State Symbols

A Capital Capitol

Posted at August 10, 2006 12:21

By John Fisher

Perched atop a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, Missouri’s capitol is an impressive structure.

However, the capital has not always been in Jefferson City. In 1821, the new general assembly met in St. Louis and selected St. Charles for its temporary capital. The state government operated out of three adjoining buildings there from 1821 to 1826.

The legislature selected the site of present-day Jefferson City for the state’s permanent capital on December 31, 1821, in accordance with the first state constitution, which called for a five-member appointed commission to select a capital site. The site had to be on the Missouri River and within forty miles of the mouth of the Osage River. The commission selected an area equal to four sections of land where Jefferson City is now. In early 1822, the legislature authorized the commission to develop a town at that site. The name was City of Jefferson, but through common usage it became Jefferson City.

The first capitol in Jefferson City was completed in 1826 and also served as the governor’s residence. In 1837, fire destroyed this structure, and a new building was completed in 1840. That building served the state until 1911 when fire, resulting from a lightning strike to its dome, once again destroyed Missouri’s capitol. Missouri was now faced with building its third Jefferson City capitol.

The general assembly placed a $3.5 million bond issue on the ballot in a special election in 1911, and voters approved. Final cost totaled $4,215,00, but remaining funds allowed for some outstanding artwork, such as the large bronze sculpture by Karl Bitters depicting the signing of the Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Hart Benton’s murals on the walls of the house lounge, and a statue of the Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres, atop the building’s dome.

A grand stairway extends from the front portico to the third floor where the legislature meets. The final report of the Capitol Commission Board issued in 1918 states that “Probably the most monumental feature of the building is the grand stairway thirty feet wide. … This is said to be the widest stairway in the world.”

April 2006

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