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History
 
History of the Utah State Capitol
 

Historical
Photos

The following photos were provided by The Division of State History, State Historical Society and the Shipler Commercial Photographers Collection.

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The Utah State Capitol Building is a symbol of government, community and heritage. It is truly the "People's House". It is located on the top of State Street and over looks the Salt Lake Valley. Construction on this great building began on December 26, 1912 with the cornerstone being laid in April 1914 and the dedication on October 9, 1916. The cost of the project totaled $2,739,538.00.

When Utah became a state on January 4, 1896, there was no official Capitol building in Salt Lake City. The original Capitol of the state was in Fillmore, Utah. However, as Utah's population grew and was settling in Salt Lake City rather than in the middle of the state, the state capitol was officially changed to Salt Lake City. Since only one wing of the a Capitol building in Fillmore had been built, the Legislature decided they did not want to spend any more money on a building that was not used or needed and the project to finish the Capitol building was abandoned.

By 1911, the Legislature was able to issue bonds for a $1,000,000.00 loan to build a state Capitol building in Salt Lake City. The efforts were aided by unforeseen good fortune, a windfall from the death of Edward Herriman, president of Union Pacific Railroad. The Utah Attorney General, A.R. Barnes, found a state inheritance tax law, previously unenforced, which permitted the state to gain $798,546 in revenue from the Herriman's estate.

A Capitol Commission appointed by Governor William Spry opened the bidding for design proposals in early 1912. Richard K.A. Kletting, recognized as Utah's most prominent late-19th century architect, was chosen by the Commission to use his architectural design. Kletting's design was described as "simple, dramatic and straightforward".

Both the Capitol Commission and Kletting researched and visited other national Capitols with the intent of borrowing the most useful design concepts and integrating them into the Utah Capitol. As a result, the floor plans, the exterior and interior appearances are reflective of traditional Capitol designs. However, it has been noted that native materials and custom-designed ornamental features give the Utah building its own unique character. The design included ample space for the functions of state government with the need for cost efficiency as well.

The exterior of Kletting's Capitol design is similar to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., which uses a combination of some of the same elements- porticos, pediments, and monumental columns. The building is 404 feet long, 240 feet wide, and 285 feet from the base of the building to the top of the dome. Standing at the center of the ground floor the highest point in the dome is 165 feet above the floor. The Utah Capitol rests on a raised, rusticated basement with colossal steps that lead to doors concealed behind the Corinthian styled columned porticos. Kletting's was the only plan that proposed mammoth freestanding columns on three sides of the building. The columns, along with the rest of the exterior, are constructed of Utah granite taken from Little Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake County. The dome has been called "Walterized Wren", because it bears a strong resemblance to the dome of the U.S. Capitol by Thomas U. Walter.

At the time the Capitol was designed and built, it was described by contemporaries as having a "classical Corinthian" style. This description was suitable then and is now consistent with modernized architecture, which classifies the building as "Neo-Classical Revival". Like most classical revival architecture, the Capitol is symmetrical in its exterior elevations, stately and formal in its expression, and reliant on a diverse classical decorative expression taken from ancient Greek, Roman and later Renaissance sources.

The centrally located colonnades of tapered Corinthian columns resemble those of the nation's Capitol and many other state Capitols. Likewise, the dome, cupola, balustrades, pediments, cornices, upper colonnade, and other exterior ornaments are patterned after classical precedents. Classical detailing in the Capitol's interior are found in the grand, lofty rotunda and atrium with two levels of mezzanines supported by monolithic polished marble columns in the Ionic order. Interior atrium cartouches, corbels, arches, balustrades and cornices continue the classical theme.

The influence of Beaux Arts Classicism is apparent in the richly designed House, Senate and Supreme Court Chambers and the Gold Room. Myriad classical motifs are found in these rooms-whether in arched ceiling and beams, fireplaces, door and window trim, ceiling murals, wall ornament, light fixtures, mirrors, railings, frontispieces, or furnishings.

The structural system of the Capitol was designed to have a steel-reinforced concrete structural frame with concrete footings, foundation walls, and upper skeletal wall frames and floors. Massive granite blocks covered on the interior by lime plaster fill the spaces of the skeletal frame to create solid walls. Steel beams and connections exist in such areas as the rotunda where the two levels of mezzanines are supported by twenty-four monolithic granite columns. Other metal connectors pin and secure the stonewalls and ornament in place. The roof structure consists of metal trusses, which join together at the top in a trussed ring that also support the cupola.

Built before seismic-resistant engineering and building codes existed, the non-ductile structural system was nonetheless state-of-the-art for its time and has successfully withstood all forces acting upon it over the past 85 years without any signs of structural failure of significant stress, deterioration or fatigue. Fortunately, no major earthquakes have occurred in the area during this period to test the building's seismic-resisting capacity.

The Capitol has five levels including a basement. The basement was intended to remain unfinished, but was made into habitable space over the ensuing years. Exhibits that spanned the length of the building mostly occupy the ground floor. In each corner of the building are offices for various state agencies. The main floor is the first level of the three-story-tall rotunda/atrium area. It houses the offices of the executive branch including the Governor's formal and working offices, the Governor's Board Room, the Lieutenant Governor's Office, and the State Reception Room (Gold Room). In addition, the office suites of the Attorney General, State Auditor and Treasurer occupy this floor. The second floor or the rotunda level is actually the third floor of the building. Its main features are the wide, public mezzanine and colonnade surrounding the entire, open rotunda/atrium area, and the impressive Senate, House and Supreme Court Chambers in the north, west and east wings, respectively. Finally, the fourth floor provides access to the balcony levels of the Senate and House Chambers. More offices on the fourth floor for state agencies have replaced the original art exhibits.

For a more detailed report on the history of the Capitol click on the link to take you to Cooper/Roberts Utah State Capitol Building & Grounds Restoration Master Plan & Historic Structures Report.

To view William Shipler's Collection, which photographically documents over 150 images from glass plate negatives, of the original construction of the Utah State Capitol, click on the Utah State Historical Society.

123 State Capitol, Box 0615, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-0615 801-527-9156