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Nevada State Capitol

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Nevada State Capitol
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nevada Historical Marker No. 25
Front façade
Location101 North Carson Street
Carson City, Nevada
Coordinates39°9′51″N 119°45′59″W / 39.16417°N 119.76639°W / 39.16417; -119.76639
Built1871
ArchitectJoseph Gosling
Architectural styleNeoclassical Italianate
NRHP reference No.75002126
 No.25
Added to NRHPJune 10, 1975

The Nevada State Capitol is the capitol building of the U.S. state of Nevada located in the state capital of Carson City at 101 North Carson Street. The building was constructed in the Neoclassical Italianate style between 1869 and 1871. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is also Nevada Historical Marker number 25.

Construction

Abraham Curry, the founder of Carson City, reserved an area equivalent to four city blocks (10 acres or 4.04 ha) at the center of the town for the future territorial / state capitol. When the first Capitol building was constructed, it was naturally located on "the plaza", which had, some ten or eleven years earlier, been designated for it, and given as public property for that purpose. Samuel Clemens, later famed author, humorist and lecturer Mark Twain (1835-1910),wrote in his book Roughing It (written 1870-1871, and published 1872), that the capitol site was in 1861 "a large, unfenced, level vacancy, with a liberty pole in it, and very useful as a place for public auctions, horse trades, mass meetings, and likewise for teamsters to camp in."

The "act to provide for the erection of a State Capitol" was passed by the Nevada Legislature (state legislature), and signed into law by the first Governor of the new 36th State of Nevada, Henry G. Blasdel (1825-1900, served 1864-1871) in 1869, during his second term. The Board of Capitol Commissioners received bids of $84,000 to $160,000 dollars for construction and they chose the lowest bid, submitted by the firm of Peter Cavanaugh and Son of Carson City. The 1869 legislative act authorized $100,000 dollars for construction, with money to come from a special tax levy, plus the proceeds from the sale of some public land. To reduce costs, the building's sandstone was obtained free of charge from the Nevada State Prison quarry, just outside Carson City. In spite of this, the construction costs still increased to some $170,000 dollars, exceeding even the highest design and construction bid, let alone any additional funds designated for interior furnishings / decoration.

The Capitol cornerstone was laid on June 9, 1870. A brass box that served as a time capsule was deposited in the stone. The cornerstone was a solid block of sandstone, laid on top of blocks which contained the capsule. The capsule was inspected and returned to the cornerstone location (the northeast corner of the original building) during reconstruction / renovation project 110 years later in the 1979–1981 period.

The fourth session of the Nevada state legislature met in the still-incomplete building under construction two years later at the beginning of 1871. Construction was finally completed by May 1, 1871. Several of the architect's original blueprints, drawings and sketches are preserved in the state archives.

Architecture

original Nevada State Capitol in Carson City, built 1869-1871, pictured in 1875
Nevada State Capitol, built 1869-1871, showing Octagonal-shaped rear / east side annex / wing for the Nevada State Library, in Carson City, built 1906

The original building was cruciform in shape , with a central rectangle / rotunda hall 76 feet (23 m) wide by 85 feet (26 m) deep (23 x 25.8 m). It had two wings, each 35 feet (11 m) wide by 52 feet (16 m) deep (10.6 x 15.8 m). The windows' glass panes are made of 26-ounce (737 g) French crystal, as are those above the doors. Floors and wainscotting are of Alaskan marble, shipped south by cargo steamship to San Francisco, California in 20-ton (18,144 kg) blocks and there cut and polished for installation in Carson City.

The first floor contained a major office at each corner connected by central halls, while the wings of the second floor were filled by the two legislative chambers—the lower Assembly and the upper Senate. The octagonal dome topped with a cupola admitted light to the second story and rotunda below. During 1906, an octagonal-shaped annex wing was added to the rear (east) side of the capitol to house the additional Nevada State Library.

By the early 20th century, the legislature had outgrown the capitol, and prominent Nevada architect Frederic DeLongchamps (1882-1969), was contracted to design northern and southern legislative wings as annexes, These were completed in time for the 1915 legislative sessions during the First World War era (1914/1917-1918),. These compatible wings used similar gray stone from the same quarry as the original 1869-1871 portion of the capitol, built only 44 years earlier, and provided more office space and expanded sizes of the legislative chambers.

Artwork and exhibits

Frieze showing mineral names and mining equipment

A painted frieze in hallways of the first floor celebrates industry in Nevada, listing agricultural products and minerals found in Nevada mines. A vault door in the office of the Secretary of State of Nevada is painted with a scene of Lake Tahoe. Portraits of all governors of Nevada hang throughout the building.

Near the office of the Nevada Commission for Women, a display named Silver State Sisters documents about 100 individuals (mostly women) who have contributed to Nevada history — such as Barbara Vucanovich, Bernice Mathews, and Wild Horse Annie — and groups of women, such as the first non-segregated showgirls at the Moulin Rouge Hotel.

Artifacts of Nevada history on display include Paiute crafts and a section of the rope used to hang the man convicted of the murder of folk heroine Julia Bulette.

Usage

For more than 50 years, all three parts of the state government were housed in the Capitol. The Supreme Court met here until 1937, when it relocated into an adjacent building, and the Nevada Legislature met here until 1971, when it relocated to its new Legislative Building just south of the Capitol. Every Nevada governor except the first has had his office in the capitol. Nowadays, the Capitol continues to serve the Governor, and contains historical exhibits on the second floor.

Gallery

See also

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 15, 2006.
  2. "Nevada's Capitol". Carson City Historical Markers. Nevada State Historic Preservation Office. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  3. "Women Transforming Nevada exhibit christened at Capitol in Carson City". Nevada Appeal. September 14, 2018.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service.

External links

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National Register of Historic Places in Carson City, Nevada
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