged version of the old one. It was completed in 1840, housing all of the state government until 1888 when the Supreme Court and the library moved out. The General Assembly moved to the new State Legislative Building in 1963. Today, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor occupy offices on the first floor of the capitol.
North Carolina, one of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1861. When General Lee surrendered to the Union Army, the Confederate President and Assembly with him moved toward their remaining armies, from Danville, Virginia to Greensboro, North Carolina. They were probably there when the war officially ended. North Carolina was reinstated into the Union in 1868 after the Civil War ended.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; americanhistory.about.com; tryonpalace.org; nchistoricsites.org; u-s-history.com; landofthebrave.info
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NORTH DAKOTA
Statehood 1889
The 1803 Louisiana Purchase of France's La Louisiane west of the Mississippi River included our North Dakota. The Treaty of 1818 with Great Britain established the 49th parallel as the United States' northern border from eastern Minnesota to Oregon Country, which also established our North Dakota's border. Dakota Territory was created from the northern portion of the Purchase in 1861. It included what is now North Dakota, South Dakota, and much of Wyoming and Montana. The selected capital was Yankton (founded 1861) in what is now South Dakota.
Territorial borders changed many times as the huge Louisiana Purchase land became organized. From 1863 to 1864, The Dakota Territory was limited to our North and South Dakota. From 1864 to 1868, Most of Wyoming was also included with the Dakotas. Then again, from 1868 to 1889, Dakota Territory was just North and South Dakota.
In 1883, the Territorial Capital was moved to Bismarck (founded 1872) in present-day North Dakota because of its more central location, greater population, and location on the railroad. Northern Pacific Railroad deeded 320 acres there to the Territory, which became the capitol site. A large Territorial Capitol was designed to have a central tower and several corner domes. The first portion without the tower was completed and in use in 1884. None of the remaining planned building was constructed before the capitol burned in 1930.
Dakota Territory was divided into two equal states, North Dakota and South Dakota, and they were both admitted to the Union at the same signing in 1889. North Dakota kept Bismarck as its state capital, and the Territorial Capitol building became the state capitol.
The second, and current capitol, was started in 1931 and completed in 1934, during the depression, next to the remains of the burned 1883 building on 160 acres of the 320 deeded to the territory. They sold the other 160 acres to pay for the new capitol. From 1977 to 1981, the Judicial Wing was added.
Sources: northdakota.gov; city-data.com; historicdowntownyankton.com; nd.gov; cupola.com
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OHIO
Statehood 1809
France's La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River included our Ohio. In the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War, France ceded that part of La Louisiane, except for New Orleans, to Great Britain. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the 1783 Treaty of Paris made that territory American soil. The portion north of the Ohio River was established as the Old Northwest Territory in 1787 and formally called the Territory of the United States North and West of the River Ohio. The Northwest Ordinance creating the territory also divided it by an east-west line drawn from the southern tip of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie in preparation for forming states. The wording of the Northwest Ordinance was vague, and the best map of the time was wrong, placing the line incorrectly. As a result, the border between Ohio and Michigan was debated until 1835.
Marietta (founded 1788) is in an area originally known as Adelphia on the southern border of our Ohio. Named for Marie Antoinette in honor of her being an ally in the Revolutionary War, Marietta was considered the Territorial Capital from 1788 to 1800. The first Territorial Legislature met in Marietta in 1799.
The capital was moved to Chillicothe (founded 1796) in 1800 because of its more centralized location. The first building mentioned as being used as the Territorial Capitol in 1803 was constructed in 1800 in Chillicothe as the Ross County Courthouse. Ohio officially became a State, and its boundaries were set in 1803, though the formal declaration was not made until 1953 under President Eisenhower, retroactive to 1803. Chillicothe became the state capital, and the Territorial Capitol building became the state capitol building.
The capital was moved to Zanesville (founded 1800) in 1810 to enable the passage of a bill (no mention of what bill was found). Zanesville had offered to build a second Statehouse in order to become the permanent capital. One was erected in 1809. When the capital was then moved back to Chillicothe, the Zanesville Statehouse became the Muskingum County Courthouse. It was torn down in 1874 and replaced with a new courthouse.
In 1812, the capital was moved back to Chillicothe, and a plan was accepted to lay out a new state capital city in a more central location that would settle the debate between Chillicothe and Zanesville. The legislators chose a location, planned the city, and named the new capital Columbus. A third state capitol, a two-story, brick Statehouse, was built in 1814, and the government moved there from Chillicothe in 1816. The Chillicothe capitol returned to use as the County Courthouse until it was destroyed by The Great Fire in April of 1852. The first Columbus Statehouse was also destroyed by fire in February of 1852 while a new Columbus Statehouse was under construction. The House of Representatives and Senate met in the Neil House hotel, built across the street from the old Statehouse in 1839, until the new Statehouse was completed enough for use in 1857. The hotel burned in 1860 and was replaced.
In preparation for Michigan's statehood, the debate around the border between Ohio and Michigan mentioned above needed to be settled. The two border interpretations ran parallel, one to the north, and the other to the south of 486 square miles of land. The area inside was called the Toledo Strip, since Toledo was located inside the strip at the eastern end. Ultimately, the northern border of the strip was chosen by Congress in 1835 as the official northern border of Ohio even though it was north of the southern tip of Lake Michigan. The Toledo Strip went to Ohio, making Ohio larger after it was granted statehood, and Michigan got the rest of the Upper Peninsula as compensation.
The cornerstone for a new Columbus Statehouse was laid in 1839, but construction was delayed many times before and after it was restarted in earnest in 1848 with new architectural plans. In 1857, the incomplete building was ready for use. Yet another architect was hired to complete the construction. He designed the conical roof over the drum of the current Statehouse in place of the dome others had planned. The Statehouse was completed in 1861.
Sources: history.com; ohiohistorycentral.org; dispatch.com; encyclopedia.com; howstuffworks.com; mariettaoh.net; nps.gov; mariettatimes.com; chillicothe.com; geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov; ohiohouse.gov; ohsweb.ohiohistory.org; touringohio.com; cupola.com
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OKLAHOMA
Statehood 1907
The United States bought most, if not all, of our Oklahoma from France when it was included in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The western border of the Purchase was vague and unexplored. When it was finally defined in 1819 with the Adams-Onis Treaty, the small western portion of our Oklahoma forming the panhandle became part of New Spain, and later, Nuevo Mexico. When the Republic of Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836, the claim the Republic had on a large section of land, including that small portion of our Oklahoma, was disputed by Mexico. In 1845, Texas became a State, and the dispute with Mexico was transferred to the U.S. government instead of Texas. The dispute was ended when Mexico ceded Nuevo Mexico, and more, to the U.S. at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848.
In 1834, most of our Oklahoma (the panhandle was not included) was part of the land set aside as Indian Territory. One unofficial, familiar name for the land was Mandan Territory, but the Mandan people were farther north. The Territory was promised to the Native Indians, but was taken away from them piece by piece. By 1856, the Territory had been reduced to approximately today's Oklahoma except for the panhandle and Greer County from Texas. In 1896, Congress settled a dispute over Greer County, which had been organized by Texas, and awarded it to Oklahoma.
In 1889, Oklahoma Territory was established with Guthrie designated as the Territorial Capital. Guthrie was originally a train station from 1887 called Deer Creek. Part of the Territory was opened to settlers in 1889 in the first land rush. The people who went in and staked out a claim before it was legally available were called Sooners. The first land rush brought in enough settlers for Oklahoma Territory to be organized, the second step toward becoming a State, in 1890 from the western half of Indian Territory and No Man's Land (the panhandle). Additional sections were opened to settlers with land rushes in 1891, 1892, 1893, and 1895.
Guthrie's first Territorial Capitol building, Legislative Hall, was constructed in 1894. After statehood was granted and a new capitol was completed in 1907, Legislative Hall was enlarged in 1908 to provide more space for the legislature, and was then called Convention Hall.
In 1902, the Five Civilized Tribes; Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole, asked to create their own State of Sequoyah from Indian Territory. President Theodore Roosevelt and Congress turned them down.
The first Oklahoma State Legislature met in 1906 in preparation for statehood in Guthrie City Hall, built in 1902. It was razed in 1956 to make room for a new City Hall building.
A second capitol was built in the same plaza as Legislative Hall in 1907 in an effort to improve accommodations for the new state legislature. It was briefly the Territorial Capitol and then the state capitol until Oklahoma City became the new and permanent capital city in 1910. The Guthrie capitol is now the Logan County Courthouse.
In 1907, Oklahoma territory was joined with the remains of Indian Territory and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma. Guthrie remained the state capital until 1910. Today it is a National Historic Landmark with dozens of restored buildings.
The Oklahoma Legislature met for one session in 1909 in Convention Hall. The hall was later purchased by the Methodist Church and became the Oklahoma Methodist University in 1911. In 1919, it was sold to the Scottish Rite Masonic group and was later incorporated by way of a corridor into their new temple. Today it serves as their dining hall and hotel for event attendees.
Oklahoma City (founded 1889) was selected as the state capital by a statewide vote in 1910 because the city had grown tremendously and established a major meat packing industry, and because several railroads had built major junctions there. At first, the defacto capitol in Oklahoma City was the Lee-Huckins Hotel where the Oklahoma State Constitution was taken after it was removed from Guthrie in 1910. Then the legislature used the hotel and rented office spaces until the new capitol was ready for use. The hotel was built in 1909, and it burned in 1971.
The current capitol, designed in 1910, was first used in 1917. The originally planned dome was finally added to the capitol from 2000 to 2002.
Sources: usersic.net; infoplease.com; okhistory.org; guthrieok.com; blogoklahoma.us; usgennet.org; guthriescottishrite.org; m.newsok.com; cupola.com; law.okcu.edu
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OREGON
Statehood 1859
Our Oregon was part of what became known as Oregon Country. All or part of this land had once been claimed by Spain, Great Britain, the U.S., and Russia. Spain and Russia ceded their claims to the U.S. in 1819 (Spain) and 1824 (Russia).
While Oregon Country was developing, The Provisional Government of Oregon was created by settlers in the Willamette Valley in 1841. They first met in Willamette Falls (claimed by Hudson's Bay Company in 1829) and laid out Oregon City in 1842. The Provisional Government officially selected Oregon City as their capital in 1844. They developed their government and prepared for inclusion in the United States. In 1846, the Oregon Treaty established the border between the U.S. portion of the territory and British Canada at the 49th parallel, and all of our Oregon was then in an American unorganized territory.
Oregon Territory was established in 1848, and Oregon City became the first capital of the territory. A three-story frame, temporary Territorial Capitol building was used there from 1849 until 1852 when the capital was moved to Salem (founded 1842).
Oregon Territory was split when Washington Territory was organized from its northern half in 1853. The border between them followed the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean east to its second crossing of the 46th parallel, then straight east along that parallel. Construction of the first permanent capitol buildingwas started in 1854 on the present state capitol site and completed in late 1855. Corvallis (founded 1851 as Marysville) was the temporary Territorial Capital while the Salem capitol was under construction. The two-story, frame Avery Building was used by the legislature in Corvallis for their session in 1855. It was demolished in 1888. The new capitol in Salem burned under suspicious circumstances 11 days after its dedication, and the legislature started meeting in various Salem buildings in 1856.
Oregon Territory was split again when Oregon was granted Statehood in 1859 with its current borders. Salem remained the capital, and the legislature continued to meet in miscellaneous buildings until 1876. The main body of the first state capitol was constructed on the same site as the previous Territorial Capitol from 1872 to 1876. Porticoes were added in 1888, and a dome was added in 1893. This capitol burned in 1935.
The current capitol was dedicated in 1938. Legislative wings were added to the southeast and southwest corners in 1977.
Sources: oregon.gov; history.state.gov; history.net.com; learner.org; jamesmonroemuseum.umw.edu; bluebook.state.or.us; oregonlegislature.gov; bentoncountymuseum.org; oregonlive.com
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PENNSYLVANIA
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1787
In 1609, Henry Hudson claimed land for the Dutch East India Company when he explored our Delaware and Hudson Rivers. This land became parts of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. In 1638, the Swedish founded the first settlement in Pennsylvania on Tinicum Island. In 1655, the Dutch seized the Swedish settlements. In 1664, the British captured the Dutch Colonies and claimed everything from French Canada to Spanish Florida.
In 1681, William Penn was granted land in the New World by King Charles II as payment of a debt owed to his father. The land lay between the Provinces of Maryland and New York, between the 39th and 42nd degrees of north latitude, and west from the Delaware River for five degrees of longitude. Penn also purchased the land from the Leni Lenape Natives upon his arrival in 1682. First named New Wales, then Sylvania, the King chose the final name of the colony as Pennsylvania. William Penn requested sea access for Pennsylvania Colony in 1682, and the Duke of York granted him what was known as the Three Lower Counties, our Delaware.
Philadelphia (founded 1682) was the Pennsylvania Colonial Capital, planned for that purpose and laid out by William Penn. At first, the legislature met wherever they found space. Pennsylvania's Colonial Capitol building, or State House, in Philadelphia was designed in 1731 and constructed from 1732 to 1748. Its tower and steeple were built from 1750 to 1753. From 1775 to 1783, both the Pennsylvania and National General Assemblies used Pennsylvania's State House. It served as the National Capitol for some of the legislature's sessions in 1775, 1776, 1777, and all of the sessions from 1778 to 1781, and again from 1790 to 1800. It is now known as Independence Hall because the Marquis de Lafayette's name for the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence had been signed was the Hall of Independence.
When Pennsylvania declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, the tie between the Three Lower Counties and Pennsylvania Colony was also dissolved. The people of the Three Lower Counties gained the separation they wanted from Pennsylvania's Quaker control and established Delaware.
Pennsylvania became a State in 1787, and Philadelphia temporarily remained the capital until the state legislators decided to move to their own city and space. In 1799, though Harrisburg was considered for the new capital, it was moved to Lancaster instead because of its greater population. Originally named Hickory Town by German settlers in about 1709, Lancaster was laid out by the British in 1729 and renamed. The Old City Hall, built 1795 to 1797, was used as the State House until 1812. It has since been City Hall, the City and County Offices, a Masonic Lodge, a library, and the post office. It was restored in 1924, and now houses the Lancaster Visitors' Center.
The capital was moved to Harrisburg in 1812, with plans to use the land given to the state in 1785 by John Harris, Jr. under the provision it would be used for the state capitol. The Dauphin County Courthouse, originally built from 1792 to 1799, was modified in 1812 to be used by the state temporarily. It served that purpose until 1822. Then it became the County Courthouse again until it was demolished and replaced with a new structure in 1860.
Construction was started on the first Harrisburg State House in 1819, and in 1822, the legislature moved in. That capitol burned in 1897. The remains were torn down and the second Harrisburg capitol was started on the same site. The money ran out after only the shell was finished. The shell was incorporated into a new design, and from 1902 to 1906, the current capitol was constructed. From 1980 to 1987, the East Wing was added, connecting several buildings in the capitol complex to the capitol.
Sources: americanhistory.about.com; worldatlas.com; cityoflancasterpa.com; cpc.state.pa.us; history.com; ushistory.org; cuppola.com; dauphincounty.org
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RHODE ISLAND
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1790
The Dutch claimed our Rhode Island as part of New Netherland in 1614. It had been known as Aquidneck Island, an interpretation of its Native name, but the Dutch called it the Isle of Rhodes. Both names remained in use for some time.
Providence was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams after he was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony. Anne Hutchinson was also sent away from Massachusetts, and she traveled with followers to Aquidneck Island and founded Portsmouth in 1638. Unhappy residents of Portsmouth left and founded Newport in 1639. Combining the settlements, Roger Williams obtained the first charter for the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1644. The boundaries were Massachusetts Bay Colony to the north, New Plymouth Colony to the east, three miles south of the Charles River to the south, and the estimated border of the Pequot Indian country to the west. When King Charles II became King of England in 1660, he required the Colonies to get new charters. Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was granted a Royal Charter in 1663.
The seats of government in early Rhode Island were unusual. Providence was always the acting capital of its area, and Portsmouth was the capital of its area until the 1644 charter when Newport replaced Portsmouth. The Rhode Island officials always wanted to keep the government close to the residents to maintain public representation. From 1681 to about 1740, Warwick (founded 1642) and Portsmouth were also rotating capitals, and Kingstown joined the rotation in 1698. After the five counties were created, they chose to move their sessions in rotation to the county seats of all five counties; Providence in Providence County, Newport in Newport County, South Kingstown (founded 1674 as Kingstown, separated as South Kingstown in 1722) in Kings County, East Greenwich (founded 1677 as Greenwich, separated as East Greenwich in 1741) in Kent County, and Bristol (founded 1680 in Plymouth Colony, consolidated 1691 with Massachusetts Bay Colony, transferred 1747 to Rhode Island Colony) in Bristol County.
This system continued after Rhode Island ratified the Constitution and joined the Union in 1790. The five county courthouses also functioned as rotating State Houses. The rotation became too complicated, so in 1853, it was limited to Providence and Newport. When the current State House in Providence was ready for use in 1901, Providence became the sole, permanent capital.
Built from 1760 to 1771 to replace an earlier wooden courthouse built in 1730 which burned in 1758, Providence County Courthouse in Providence was a rotating State House until 1901. When originally constructed, it was very similar to the Newport Colony House, but a bit smaller. Besides other alterations, it was modified in 1850 including the addition of the tower. An addition in 1867 nearly doubled the size of the building. It was used as the Sixth District Courthouse when the new capitol was finished until 1975, and is now home to the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission.
Built from 1736 to 1739 (1739 to 1741 in some sources) to replace a 1687 courthouse, Newport County Courthouse in Newport was one of the five rotating State Houses until 1854, and then one of just two until 1901. It has not been altered much since its construction. Known as Old Colony House, the Courthouse served as a British barracks and a French hospital in the Revolutionary War. It remained in use as the County Courthouse until 1926, and is currently in use as a museum and is available to rent for events.
Built as Kings County Courthouse in 1775 when the town was still called Little Rest (renamed in 1826), this rotating State House is in Kingston. It served as one of the rotating State Houses from 1776 to 1791, and 1843 to 1854, then remained the County Courthouse. The building was remodeled to a Victorian style with a mansard roof and central tower added in 1876. When a new courthouse was built in a new location in 1895, the old one was remodeled into a library on the first floor and a meeting hall on the second. It is now the Kingston Free Library.
In 1803, The Kent County Courthouse in East Greenwich was built, replacing a 1750 courthouse. It served as a rotating State House until 1854. From 1908 to 1909, the interior of the building was completely renovated. When a new courthouse was built elsewhere in 1974, the 1803 Kent County Courthouse became the East Greenwich Town Hall. It was restored in 1995, and still stands as the East Greenwich Town Hall.
The rotating State House in Bristol, the Bristol County Courthouse, was built in 1816 of brick. It was later stuccoed over and enlarged in 1836 and 1935. This Courthouse served as a rotating State House until 1854, then the County Courthouse until about 1980. It is currently being restored and renovated for public use and educational purposes.
Providence became the single, permanent capital in 1902. The current State House was constructed from 1895 to 1904. It was first used in 1901.
Sources: americanhistory.about.com; netstate.com; ri.gov; nearchitecture.com; newporthistory.org; datesandevents.org; publications.newberry.org; newenglandhistoricalsociety.com; cupola.com; sos.ri.gov; skpl.org; American Capitals: A Historical Geography, by Christian Montes, University of Chicago Press, 2014
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SOUTH CAROLINA
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1788
One of the 13 Confederate States
South Carolina was part of the Carolina Colony founded in 1653 by a charter granted by King Charles II to eight Lords Proprietors. Upon the founding of the Colony, the designated capital was Charlestown, later renamed Charleston. The land granted bordered the Virginia Colony to the north, Spanish Florida to the south, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This covered a vast territory without even considering anything west of the Appalachian Mountains, and soon it became apparent it was too big for one governor and one assembly to govern. In 1691, a deputy governor was appointed to help with the northern portion of Carolina Colony, which then was referred to as North Carolina. Then in 1712, the colony was officially divided into North Carolina Colony and South Carolina Colony with Charleston remaining the South Carolina capital. The border between the two colonies was debated, apparently, for a century. Both North Carolina and South Carolina became Royal Colonies in 1729.
From 1753 to 1756, South Carolina's first Colonial State House was constructed. It was a two-story, brick building covered in stucco. The first assembly meeting there was in 1756. After the 1786 decision to move the capital out of Charleston, the old State House suffered a disastrous fire in 1788, the same year as South Carolina's statehood. It was then rebuilt with three stories instead of two, completed in 1792, and became the Charleston County Courthouse. The building has been restored and still serves the county government.
When the French gave up their land east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, many of the colonies claimed the parts directly west of them. South Carolina bordered North Carolina and Georgia to its west, but surveying errors placed a narrow strip of land between them potentially in South Carolina's control. In 1787, South Carolina ceded their claim, if any, of that strip to the Federal Government.
The South Carolina Assembly voted to move the capital to Columbia in 1786 because of its central location. Construction on the first Columbia State House began the same year. While it was being built, South Carolina joined the Union and became a state in 1788, and the State House in Charleston was destroyed by fire. The Columbia State House, a wooden structure, was completed and first used in 1790. No mention has been found of where the Assembly met between 1788 and 1790.
Construction began on the second, current Columbia State House in 1851. The architect was fired after a couple of years due to structural flaws in the construction. The new architect dismantled the existing work and redesigned the building, and construction began again in 1854. The Civil War halted the construction in 1865.
South Carolina, the first of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1860 and was reinstated after the Civil War in 1868. Over two thirds of Columbia was burned in the Civil War. When the first State House in Columbia burned in 1865, the new one was not yet completed. It, too, suffered fire and cannon damage, but it was salvageable, and a temporary roof was put over it. Construction resumed from 1885 to 1891, but did not go to completion at that time. Finally, in 1903, the State House was completed, but with a dome planned in about 1888 that is much smaller than the original plan's tower due to a lack of funds.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; americanhistory.about.com; m.landofthebrave.info; mrnussbaum.com; scstatehouse.gov; u-s-history.com; carolana.com; nps.gov; history.com; cupola.com
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SOUTH DAKOTA
Statehood 1889
The 1803 Louisiana Purchase of France's La Louisiane west of the Mississippi River included present-day South Dakota. Dakota Territory was created from the northern portion of the Purchase in 1861. It included what is now North Dakota, South Dakota, and much of Wyoming and Montana. The selected capital was Yankton (founded 1861) in what is now South Dakota. The Territorial Capitol building, built in 1862 and used as capitol until 1886, was torn down. There is a Dakota Territorial Capitol Replica currently operating as a museum in Yankton, South Dakota.
Territorial borders changed many times as the huge Louisiana Purchase land became organized. From 1863 to 1864, The Dakota Territory was limited to our North and South Dakota. From 1864 to 1868, most of Wyoming was also included with the Dakotas. Then again, from 1868 to 1889, Dakota Territory was just North and South Dakota.
In 1883, the Territorial Capital was moved to Bismarck, in present-day North Dakota. In 1889, Dakota Territory was divided into two equal states, North Dakota and South Dakota, and they were both admitted to the Union at the same signing in 1889.
With the old Dakota Territorial Capital in North Dakota, South Dakota was created without an established capital. Mitchell (founded 1883) and Pierre (founded 1880) were both proposed with at least six other cities also competing for the honor of being chosen as the temporary capital. The City of Mitchell built a temporary granite state capitol and a governor's mansion, and the City of Pierre built a wooden temporary state capitol in an effort to secure their future as the permanent state capital city. Pierre was chosen by popular vote in 1889 as the temporary capital city. Their temporary capitol was not completed, so the Hughes County Courthouse, built in 1883, became the first temporary state capitol until 1890 when the new structure was ready. The wooden temporary capitol remained in service until 1910. It was then sold to the Pierre School District for a thousand dollars. The fate of that building has not been discovered.
In 1904, Pierre was chosen, again by popular vote, as the permanent capital because of its location at the geographical center of the state and a reluctance to move the capital at all. The current capitol was designed in 1905 starting with borrowed plans for the Montana capitol, and the cornerstone was laid in 1908 next to the temporary capitol. The building opened in 1910.
Sources: northdakota.gov; city-data.com; historicdowntownyankton.com; capjournal.com; cupola.com; historicpierre.com; freemansd.com; boa.sd.gov
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TENNESSEE
Statehood 1796
One of the 13 Confederate States
Our Tennessee was part of France's La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River that was ceded to Great Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War. Like other colonies that shared their western border with La Louisiane and had a charter granting them land from sea to sea, North Carolina Colony claimed the portion of the ceded land that lay directly west of them from their western border to the Mississippi River. Much of this land eventually became Tennessee.
Although North Carolina Colony claimed the land to their west, it was difficult and expensive to support and protect the settlers there. This inadequacy prompted the formation of independent groups and governments by the settlers. In 1772, a settlement grew in North Carolina's western lands on the Watauga River that developed into the rogue Colony, Watauga Association. They drew up a constitution called the Articles of the Watauga Association. When the Revolutionary War started in 1776, they wanted to be annexed to North Carolina Colony for protection. North Carolina annexed them and changed the name to the Washington District, but the District was too far away to send them assistance, and North Carolina relinquished that claim.
In 1780, Cumberland was formed in the area where Nashville is now. They wrote the Cumberland Compact and made their own government and laws. They fought with the Natives for three years. Then the turmoil of the Revolutionary War was too much, they gave up, and Cumberland ceased to exist.
The Revolutionary War ended with the 1783 Treaty of Paris. Also in 1783, North Carolina established Davidson County, which initially included all of our Tennessee from Cumberland Plateau west to the Mississippi River. Then in the summer of 1784, they decided to cede their western lands to the Federal Government to avoid the expense of protecting their people in Native American lands. In the fall, they rescinded the cession and took the land back.
When North Carolina relinquished its claim in 1784, the State of Franklin (briefly named Frankland) was formed where Washington District had been. Jonesborough (founded 1779) was its temporary capital to 1785, and Greeneville (founded 1783) was the permanent capital from 1785 to 1788. The people of Franklin elected a governor, wrote a State Constitution, selected a log cabin as their capitol building, and believed their state would be admitted to the Union. Congress even voted on the admission of Franklin State, but it did not pass. When Franklin, instead, started talking about joining Spain, North Carolina declared Franklin State was illegal. With the help of the Continental Congress, they regained control of the area in 1788, and the State of Franklin was dissolved in 1789. The capitol building was dismantled in 1897, reassembled in Nashville for the Tennessee Centennial Celebration, dismantled again, and lost. A replica based on a photo and notes was constructed in 1966 and now stands in Greenville.
North Carolina ceded its western land, then called the Tennessee County, to the Federal government in 1789. Congress designated the area as The Territory (of the US) South of the River Ohio, informally called the Southwest Territory. A governor was appointed whose headquarters were first in Rocky Mount (founded 1769), and then from 1792 to 1796, in Knoxville (founded 1786 as White's Fort) where a two-story, wooden home became the Territorial Capitol. The actual home used as the capitol is debated, with Blount's Mansion also claiming to have had that honor. Blount's Mansion still stands as a museum, but the fate of the other home has not been discovered.
Congress finalized the borders and name, and admitted the Southwest Territory to the Union as the State of Tennessee in 1796. Tennessee was the first American Territory to become a state. Knoxville remained the capital, and the capitol building became the state capitol until 1812 except for one day in 1807; Kingston was the declared the capital of Tennessee for one day in order to trick the Cherokee.
Nashville was the first permanent European settlement in Tennessee, founded as Fort Nashborough in 1779 and renamed Nashville in 1784. Nashville became the state capital in 1812 due to its increase in population, and remained the capital until 1817 when Knoxville was the capital again until 1818.
Because of its central location, Murfreesboro (founded 1811 as Cannonsburgh) became the capital from 1818 to 1826 when the capital was moved back to Nashville. The Legislature met in a variety of buildings in Murfreesboro and also in Nashville until the current capitol was completed. In 1843, Nashville was designated as the permanent capital city.
The current capitol building was constructed from 1845 to 1859, with the General Assembly using it from 1853 on.
Tennessee, one of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1860 and was the first reinstated after the Civil War in 1866.
Many southern Unionists lived in Winston County, Northern Alabama and southeast Tennessee in an area known as Nickajack. They had very few slaves or plantations and did not support the Confederacy. When Tennessee and Alabama seceded from the Union, the Unionists in Nickajack attempted to form their own state, to be called Nickajack. Their efforts failed, and leaving the Confederacy was considered too dangerous. In the end, they were occupied by Confederate forces and forced to fight in the Civil War.
The citizens of Scott County in Eastern Tennessee had a very different experience. They, too, did not hold slaves or support the Confederacy, and they actually seceded from Tennessee in 1861 by sending their proclamation of independence to the State. Tennessee officials ignored it, but Scott did not. In 1986, on their 125th anniversary of independence, the State of Scott requested readmittance to Tennessee, who held a celebration to welcome the forgotten State back.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; historicnashvilleinc.org; web.utk.edu; tn.gov; tngenweb.org; tnhistoryforkids.org; statelibrary.ncdcr; greeneville.com; knoxvilletn.gov; cupola.com; thecivilwaromnibus.com; mentalfloss.com; tn4me.org; blountmansion.org
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TEXAS
Statehood 1845
One of the 13 Confederate States
Most of our Texas was claimed by Spain as part of their Tejas, a Province of New Spain, until 1819. The Spanish Provincial Capital was San Antonio (founded 1718) from 1772 to 1821. France claimed northeastern Texas as part of La Louisiane in 1682, and a small eastern portion from 1685 to 1690 when they tried to expand westward from the southern tip of La Louisiane. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 made La Louisiane U.S. territory.
The border between New Spain and the U.S. was settled with the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819. Then all of our Texas was claimed by Spain from 1819 to 1821. Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821 and claimed all of Texas from 1821 to 1836. The Mexican Colonial Capitals were San Antonio until 1824, and San Felipe de Austin (founded 1823) in 1832.
After fighting the Spanish forces in isolated incidents, Texans revolted against the self-declared Dictator of Mexico, Santa Anna, in the Texas Revolution which started in 1835. They declared their independence as the Republic of Texas in 1836. The Republic's Declaration of Independence was written in Washington (later familiarly Washington-on-the-Brazos), the capital of the Provisional Government of the Republic. The town dwindled and was gone by 1899. Today, Washington-on-the-Brazos is a State Historical Park with a 1960 replica of the first capitol, the Republic's Independence Hall, built on the same site.
The Mexican capital, San Felipe de Austin, and the ferry there were burned during the Revolution in 1836 to keep Santa Anna's troops from crossing the Brazos River. To avoid Santa Anna's troops, the Texas Republic Capital was moved around to Harrisburg (founded before 1825) which the residents burned when the Mexican troops were approaching, Galveston Island, Velasco (founded 1831), and Columbia (founded 1826) where the First Republic of Texas Congress met. One of the buildings used as the Republic's first capitol was a store built in 1833. It served as the capitol until 1836 and was destroyed by a storm in 1900. In 1976, a replica was built of this first official Capitol of the Republic in Columbia.
At the end of the Texas Revolution, Mexico recognized Texas' independence but disputed the new border. The 1836 Treaties of Velasco, which Mexico signed, established the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico, but Mexico continued to claim the Nueces River was the border. The disputed land included parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.
In 1837, the Capital of the Republic was moved to Houston (founded 1836) for better accommodations. The two-story, frame Houston Capitol building was constructed to be the Republic's Capitol in 1837. It served the Republic from 1837 to 1839 and was then used as a temporary alternate until 1845. It was later remodeled as a hotel and demolished in 1881.
In 1839, Waterloo (founded 1837) was selected as the permanent capital and renamed Austin. The Mexican troops attempting to retake land were too close to Austin in 1842, so the legislature used Washington and Houston as temporary capitals until 1845 when they returned to Austin.
The Republic of Texas had a great number of slaves. When they won their independence, they pursued statehood, but the looming Civil War complicated the matter. After much discussion, Texas was granted Statehood in 1845, and the Republic was dissolved. Austin became the first state capital. Several log buildings were used by the state legislature in Austin until the first permanent state capitol was built in 1853.
When Texas State was admitted, its borders, surprisingly, were not specified. Miller County, previously disputed between Arkansas and Mexico, was ceded to Texas. The U.S. government took over Texas' claims to the large, western territory still being disputed with Mexico. With the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican-American War, the disputed territory officially became U.S. land. In the Compromise of 1850, Texas was reduced to its current boundaries and ceded the rest of their land to the U.S. government to compensate them for taking on Texas' debts.
Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States in 1861, keeping Austin as their Capital. The Confederacy was defeated in 1865, and Texas was reinstated to the Union in 1870.
Another unusual feature of the admission of Texas as a State was the clause allowing the land to be divided into as many as four states. There were several proposed states, and one was to be called Lincoln. The State of Lincoln would have included the Texas land that lay south and west of the Colorado River.
Other proposals for some of the territory in our Texas included the State of Jefferson. In 1870, Southeastern Texas was on its way to becoming Jefferson, and in 1915, Western Texas was also planned as a new state to be called Jefferson. Like Lincoln, neither gained enough support to succeed.
The 1853 state capitol, which was not well-liked by the public, burned in 1881. While the new capitol was being completed on the same site as the 1853 capitol, a temporary building off of the capitol grounds was used by the Legislature. The current capitol building was under construction from 1881 to 1888 resulting in what we see above-ground today. A massive, 667,000 square foot, underground annex on the north side of the capitol was constructed starting in 1988. It opened in 1993.
Sources: 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; lsjunction.com; texasalmanac.com; tspb.state.tx.us; drtinfo.org; caturner.wordpress.com; sanjacinto-museum.org; colonialcapitaloftexas.com; tamu.edu; uhdigitallibrary.com; tsl.texas.gov; cupola.com
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UTAH
Statehood 1896
Most of our Utah was part of Spain's Alta California, and a small portion was part of Spain's Nuevo Mexico. When Mexico won their independence from Spain in 1821, both provinces became Mexican territories by the same names. Mexico ceded Nuevo Mexico and Alta California to the U.S. in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican-American War. The Treaty required Mexico to give up its land in the American west, including our Utah. That land then became known as the Mexican Cession.
In 1849, the self-proclaimed State of Deseret emerged from the Mexican Cession with Brigham Young its governor, and Salt Lake City (founded 1847) its seat of government. The land claimed for this state was the Great Basin and the watersheds of the Colorado River. This included nearly all of our Nevada and Utah, and parts of our California, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Congress did not accept the application for Deseret statehood, and in 1850, created the State of California and the Utah and New Mexico Territories, effectively dismantling Deseret. The General Assembly of Deseret dissolved their state in 1851.
Congress created the extraordinarily large, 225,000 square mile Utah Territory in 1850 at the same time as New Mexico Territory and allowed them to choose between free and slave states for themselves. Fillmore (founded as Fillmore City in 1851) was created as the capital city of Utah Territory at its geographical center. A Territorial Statehouse was planned in Fillmore. Construction began in 1852, but only the first wing was ever completed, which was used by the Territorial Legislature in 1855. Since then, it has been a jail, school, church, meeting house, and office building, and it is now in the Utah Territorial Statehouse State Park.
Salt Lake City was designated as the Territorial Capital in 1856 because Fillmore had not developed as hoped and offered poor accommodations. The legislature met in five different places Salt Lake City in the next 40 years, but had no official capitol building. There was much controversy regarding the potential statehood of the huge Utah Territory, especially when it was announced the Mormons were practicing polygamy. This led to a long wait for statehood, which in turn led to several portions of the Territory being attached to new bordering territories and states.
In 1861, the territories of Nevada, Colorado, and Dakota were established. Nevada Territory got 63,214 square miles of Utah, Colorado Territory got the land from the summit of the Rockies west to the 109th meridian, and Nebraska Territory got 10,740 square miles (the Nebraska panhandle) from Utah. In 1862, the Nevada/Utah boundary was moved east from the 116th meridian to the 115th, shrinking Utah further, and that boundary was moved again, to the 114th meridian in 1866, two years after Nevada had become a state. There were several other attempts to shrink Utah further between 1868 and 1896, but none succeeded.
Now 85,000 square miles, Utah's statehood was granted in 1896. Salt Lake City remained the capital city. The City and County Building, built from 1891 to 1894, was used as the state capitol from 1896 to 1916 when the new capitol was completed. It then became the City and County building again.
The current capitol was built from 1911-1916.
Sources: utah.gov; wchsutah.org; historytogo.utah.gov; millardcounty.com; cupola.com
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VERMONT
Statehood 1791
Both New Hampshire and New York claimed land that lay between them west of the Connecticut River, north of Massachusetts, and east of Lake Champlain and New York. The Governor of New Hampshire granted land to settlers in the area in the mid-1770s, and those parcels became known as the New Hampshire Grants. When King George III settled the dispute between New Hampshire and New York in favor of New York in 1774, the New Hampshire Grant settlers were informed they had to purchase their granted land from New York. They rebelled and planned their independence.
Representatives of the New Hampshire Grants met in early 1777 in Westminster (founded 1734 as New Taunton Township, Massachusetts Bay Colony; permanently settled 1751 as Westminster) and declared their independence as the new state of New Connecticut. Later in 1777, delegates from New Connecticut met in Windsor (founded 1761) to write their state constitution in Elijah West's tavern, now called The Old Constitution House. They changed the state name to The Free and Independent State of Vermont, claimed all the land to the New York border, drew up a constitution, and soon petitioned for admission to the Confederacy. Admission was denied, and the state then functioned as the Vermont Republic until statehood was granted. Westminster and Windsor were used as their capitals. Old Constitution House still stands as a State Historic Site.
During the Revolutionary War, New Hampshire dropped its claim on our Vermont, but New York did not. The Continental Congress was too busy with the War to get involved. The boundary disputes were settled between Vermont and New York in 1790, but in the agreement, New York insisted on payment of $30,000 for their rights to the area, and Vermont paid it. In 1791, statehood was granted to Vermont with no official capital selected. When Kentucky became a state the next year, these two were the first pair admitted to the Union with the intent of keeping the north-south, free-slave state balance.
The Vermont State Legislature met in 14 different locations in the next 14 years, including Windsor for 14 meetings, Bennington (chartered 1749) for eight meetings, and Rutland (chartered 1761) for seven meetings. In 1805, they selected Montpelier (chartered 1781) as the permanent capital because of its central location and easy access along the Winooski River Valley, and the residents' offer of a free site and financial help with the construction of the State House. The first State House, a three-story wooden structure with a cupola and bell, was finished there in 1808. By 1826, it was too small and in poor condition, and it was eventually torn down. It stood approximately where the Supreme Court Annex is now.
The second Montpelier State House was built on the same site near the first State House from 1833-1837 and first used in 1838. The Montpelier residents also provided funds for this construction. This second State House burned in 1857 with only the exterior walls and portico surviving.
The third and current State House was built from 1857 to 1859 using the front portico and some exterior walls, the only portions saved, from the second capitol. Again the citizens of Montpelier paid to assist in the construction. It was first used in 1859. The Supreme Court Annex was added from 1886 to 1888.
Sources: ushistory.info; vermonthistory.org; uppervalleynhvt.com; windsorvt.org; historicsites.vermont.gov; sec.state.vt.us; vt-world.com; cupola.com; benningtonvt.org; rutlandhistory.com
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VIRGINIA
One of the 13 Original Colonies
Statehood 1788
One of the 13 Confederate States
The first permanent English settlement in North America was founded by the Virginia Company of London on the James River in 1607 at Jamestown. A charter from King James granted them the land between the 38th and 45th parallels. In 1609, the original charter was replaced with one giving a proprietary corporation the colony and extending the land claim westward to the Pacific Ocean.
As directed by the governor, the first government assembly was held in 1619 in the church in Jamestown, the first Statehouse. The 1609 charter was revoked, and Virginia became a Royal Colony in 1624 with the previous assembly still in power under the crown. In the 1630s, the General Assembly met in the governor's home, the second Statehouse. In 1660, the colony built a third Statehouse. It was burned in Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, replaced with a new Statehouse on the same site, and the new Statehouse burned in 1698. All the Jamestown Statehouses were destroyed by fire.
The Burgesses moved the Colony's government to Middle Plantation in 1699. This was a planned city built to be the capital and later renamed Williamsburg. The same year, they decided to build the first American structure to which the word capitol was applied. The west wing of the first Williamsburg Statehouse (capitol) was completed in 1703, and the building was completed in 1705. It burned in 1747. The Burgesses and General Court met in the Wren Building and City Hall until the second capitol was completed. In 1928, the grounds were deeded to Colonial Williamsburg. The first capitol was reconstructed there using documentation of the original building, and it was dedicated in 1934. For one day, every other year, the Virginia General Assembly meets in the Williamsburg Statehouse.
The second State House, also in Williamsburg, was started in 1751 and first used by the Burgesses in 1753. It was last used as the capitol in 1779, after which Richmond became the capital city. It then served many purposes: an admiralty court, law school, military hospital, grammar school, and female academy. The west wing was demolished in 1793 and sold for its bricks. The east wing burned in 1832, and the last aboveground traces were removed in 1881.
When the French gave Great Britain the portion of La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Virginia claimed the part of that land west of its then-current borders. This claim was based on their 1609 charter which extended the land claim to the Pacific Ocean.
The capital was moved to Richmond (founded 1737) in 1780, and the Legislature has convened there since. They met in unimposing buildings in town until the new capitol, designed for Thomas Jefferson, was ready for use in 1788. Design and construction began in 1785, and in 1794, the design was changed from a flat roof to a gabled one. The capitol was completed in 1798.
Virginia became a State in 1788, and Richmond remained the capital. In 1792, Virginia gave up its claim to its western land to the new federal government in payment of its war debts, which several other states also did.
Meanwhile, Congress passed a law in 1790 permitting President George Washington to select a location for the new National Capital. Washington chose a square section of land, 10 miles on each side and turned 45 degrees so it appears as a diamond on a map. The Potomac River runs through the diamond with Virginia on the west side of the River and Maryland on the east side. Virginia and Maryland donated the land chosen. In 1791, the Commission settled on the names, the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia with the two encompassing the same land. This became the world's first planned capital. Later, Virginia was uncomfortable with this arrangement because of the growing struggle over slavery. Their portion, approximately a third of the new District, was returned to Virginia in 1846.
Virginia, one of the 13 Confederate States, seceded from the Union in 1861 and was reinstated after the Civil War in 1870. In 1861, the same year Virginia seceded from the Union, the western counties seceded from Virginia and eventually became West Virginia.
Three months after meeting in the first Confederate Capital, Montgomery, Alabama, the President and members of the Confederate Assembly moved the Capital to Richmond to escape the heat and bugs. They moved to Danville, Virginia when Richmond fell to the Union Army in 1865, but were only there for eight days when they again moved, this time to Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Richmond capitol was renovated in 1904. East and west flanking wings were added at that time, as was a huge exterior front staircase. The new staircase was needed, because originally, the main entrance was on the side now obscured by a wing. In 1964, the linking structures between the wings and the original building were enlarged to include conference rooms and office space. From 2003 to 2007, the capitol was renovated, and a new public entrance and addition were built under the south portico.
Sources: History of the American Nation, by McLaughlin; 14thamendment.harpweek.com; civilwar.org; virginiacapitol.gov; learnnc.org; americanhistory.about.com; u-s-history.com; cupola.com; lva.virginia.gov; history.org; virginiaplaces.org
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WASHINGTON
Statehood 1889
All of our Washington was in what became known as Oregon Country. All or part of this land had once been claimed by Spain, Great Britain, the U.S., and Russia. Spain and Russia ceded their claims to the U.S. in 1819 (Spain) and 1824 (Russia). In 1846, the Oregon Treaty established the border between the U.S. portion of the territory and British Canada at the 49th parallel, and all of our Washington was then in an American unorganized territory.
Oregon Territory, established in 1848, included our Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. Oregon Territory was split when Washington Territory was organized from its northern half in 1853. The border between them followed the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean east to its second crossing of the 46th parallel, then straight east along that parallel. Washington Territory included northern Idaho and northwestern Montana, and Olympia (claimed in 1846 as Smithster, renamed Olympia in 1850) was chosen as the Provisional Capital. The Territorial Legislative Building was constructed on the site of the current capitol campus in 1856.
When Idaho Territory was established in 1863, Washington Territory was reduced to the current state boundaries, and Olympia remained the capital. Statehood was granted to Washington in 1889. Olympia became the state capital with the Legislative Building becoming the state capitol building. It continued to be used as the capitol until 1901, and was destroyed in 1911 to make room for new legislative buildings
In 1901, the State bought the Thurston County Courthouse, built 1890-1892, to serve as the capitol until the current capitol was ready for use. They remodeled the temporary capitol and added a wing for the House and Senate on its east side similar to the one that had already been added on the west side. The Courthouse housed the State Legislature until 1928. It has been known as the Old State Capitol, and as The Castle. A 1928 fire and a 1949 earthquake did major damage requiring partial demolition of towers and major repairs. The Old State Capitol is still in use for government offices.
The unusual idea for the state capitol to be built as a group of buildings rather than a single structure was proposed in 1911 and carried out over the next decades. The land selected for the future campus already had the 1908 Governor's Mansion, which still stands today. The next building constructed was the Temple of Justice for the Supreme Court, with the ground-breaking in 1912, its first use in 1913, and completion in 1920. Next, the Insurance Building was completed in 1921. The current Washington capitol, known as the Legislative Building, was designed and built from 1919 to 1928 on the foundations poured for a previously planned but abandoned capitol. The dome of the Legislative Building is huge because the plan was for it to be sized appropriately in relation to the expanse of the whole campus, not just the one building. After the Legislative Building, the O'Brien House Office Building, the Cherberg Democratic Senate Office Building, the Newhouse Republican Senate Office Building, and the Pritchard State Library were added to the Washington State Capitol Campus.
Sources: archiveswest.orbiscascade.org; city-data.com; olympiahistory.org; des.wa.gov; sos.wa.gov; cupola.com; templecentennial.wa.gov
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WEST VIRGINIA
Statehood 1863
Our West Virginia was originally part of the Virginia Colony with Jamestown (founded 1607) its capital. Right before the Revolutionary War, a 14th Colony to be named Vandalia was proposed which would have included most of our West Virginia, southwest Pennsylvania, and part of Kentucky. The War prevented its formation. They tried a second time with the name Westsylvania chosen, but this proposal also failed. Richmond (founded 1737) was chosen as the capital of Virginia in 1780. When Virginia became a State in 1788 with our West Virginia still included, Richmond remained the capital.
Virginia's western counties wanted a governmental and legal separation from Virginia for many reasons: the lands were divided by mountains with no transportation route through them; eastern Virginia waterways flow to Chesapeake Bay, while western waterways flow to the Mississippi River, separating trade routes; and congressional favoritism, including unequal taxation and a lack of investment of tax dollars in the west. When Virginia left the Union in 1861, the western counties saw this as their chance for separation. The counties west of the Alleghenies seceded from Virginia starting in 1861. The proposed name for the new State was Kanawha.
In 1863, the State was accepted into the Union as West Virginia with the southwest counties west of the Blue Ridge staying with Virginia. Wheeling (founded 1769) was established as the capital of the new State, and the first official capitol building in Wheeling was the Linsly Military Institute, built in 1858.
The capital was moved to Charleston in 1870. The town of Charleston formed around the 1788 Fort Lee and was chartered as Charles Town in 1794. The name was shortened to Charleston in 1818. The first Charleston capitol was built from 1869 to 1870.
The capital was moved back to Wheeling in 1875, and the city presented the state with a soon-to-be-completed building to be used as the capitol. Until the new Wheeling capitol was ready in 1876, they used the Linsly Institute again. After the capital was moved back to Charleston later, the new capitol became the City Hall and County Courthouse at the same time. In 1959, it was torn down, and a new building was erected on the same site.
The capital was moved again, back to Charleston permanently in 1885. The second Charleston capitol building was already under construction on the same site as the first and incorporating a small portion of the first. It burned in 1921.
Temporary, newly built office buildings referred to as the Pasteboard Capitol were used for the legislature from 1921 until the current capitol was ready for use in 1927. It was constructed on a new site in three sections; first the east wing from 1924 to 1925, then the west wing from 1926 to 1927, and finally the central portion and dome from 1930 to 1932. It was first used in 1927. Also, the Pasteboard Capitol burned in 1927.
Sources: virginiaplaces.org; wvencyclopedia.org; wheelingwv.gov; legis.state.wv.us; wvculture.org; u-s-history.com; wheelingwv.gov; cupola.com; generalservices.wv.gov
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WISCONSIN
Statehood 1848
Our Wisconsin was part of France's La Louisiane east of the Mississippi River that was ceded to Great Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the French and Indian War. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the 1783 Treaty of Paris made that territory American soil. In 1787, the U.S. established the portion north of the Ohio River as the Old Northwest Territory, formally called the Territory of the United States North and West of the River Ohio.
While the Old Northwest Territory was being organized and divided, our Wisconsin became part of Indiana Territory from 1800 to 1809, Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818, and Michigan Territory from 1818 to 1836. Wisconsin Territory was established in 1836 with Belmont (founded 1835) chosen as the the temporary capital. The legislature met in Belmont one year and designated Madison, at that time a city only on paper, as the eventual, permanent capital, and Burlington (founded 1833, now in our Iowa) as the temporary capital until Madison would be ready.
The prefabricated Council House had been built in 1836 for the legislature's meetings in Belmont, and others were built there for lodging and other governmental purposes. The Council House and Lodging House eventually became private residences, and later, livestock barns. They have been moved to a new site near Belmont and restored, Council House in 1924 and Lodging House in 1956. Since 1994, they are part of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
In 1837, the legislature met in Burlington, because the conditions in Belmont were not favorable with no heat or water in the buildings and other inadequacies. There had been a capitol built in Burlington, but it burned before the end of the session. Then they met in Old Zion Methodist Church in Burlington.
The capital was moved to Madison in 1838 after the completion of Wisconsin's new Territorial Capitol, their first permanent capitol building. Statehood was granted to Wisconsin later in 1848. Madison became the state capital, and the Territorial Capitol building became the state capitol building.
By 1857, the capitol was too small. The second Madison capitol was built from 1857 to 1869 around the 1838 building until the latter had to be torn down to make room. In 1882, wings were added to two sides of the new capitol. In 1903, again there was not enough room. While they were planning the expansion of this capitol, it suffered a fire in 1904 which made it unusable. The plans changed to rebuilding the existing, damaged capitol into a new one, one wing at a time (plus the rotunda). The third and current capitol in Madison was constructed from the ruins of the second capitol from 1906 to 1917 with the legislature first being able to use it in 1909.
Sources: firstcapitol.wisconsinhistory.org; geneologytrails.com; usgenweb.info; tours.wisconsin.gov; historicmadison.org; cupola.com; wisconsinhistory.org
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WYOMING
Statehood 1890
Much of our Wyoming was part of the United States' 1803 Louisiana Purchase. A northwest portion of our Wyoming was in Oregon Country, which became American soil with the 1846 Oregon Treaty with Great Britain. A small part of south-central Wyoming was part of Mexico's Nuevo Mexico, which became disputed territory when the Republic of Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836. The dispute was ended when Mexico ceded Nuevo Mexico to the U.S. at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, making that south-central part American. A southwest portion that was part of Mexico's Alta California also became American soil when Alta California was also ceded to the U.S. in 1848.
As the vast western lands were being divided into territories and states, borders changed many times. Between 1848 and 1868, all or part of our Wyoming was, at some point, in Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nebraska, Dakota, and Idaho Territories. Congress created Wyoming Territory with the current Wyoming State borders from parts of Dakota, Idaho, and Utah Territories in 1868. Cheyenne (chartered 1867) was selected as the Wyoming Territorial Capital.
Construction began on the Territorial Capitol in Cheyenne in 1887 in anticipation of the city remaining the capital in statehood. Each session of the new Legislative Assembly met in a different building in Cheyenne until the capitol building was ready for use in 1888. In 1873, they met in the newly completed Laramie County Courthouse. When statehood was granted in 1890, Cheyenne became the state capital, and the Territorial Capitol building became the state capitol building. That same year, the first east and west wings were completed. The capitol's east and west wings were extended for the House and Senate chambers from 1915 to 1917.
In 1939, the State of Absaroka with Sheridan (founded 1888) in our Wyoming selected as its capital was discussed. The plan was to combine the northern third of Wyoming, the southeast corner of Montana, and the western quarter of South Dakota to form the new state. Absaroka was promoted and discussed briefly at first, and possibly not seriously, but the idea lived on. The country was deep in hard times, and World War II was on the horizon. The ranchers in the area felt a need to control their land and lives. Nothing has come of the movement, which was apparently abandoned in the 1940s.
Sources: wyo.gov; u-s-history.com; cheyennecity.org; city-data.com; wyomingstatearchives.wikispaces.com; cupola.com; nytimes.com
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EARLY NATIONAL CAPITOLS and
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT of COLUMBIA
Established 1790
Did the United States of America come into existence with its 1776 Declaration of Independence? Or with the 1783 Treaty of Paris when Great Britain gave up its claim to the land? Or was it when a group of men representing settlers of the British Colonies in America first gathered to discuss the possibility of their unfairly ruled land becoming an independent country?
For our purposes, the U.S.A. was created when twelve of the 13 colonies sent representatives (Georgia did not send one) to the First Continental Congress in 1774 in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Hall, built in 1770, was not used by any Congress again. It has been used since 1774 for Franklin's Library Company, the American Philosophical Society, and the First and Second Banks of the United States. It still stands as part of the Independence National Historic Park.
The Second Continental Congress, this one with all 13 colonies representated, first met in 1775 in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. The Colony of Pennsylvania was governed from the State House, originally built from 1732 to 1748. It was used for various government functions and meetings of Congress many times until 1788. Philadelphia's State House got the name Independence Hall in 1824 from a re-interpretation of the name for the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence had been signed. The Room became known as the "Hall of Independence," and around 1876, the name "Independence Hall" came to refer to the whole building.
Independence Hall has endured many changes: from 1750 to 1753, the tower with its wooden steeple was added; about 1776, wooden sheds were added to the ends of the wings; in 1781, the steeple was removed due to decay; from 1787 to 1793, the sheds were removed and the City Hall and County Courthouse buildings were added where the sheds had been; from 1813 to 1815, the wings were torn down and replaced with two-story office buildings; in 1828, the steeple was rebuilt and remains today. In 1896, the office buildings were torn down, and the original wings and arcades were reconstructed. Independence Hall still stands as part of the Independence National Historic Park.
Preparation for the American Revolution started a period of frequent movement for the new government in an effort to avoid many troubles before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. From 1775 to 1781, the Second Continental Congress met in the State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Henry Fite's House, Baltimore, Maryland; the Court House, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; the Court House, York, Pennsylvania; and College Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
After the Articles of Confederation were adopted, Congress met from 1781 to 1788 in the State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Nassau Hall, Princeton, New Jersey; the State House, Annapolis, Maryland; French Arms Tavern, Trenton, New Jersey; and City Hall and Fraunce's Tavern, New York, New York.
The Constitution established the new Federal Congress in 1789, and they first met in what had been New York City Hall. The seat of government for the British Colony of New York was New York City Hall, built from 1699 to 1703. In 1788, after the Revolutionary War, the building was remodeled for the use of the new Federal Government and renamed Federal Hall. Just two years later, Congress moved to Philadelphia. Federal Hall was used for city government until 1812 when it was demolished.
The southern states were not happy with the national seat of government being in Pennsylvania, a Free State. The northern states objected to the next logical location in Virginia, because it was a Slave State. Thomas Jefferson came up with a plan to have a piece of land chosen on the Potomac River to be a new Federal District which would not be subject to any state laws. In 1790, Congress passed a law permitting President George Washington to select a location for the new National Capital and appoint a commission to oversee its development.
Also in 1790, Philadelphia was declared the temporary seat of the Federal government, and Congress met in the Philadelphia County Court House until 1800. The Court House, constructed from 1787 to 1793 next to the State House, was renamed Congress Hall in honor of its new purpose. After 1800, it became the County Court House again, and it still stands next to Independence Hall as part of the Independence National Historic Park.
Washington chose a square section of land, 10 miles on each side and turned 45 degrees so it appears as a diamond on a map. The Potomac River runs through the diamond with Virginia on the west side of the River and Maryland on the east side. Washington generally referred to his selected location as the Federal City. In 1791, the Commission settled on the names, the City of Washington, honoring the President, in the Territory of Columbia, honoring Christopher Columbus, with the two encompassing the same land. This became the world's first planned capital. Later, Virginia was uncomfortable with this arrangement because of the growing struggle over slavery. Their portion, approximately a third of the new territory, was returned to Virginia in 1846.
Since the Capitol was first planned, many architects have been involved with its construction, and many designs have been altered and added. The first plan for the National Capitol, by Dr. William Thornton, was approved and the cornerstone was laid in 1793. Thornton drew another, unusual plan in 1797 that included a never-built second dome. Enough of the north wing of the Thornton building was finished to allow occupation by Congress, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the District of Columbia Courts in 1800. A new architect, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, was hired to continue the design and construction of the Capitol in 1803 and drew his plan in 1811. The south wing was completed in 1811. By the start of the War of 1812, the north and south wings were connected only by a temporary wooden passageway.
In 1814, most of Washington was burned by the British. The Capitol was heavily damaged, and the Senate wing was destroyed. The Senate moved to Blodgett's Hotel, a large building designed in 1793 that had been spared from the fires, and met there for more than a year. From 1815 to 1819, Congress met in the Brick Capitol which had been quickly constructed for that purpose. Blodgett's Hotel was destroyed in an accidental fire in 1836. The Brick Capitol became a private school, a boarding house, and then a prison in the Civil War. It was sold to a private party in 1867 and razed in 1929 to make room for the U.S. Supreme Court building.
Work resumed on the Capitol in 1815, but progress was slow. A new architect, Charles Bulfinch, was hired in 1818. He redesigned the Capitol's central section and supervised the construction. The Capitol was ready for use in 1819 and was completed in 1826.
By 1850, the Capitol's size was inadequate. In 1851, the cornerstone was laid for the first of two new wings. Construction continued until the Civil War when the Capitol was used as a military barracks, hospital, and bakery. When work resumed, it was obvious the Bulfinch dome was too small for the new proportions of the building. The old dome was removed in 1856, the new dome was completed in 1866, and the wing extensions were completed in 1868.
When it was incorporated in 1871, the territorial name was changed from the Territory of Columbia to the District of Columbia.
Terraces were added to the west, north, and south sides of the Capitol from 1884 to 1891. The Capitol's east front center section was extended from 1958 to 1962 using plans originally drawn in 1865.
Sources: nps.gov; ushistory.org; infoplease.com; worldatlas.com; washington.org; history.com; dchistory.org; u-s-history.com; aoc.gov; loc.gov; visitthecapitol.gov
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