Pennsylvania State Capitol

Pennsylvania State Capitol
Pennsylvania State Capitol in April 2022
General information
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts, Renaissance Revival
Location	3rd and State Streets Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates	40°15′52″N 76°53′01″W / 40.26444°N 76.88361°W / 40.26444; -76.88361
Construction started	November 7, 1902 (1902-11-07)
Completed	August 15, 1906 (1906-08-15)
Inaugurated	October 4, 1906
Cost	$13 million
Client	Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Owner	Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Height	272 ft (83 m)
Technical details
Floor area	629,898 sq ft (58,519 m2)[1]
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Joseph Miller Huston
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Official name	State Capitol Building, Pennsylvania
Designated	September 14, 1977
Reference no.	77001162[2]
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Designated	September 20, 2006
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Designated	February 27, 2013
Part of	Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex
Reference no.	13000287[3]

The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania located in downtown Harrisburg which was designed by architect Joseph Miller Huston in 1902 and completed in 1906 in a Beaux-Arts style with decorative Renaissance themes throughout. The capitol houses the legislative chambers for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Harrisburg chambers for the Supreme and Superior Courts of Pennsylvania, as well as the offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. It is also the main building of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex.

The seat of government for the state was initially in Philadelphia, then was relocated to Lancaster in 1799 and finally to Harrisburg in 1812. The current capitol, known as the Huston Capitol, is the third state capitol building built in Harrisburg. The first, the Hills Capitol, was destroyed in 1897 by a fire. The second, the Cobb Capitol, was left unfinished when funding was discontinued in 1899.

President Theodore Roosevelt attended the building's dedication in 1906. After its completion, the capitol project was the subject of a graft scandal. The construction and subsequent furnishing cost three times more than the General Assembly had appropriated for the design and construction; architect Joseph Huston and four others were convicted of graft for price gouging.

The Pennsylvania State Capitol is often referred to as a "palace of art" because of its many sculptures, murals, and stained-glass windows, most of which are Pennsylvania-themed or Pennsylvanian-made.^[4] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006; the boundaries of the designation were expanded to include the Capitol Complex in 2013 with the capitol as a contributing property.