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50-476: The Nebraska State Capitol is the seat of government of the U.S. state of Nebraska and is located in downtown Lincoln . Designed by New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1920, it was constructed of Indiana limestone from 1922 to 1932. The capitol houses the primary executive and judicial offices of Nebraska and is home to the Nebraska Legislature —the only unicameral state legislature in

100-544: A "pay-as-you-go" basis. The State of Nebraska funded the capitol under the same principles, and the final cost, $ 9,800,449.07, was completely paid when the Capitol Commission dissolved in 1935. One of the Capitol Commission's first actions was to hire Omaha architect Thomas Rogers Kimball to serve as the commission's professional advisor. Kimball, who was president of the American Institute of Architects , devised

150-538: A muralist, designed the marble mosaic panels of the floors and the ceramic tile panels of the vaults. On January 20, 1922, the Capitol Commission requested Goodhue to consult with Hartley Burr Alexander , of the University of Nebraska's department of philosophy, "to work out the inscriptions to be used on the Capitol Building." In addition to the inscriptions, Alexander began to work closely with Goodhue and Lawrie on

200-418: A two-stage competition for the selection of a capitol architect. In the preliminary stage, the commission invited Nebraska architects to submit capitol designs and hired Irving Kane Pond to serve as judge. Together, Pond and the commission selected Ellery L. Davis (Lincoln), John Latenser & Sons (Omaha), and John McDonald and Alan McDonald (Omaha) to compete in the final stage. Next the commission opened

250-481: Is engaged within the building's limestone in bas-relief , pierced, and buttress form. After Lawrie finalized his designs in plaster maquettes , the Edward Ardolino stone carving contractor employed Alessandro Beretta to execute the carving in situ . Beretta would take as long as ten weeks per panel, and use as many as 70 different tools. He finished the carving on November 19, 1934. The main portal introduces

300-551: Is the seat of government; and the Philippines , with Manila as its capital but the metropolitan area of the same name (Metro Manila; also known as National Capital Region (NCR)), is the seat of government. Local and regional authorities usually have a seat, called an administrative centre , as well. Terms for seats of local government of various levels and in various countries include: Examples of seats of government include: There are several countries where, for various reasons,

350-471: The Nebraska Legislature . From the center of the base, a tower rises 362 feet (110 m), crowned by a gold-tiled dome. The finial — The Sower and its pedestal—add an additional 32 feet (9.8 m) to the building's height. Common measurements list the capitol at 400 feet (120 m), making it the second-tallest U.S. statehouse , surpassed only by the 450-foot (140 m) Louisiana State Capitol (then- Governor of Louisiana Huey Pierce Long insisted

400-540: The Omaha National Bank , were Republicans from Lincoln and Omaha respectively. William H. Thompson, a prominent lawyer, was a Democrat from Grand Island. The three citizen members joined the ex officio members, Governor McKelvie and State Engineer George E. Johnson, to become the Nebraska Capitol Commission. House Roll 3 declared that the cost of the capitol was not to exceed $ 5 million and established

450-738: The Siena Cathedral after the two toured the cathedral in the summer of 1925. Meière also drew inspiration from Siena for her ceiling designs of the Vestibule, Great Hall, and Rotunda representing Nature, Man, and Society. In addition to her thematic consultation with Alexander, Meière collaborated closely with the Rafael Guastavino Company of New York to create decorative timbrel vaulting . The vaults are composed of two types of ceramic tiles: glazed polychrome tile and unglazed acoustical terracotta tile called Rumford. The Vestibule introduces

500-580: The Spirit of the Soil , the Spirit of Vegetation , and the Spirit of Animal Life . The Great Hall also introduces the Nebraska Hall of Fame —a collection of bronze busts of noteworthy Nebraskans. The capitol's Thematic Consultant, Hartley Burr Alexander, is among the 26 current inductees. Seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by Brewer's Politics ) "the building, complex of buildings or

550-538: The United States . The Nebraska State Capitol's 400-foot (120 m) tower can be seen twenty miles (32 km) away. It was the first state capitol to incorporate a functional tower into its design. Goodhue stated that "Nebraska is a level country and its capitol should have some altitude or beacon effect." In 1976, the National Park Service designated the capitol a National Historic Landmark , and in 1997,

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600-612: The Capital Commission selected the village of Lancaster as the capital city and renamed it Lincoln. In Lincoln, two structures first served the State of Nebraska. On October 10, 1867, the Capital Commission contracted Chicago architect John Morris to build a statehouse in Lincoln on the newly platted Capitol Square (bounded by the streets of 14th and 16th, H and K). Morris designed the capitol with local limestones which began to deteriorate upon

650-453: The Capitol Commission built an electric railroad spur from Lincoln's Burlington yards. The state-owned line ran along H Street from 7th to 14th Streets and provided an easy means for delivery of construction materials. Then on April 15, 1922, Governor Samuel R. McKelvie ceremonially broke ground, thus beginning a ten-year construction process which occurred in four phases. Building in phases allowed construction to commence before demolition of

700-427: The Capitol Commission decided that the tower should be built for office space. Tower floors continue to house various offices today. In total, there are 15 stories in the capitol (three mechanical levels also exist within the tower between the 3rd and 4th floors). Memorial Chamber on the 14th floor—the highest publicly accessible level—has four observation decks that offer views of Lincoln from 245 feet (75 m) above

750-507: The Capitol Commission hired Lincoln landscape architect Ernst Herminghaus to design the grounds. Bertram Goodhue employed two New York artists, Lee Lawrie and Hildreth Meière , in both the exterior and interior ornamentation of the Nebraska State Capitol. Lawrie, a sculptor, designed all of the engaged relief panels and buttress figures of the exterior, along with interior column capitals , doors, and fireplace surrounds. Meière,

800-485: The Capitol Fund, which consisted of the proceeds of a special property tax. The Capitol Commission let the Capitol Fund accrue for two years before construction in order to have ample cash reserves. Throughout construction of the capitol, the legislature extended the levy and ultimately raised the spending limit to $ 10 million. The Nebraska State Constitution limits state indebtedness, so most state projects must be funded on

850-529: The Nebraska State Capitol in a roughly Classical architectural style, and he felt "impelled to produce something quite unlike the usual...thing of the sort, with its veneered order and invariable Roman dome." Goodhue employed Classical principles of geometric form and hierarchical arrangement but eliminated the traditional use of columns, pediments, and domes. In addition to the restrained Classical vocabulary, Goodhue mixed elements of Achaemenid , Assyrian, Byzantine, Gothic , and Romanesque architecture. Goodhue

900-645: The Park Service extended the designation to include the capitol grounds, which Ernst H. Herminghaus designed in 1932. The structure is anchored by a three-story, 437-foot (133 m) square base. This square base houses offices most frequently visited by the public. The second floor (main floor) is home to the office of the Governor of Nebraska , the Nebraska Supreme Court , the Nebraska Court of Appeals , and

950-576: The Pioneers . The relief sits directly atop Alexander's inscription: "The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen." Additionally, an inscription at the crown of the main portal reads: "Wisdom, Justice, Power, and Mercy, Constant Guardians of the Law." Four buttress figures flank the inscription representing the aforementioned guardians. The names of the ninety-three counties of Nebraska are inscribed along

1000-587: The Territorial Legislature for the sessions of 1855 and 1857. A second building, constructed in 1857–58 on the site of present-day Omaha Central High School , served the remaining sessions of the Territorial Legislature and the first sessions of the State Legislature beginning in 1867. In June 1867, the Third Session of the State Legislature passed Senate Bill Number 44 which "provid[ed] for

1050-751: The Vestibule and represents Life of Man . Three medallions— Traditions of the Past , Life of the Present , and Ideals of the Future —anchor the mosaic vaulting. Additionally, sixteen mosaic panels within the arches depict scenes of human activity, including an Architect , a Ball Player , and a Scientist . The Procession of Life begins in the Great Hall's floor with the mosaic Genius of Creative Energy —an Apollo -like figure—surrounded by Cosmic Energy , lightning, moons, orbs, etc. Three tondi (circular) mosaics follow, depicting

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1100-439: The architects' names and plan numbers." Next, the Capitol Commission chose the first of three competition jurors, Waddy Butler Wood ; the competitors chose the second, James Gamble Rogers ; and Wood and Rogers chose the third, Willis Polk . On June 26, 1920, the jury chose the author of design "Number 4" as the architect of the Nebraska State Capitol. The author of design "Number 4" was Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. Goodhue designed

1150-631: The building was deemed unsafe, the Nebraska Legislature made several attempts to fund the construction of a third state capitol. On February 20, 1919, the Nebraska Legislature passed House Roll 3 which established the Nebraska Capitol Commission to oversee construction of a new statehouse. The next day, Governor McKelvie signed the bill with its emergency clause and appointed the new commission. William E. Hardy, president of Hardy Furniture Company, and Walter W. Head , vice president of

1200-409: The building's completion in late 1868. By 1879, the State of Nebraska determined to replace its crumbling statehouse through piecemeal construction of a new capitol. Architect William H. Willcox designed a Renaissance Revival capitol, and the legislature appropriated $ 75,000 for construction of its west wing—finished in 1881. The same year, the legislature appropriated $ 100,000 for an east wing, which

1250-623: The capital, but Cuming ignored proportional representation and assigned seven councilmen and fourteen representatives to the north and six councilmen and twelve representatives to the south. The North Platters, with greater political power, confirmed Omaha as the capital. In Omaha, two structures served the Territory of Nebraska. The first was a two-story brick building donated by the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company. This building, formerly located on 9th Street between Douglas and Farnam, served

1300-723: The capitol became the third-tallest building in Nebraska. Congress officially opened Nebraska Territory with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 . Almost instantly a factional divide between North Platters (those living north of the Platte River ) and South Platters (those living south of the Platte) arose over the question of capital location. Much to the chagrin of the South Platters, Acting Governor Thomas B. Cuming selected

1350-426: The capitol's gold-tiled dome—completes the vertical movement of the exterior symbolism representing agriculture and the "chief purpose in forming society, to sow nobler ideas of living." Lee Lawrie designed the principal exterior decoration, representing the history of Western law. The Sower, his best-known work at the capitol, is the only work there that is in the round, or free-standing. The remaining ornamentation

1400-408: The capitol. The program did state, however, the commission's desire that the architect collaborate with "sculptor, painter, and landscapist" to create a unified design. Finally, Kimball organized the competition so that the jury was selected only after the ten competitors had submitted their designs to the Capitol Commission. The designs were identified by numbers and "separate sealed envelopes contained

1450-413: The city from which a government exercises its authority ". In most countries, the nation's capital is also seat of its government, thus that city is appropriately referred to as the national seat of government. The terms are not however, completely synonymous, as some countries ' seat of government differs from the capital. The Netherlands , for example, has Amsterdam as its capital but The Hague

1500-443: The final stage to nationally known architects including: Bliss & Faville (San Francisco), Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (New York), H. Van Buren Magonigle (New York), McKim, Mead, and White (New York), John Russell Pope (New York), Tracy & Swartwout (New York), and Paul Cret and Zantzinger, Borie and Medary (Philadelphia). Kimball wrote an innovative competition program that did not dictate plan, style, or material for

1550-456: The ground. Lincoln Municipal Code places height restrictions on structures within the designated Capitol Environs District. This code helps to maintain the capitol's title as the tallest building in Lincoln. The capitol held the title of tallest building in Nebraska until 1969 with the completion of the 478-foot (146 m) Woodmen Tower in downtown Omaha . With the completion of Omaha's 634-foot (193 m) First National Bank Tower in 2002,

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1600-478: The interior murals and the courtyard fountains incomplete. In 2017, the State of Nebraska installed the originally-planned fountains in cast-bronze in each of the Capitol's four courtyards. The interior of the Nebraska State Capitol's monumental corridor is architecturally composed of three rooms: Vestibule, Great Hall, and Rotunda. Decorations expanding upon themes of Nebraska are read in a specific sequence beginning at

1650-545: The interior ornamentation of the capitol and represents Gifts of Nature . The sun is the room's central motif and is prominently featured as a medallion within the dome. The dome also incorporates mosaic images of agriculture, flora, and fauna. The vaulting is supported by the largest columns in the capitol—four 25-foot-tall (7.6 m) monoliths of Red Verona marble . The columns' capitals, designed by Lee Lawrie, are vaguely Corinthian and feature bull motifs inspired from ancient Persepolis architecture. The Great Hall follows

1700-510: The location of the Seat of Government of the State of Nebraska, and for the erection of public building thereat." The bill also created a commission (remembered as the Capital Commission) whose charge was to select a capital site somewhere within the boundaries of Seward County , the southern halves of Butler and Saunders counties, and the northern half of Lancaster County . On July 29, 1867,

1750-633: The main, north door. Monumental ornamentation is also found within the Governor's Suite, the Warner Legislative Chamber (former senate), the George W. Norris Legislative Chamber (unicameral), and Memorial Chamber (14th floor). Meière designed the black and white marble mosaic panels of the Great Hall and Rotunda representing the Procession of Life. Working with Alexander, Meière drew her inspiration from

1800-471: The members had actually spent more than a night in the districts they represented, and most ferried to Council Bluffs, Iowa , at the end of each day for rest. The new territorial governor, Mark W. Izard , was successful at persuading members to adopt Iowa's legislative rules. Omaha members bribed other legislators to keep the capitol in Omaha by offering them lots in their new city. This land, which now wraps around

1850-484: The new Louisiana capitol be built taller than Nebraska's.). Goodhue originally envisioned much of the tower to house the collections of the Nebraska State Library , and he planned for each of the 17-foot (5.2 m) tower floors to include glass-floored stacks for book storage. As early as November 1920, however, Goodhue indicated that the tower could serve any purpose, including office space. By September 1925,

1900-469: The northern legislators. Although the then current Omaha capitol building, built in 1857-58, was apparently sturdy enough to house legislative sessions for several years and was well located in relation to Nebraska's 1867 population, it was still north of the Platte. Forces from the south launched a major verbal and legal initiative to move the seat of government to their part of the state. The first Legislature

1950-417: The official capital and de facto seat of government are separated: First Nebraska Territorial Legislature The first legislature, along with several subsequent gatherings, drew criticism for a perceived lack of representation of the population south of the Platte River . Legislators from south of the Platte wore red blankets over their shoulders in the first session to indicate their hostility towards

2000-409: The old statehouse. With completion of the capitol's Phase 1 in 1924, state operations moved into the new structure. The old capitol was subsequently razed. On April 23, 1924—just two years into the capitol's construction—Bertram Goodhue died, and his associates formed a firm, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue Associates , to finish the capitol and other ongoing Goodhue projects. After construction ended in 1932,

2050-477: The sculpted ornamentation representing the foundation of life on the Great Plains . Two parapets adorned with relief panels of bison flank the main stairs. The bison represent Plains Indians indigenous to Nebraska, and the principal nations are inscribed within the panels (alphabetically): 19th century European Americans are also represented above the main entrance with the gilded relief, Spirit of

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2100-446: The small northern village of Omaha City for the seat of government. Cuming was from Iowa, and as his political allies were investors in the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company, Omaha as capital would be beneficial to his personal political career. Results from the first territorial census, however, revealed 914 North Platters and 1,818 South Platters. The South Platters, with greater legislative representation, would be able to take

2150-491: The themes of the exterior sculptures. When Goodhue died in 1924, Alexander feared that the thematic development in future portions of the capitol would be inconsistent with the established schemes. He therefore wrote an overarching thematic program, "Nebraska State Capitol: Synopsis of Decorations and Inscriptions," in July 1926. Alexander's synopsis thus served as a guide for the remaining interior and exterior decorations, and Alexander

2200-629: The top of the base of the capitol and are loosely grouped by number of letters per name. Directly above the county names, twenty-one panels (eighteen bas-reliefs, three pierced) represent the creation of law. The panels are best observed from the promenade, beginning on the northwest corner of the building: Hebrew Law : Northwest Greco-Roman Law : West Greco-Roman Law : Southwest Historical Documents : South (pierced panels) English Law : Southeast Freedom in America : East Nebraska Law : Northeast Ten buttress sculptures along

2250-402: The top of the capitol's south arm represent the great western lawgivers. The buttress figures are depicted in chronological order from west to east and are best observed from the south steps with the exception of the first and the last. The figures of Minos and Napoleon are best observed from the northwest and northeast courtyards respectively: Eight buttress sculptures around the base of

2300-479: The tower represent the ideals of culture. The buttress figures are best observed from within the four courtyards or at a distance from the sidewalk around the building: Northwest Southwest Southeast Northeast In May 1933, under ever-worsening economic conditions, the Nebraska Legislature re-appropriated the Capitol Commission's unexpended budget. With depleted funds, the commission resolved to terminate its own existence, leaving some projects like

2350-666: Was a well-established church architect. He designed St. Bartholomew's Church (New York), the West Point Cadet Chapel , and the Church of the Intercession (New York) . The Nebraska State Capitol features similar church vocabulary. The plan is a modified cross-in-square plan enclosed by a 437-foot (133 m) square. Four arms radiate from a central domed rotunda , upon which rises the tower with its unarticulated windows and flat surfaces—much like an enlarged spire . In March 1922,

2400-481: Was also responsible for chartering Nebraska University in Washington County . Slavery in Nebraska was a topic of the first legislature, where members were largely influenced by events in neighboring Kansas . The first legislature considered an exclusion measure designed to keep former slaves from the territory. After the bill was postponed the issue continued to be raised, ultimately delaying statehood. Few of

2450-539: Was bestowed with the title of Thematic Consultant. The exterior of the Nebraska State Capitol is architecturally composed of two parts: the three-story, 437-foot (133 m) square base and the 400-foot (120 m) shaft. Alexander envisioned the base, with its inner cross, as an emblem of the quarters of the Earth representing the drama of human experience, and he envisioned the tower as Earth's gnomon representing human ideals. The Sower —the 19.5-foot (5.9 m) finial atop

2500-525: Was finished in 1882. In 1883, the legislature authorized the Board of Public Lands and Buildings to raze the old capitol and construct the central portion of the Willcox design, not to exceed $ 450,000. The State of Nebraska finally completed its new, second state capitol in 1888. The second state capitol began to experience structural issues, especially in its foundation, within a couple of decades of its completion. After

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