Iowa State Capitol

The Iowa State Capitol, commonly called the Iowa Statehouse, is in Iowa's capital city, Des Moines. As the seat of the Iowa General Assembly, the building houses the Iowa Senate, Iowa House of Representatives, the Office of the Governor, and the Offices of the Attorney General, Auditor, Treasurer, and Secretary of State. The building also includes a chamber for the Iowa Supreme Court, although court activities usually take place in the neighboring Iowa Supreme Court building. The building was constructed between 1871 and 1886, and is the only five-domed capitol in the country.

Located at East 9th Street and Grand Avenue, the Capitol is set atop a hill and offers a panoramic view of the city's downtown and the West Capitol Terrace. Various monuments and memorials are to its sides and front, including the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil War Monument and the Lincoln and Tad statue.

History

Construction

Not long after achieving statehood, Iowa recognized that the Capitol should be moved farther west than Iowa City, and the 1st General Assembly, in 1846, authorized a commission to select a location. In 1847, the town of Monroe City, in Jasper County, was selected as the new location of the capitol and platted out, but the 1848 Legislature decided not to move the capitol from Iowa City. In 1854, the General Assembly decreed a location “within two miles of the Raccoon fork of the Des Moines River.” The exact spot was chosen when Wilson Alexander Scott gave the state nine and one-half acres where the Capitol now stands. Final legislative approval for the construction of a permanent statehouse was given on April 8, 1870.

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A three-story brick building served as a temporary Capitol and was in use for 30 years, until destroyed by fires: in the meantime, the permanent Capitol was being planned and built.

In 1870, the General Assembly established a Capitol commission including local businessman and politician Peter A. Dey to employ an architect, choose a plan for a building (not to cost more than $1.5 million), and proceed with the work, but only by using funds available without increasing the tax rate.

John C. Cochrane and Alfred H. Piquenard were designated as architects, and a cornerstone was laid on November 23, 1871. However, much of the original stone deteriorated through waterlogging and severe weather, and had to be replaced. The cornerstone was relaid on September 29, 1873. Hackney was the only architect who stayed on the project until the end.

Architecture

The architectural design of the Capitol, rectangular in form, with great windows and high ceilings, follows the traditional pattern of 19th-century planning for public buildings. A modified and refined Renaissance style gives the impression of strength and dignity combined with utility. The building measures from north to south and from east to west. The rotunda beneath the dome is in diameter.

Displays

The battle flags carried by the Iowa regiments in various wars are preserved in niches on the main floor: Civil War, 1; Spanish–American War, 13; World War I, 26. In the west hall is a plaque done by Nellie V. Walker in commemoration of the work of Iowa women in the fight for political equality and a memorial to those Iowans killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. This drew criticism from Republican politicians. After the display was ruined, Michael Cassidy, a failed Republican candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives, was charged with criminal mischief for allegedly vandalizing the display. In a Fox News interview held a few days after he beheaded the statue, Cassidy defended his actions as "Christian civil disobedience", stating: "It offended me. It touched a nerve. It was, you know, righteous indignation." On May 24, 2024, Cassidy pleaded guilty to an aggravated misdemeanor count of third-degree criminal mischief, having previously faced a felony hate crime charge.

References

External links

Website of the Iowa State Capitol
Iowa General Assembly - Capitol Tour