Montana State Capitol Building
About this property
The Montana State Capitol is the state capitol of the U.S. state of Montana that houses the Montana State Legislature which is located in the state capital of Helena at 1301 East Sixth Avenue. The building was constructed between 1896 and 1902 with wing-annexes added between 1909 and 1912. A design competition for the building was conducted in 1896. The commission selected a design by George R. Mann as the winner. In 1897, after it was found that the Commission was planning to scam money from the building project, it was disbanded and a second Capitol Commission was convened. The new Commission abandoned Mann's plan as being too costly, and had a second design competition, won by Charles Emlen Bell and John Hackett Kent, of Bell & Kent of Council Bluffs, Iowa. In order to have their design built, Bell & Kent relocated their office to Helena. While Mann's building was never built in Montana, it was selected later as the basic design for the Arkansas State Capitol. The winning design by Bell & Kent had been altered already during the construction phase, when in 1901 the commission asked for the structure to be made more imposing by increasing the height of the dome. Kent opposed the changes, as his original low spherical dome was meant to be "pure Greek", but Bell advocated the commission's request. Between 1909 and 1912, the building was extended by the addition of two new wings on the eastern and western sides. This work was executed by Link & Haire, architects of Butte, with F. M. Andrews & Company of New York as consulting architects. The building, constructed of Montana sandstone and granite, is in Greek neoclassical architectural style, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The exterior of the dome is covered with copper. Atop the dome is a feminine statue affectionately dubbed Montana. The Montana statue, formerly known as Lady Liberty sits atop the Capitol dome. The most notable feature inside the center of the Capitol building is the massive rotunda, with four circular paintings surrounding it. These paintings, painted for the Capitol opening in 1902 by the firm of F. Pedretti's Sons, depict four important archetypes of people of Montana's early history: a Native American (intended to be of Chief Charlo), an explorer and fur trapper (Jim Bridger), a gold miner (Henry Finnis Edgar, one of the discoverers of gold at Alder Gulch), and a cowboy (unidentified, but said to be inspired by the works of C.M. Russell). The Pendretti brothers provided additional commissioned artwork in the Senate and Old Supreme Court Chambers. The southern arch of the rotunda features the semi-elliptical painting Driving The Golden Spike, painted by Amédée Joullin. The former State Law Library, now a set of committee rooms, features ten Montana landscapes created by Ralph E. DeCamp. The House of Representatives Lobby features six scenes depicting significant events in early Montana history by Edgar S. Paxson.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Montana State Capitol Building
This page lists Montana State Capitol Building. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Montana State Capitol Building listed on the National Register?
Montana State Capitol Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 17, 1981.
What type of historic resource is Montana State Capitol Building?
Montana State Capitol Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Montana State Capitol Building?
The period of significance for Montana State Capitol Building is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Montana State Capitol Building?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Montana State Capitol Building will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Lewis and Clark County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Lewis and Clark County.
Explore Lewis and ClarkCounty ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Montana State Capitol Building will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.