File:Pennsylvania State Capitol from State Street, Harrisburg, PA - 52441192831.jpg

English: Built between 1902 and 1906, this Beaux Arts-style building was designed by Joseph Miller Huston to house the state government of Pennsylvania. The building was constructed around a nucleus consisting of a heavily modified temporary capitol building, which was built in 1898-99 by Henry Ives Cobb after the previous capitol building, built in 1822 on the same site as the present building, was destroyed by a fire in 1897. The only surviving portion of the previous 1822 Capitol is the Ryan Office Building, which was built in 1893-94, and originally served as the Executive, Library & Museum Building, which was not directly connected to the Capitol building, allowing it to survive the incident with minimal damage.

The building was the subject of a graft and corruption scandal after its completion, which led to four people being sent to prison on charges of corruption and bribery, including the building’s architect. As a result, the rest of the complex was laid out by architect Arnold W. Brunner, whom designed the landscape of the Capitol Complex to the rear of the building, as well as the North and South (Irvis) Office Buildings, which were constructed during the 1920s, flanking the rear of the capitol and framing a central courtyard behind the building. One block to the east, a quad known as the Soldier’s Grove was created, which is framed by the Forum Building and Finance Building, which visually connects the capitol building to the State Street Sailors and Soldiers Memorial Bridge, with all three structures having been completed in the 1930s on the site of the old 8th Ward neighborhood, which was removed via eminent domain to allow for the state government office buildings to be constructed adjacent to the new capitol. Thus, the capitol is part of a larger state government office complex built between 1893 and 1987, which complements the building’s architectural style and houses office space and major amenities for the Pennsylvania state government.

The building features a granite exterior with corinthian columns and pilasters, roman lattice transoms and window mullion patterns, a balustrade along the roof, oxeye windows, semicircular and triangular pediment headers over the windows, one-over-one double-hung windows, two-story porticoes at the front facades of the central and side wings with pediments, decorative sculptures and friezes, a green tile roof, cornices with modillions and dentils, large staircases up to the building’s entrances, arched openings at the entrances with decorative keystones, vaulted ceilings, and decorative light fixtures, doric pilasters on the side facades, domes at the crossings of the central and side wings with copper and green tile roofs, a central dome based on the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, with paired corinthian pilasters, festoons in the panels between the pilasters, a balustrade around the base of the drum, which is ringed by windows with decorative pediments, multiple dormers clad in copper on the dome, and a lantern with a drum that resembles a smaller version of the drum below the dome, topped with a concavely curved roof and golden statue known as “Commonwealth”, created by sculptor Roland Hinton Perry.

The building’s interior is clad in lavish materials and artisan decorations, including marble walls and trim, murals on the walls and ceilings, a tall rotunda below the dome with a grand staircase and multiple tiers of balconies and columns, a Moravian Pottery and Tile Works floor with symbols representing Pennsylvania culture and nature hand crafted by artisan Henry Chapman Mercer, sculptures, classical columns, trim panels, coffered ceilings, decorative crown moldings, chandeliers, sconces, and torchiere lamps, corinthian pilasters below the dome, broken pediments over major entrances, corridors with vaulted ceilings, and ornate glass display cases. The house and senate chambers, which sit in wings immediately adjacent to the north and south sides of the rotunda, and the supreme court chamber in the building, which is located in another wing of the building, are also lavishly decorated with murals, decorative trim, ornate ceilings, and stained glass windows.

The capitol building received a rear addition to the east in 1986-1987, which features a neoclassical exterior with modern and postmodern flourishes, including glass domes, which is faced with a darker stone to differentiate it from the historic portion of the building, designed by Celli-Flynn Associates and H.F. Lenz Company to provide additional space in the building and a secure vehicle entrance. The addition features a large podium that supports a rooftop plaza with planters that create gardens around the building’s rear, with a large semi-circular recessed portion of the structure framing a large fountain and tiered garden that sits at the center of the visual axis, tying the rear of the State Capitol to the State Street Sailors and Soldiers Memorial Bridge across the block-long Soldier’s Grove Quad, and unifies the North and South (Irvis) office buildings into a single structure connected directly to the State Capitol and Ryan Office Building.

The State Capitol and historic portions of the State Capitol Complex were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The State Capitol Complex was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 2006, and saw a boundary increase in 2013 to include some previously omitted historic structures.