# Minnesota State Capitol *Seat of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, in Saint Paul* The Minnesota State Capitol, in Saint Paul, is the seat of [[Minnesota]]'s state government. The [[Minnesota Senate]], the [[Minnesota House of Representatives]], and the offices of the [[governor]] and the attorney general sit in the building. The [[Minnesota Supreme Court]] has a chamber there, but the court also conducts business in the adjacent Minnesota Judicial Center.[^1] Cass Gilbert designed the present building, which was finished in 1905. It is the third structure to serve as the state's capitol. A restoration followed from 2013 to 2017.[^1] MNopedia, published at mnhs.org, reports that more than two million bricks from [[Chaska]] brickyards are in the Capitol's basement.[^2] The record compiled here links the building to one at-issue pair, which concerns the Carver County brick, and to a small number of catalogue rows listing news and civic sources.[^2][^3] It contains no court filing, agency finding or enactment about the building itself. ## Where The Capitol stands in Saint Paul, Minnesota's capital city. Its landscaped grounds place the Capitol Mall to the south, Leif Erikson Park to the west and Judicial Plaza to the east, and monuments and memorials occupy these open spaces.[^1] The mall covers eighteen acres of green space. The mall and the building are under the oversight of the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board, a twelve-member state agency.[^1] Gilbert envisioned the building with plazas and axial and radial avenues around it. For lack of funds, his commission at first covered only the building. Redevelopment of the surrounding area toward part of that plan began after World War II and was largely finished by 1955.[^1] According to MNopedia, the basement holds over two million Chaska bricks.[^2] ## What The design is generally classed as Beaux-Arts. Gilbert drew on the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and on the Rhode Island State House by McKim, Mead & White. In the margin of a 1912 article about his work, Gilbert noted that the Rhode Island plan had greatly influenced his plan for Minnesota.[^1] A steel and cast iron frame rests on rough limestone foundation walls set on concrete footings. Guastavino tile vaulting forms the ceilings of the ground and first floors.[^1] The marble dome, modeled on Saint Peter's Basilica, is ranked as the second-largest self-supported marble dome in the world after Saint Peter's.[^1] The Governors Reception Room serves as a ceremonial space for receptions, proclamations and press conferences. In a 1903 letter to the Board, Gilbert proposed plain executive rooms. After public demand for scenes from Minnesota history, the Board of State Capitol Commissioners authorized six paintings by four artists, and Gilbert drew up a more ornate room to hold them.[^1] The [[Minnesota Historical Society]] runs the Capitol Information and Tour Center. The building is open to the public most days, with guided tours available.[^1] ## When - Before a capitol existed, the territorial legislature convened in temporary quarters at the Central House Hotel.[^1] - 1851: Work began toward building the first capitol, to specifications by architect N. C. Prentiss.[^1] - January 4, 1854: The legislature occupied the first capitol in time for the 5th territorial session.[^1] - May 11, 1858: Minnesota became a state. Wings were added to the first capitol in 1873, on the Exchange Street side, and in 1878, facing Wabasha Street.[^1] - March 1, 1881: Fire broke out in the dome while legislators were meeting in the evening and destroyed the building. No one died.[^1] - 1883: A second capitol, a three-story Romanesque masonry building by Leroy Buffington, was completed on the same site.[^1] - 1905: Gilbert's building was completed.[^1] - 1944: The practice of hanging governors' portraits in the public corridors began.[^1] - 1968: Governor LeVander decided to convert the Governors Reception Room to office use and close it to the public. After public objection, legislators and civic leaders persuaded him to keep the room open.[^1] - 2013–2017: The building underwent its first major restoration since it opened.[^1] ## How much - At its 1905 opening the Capitol held roughly 60 artworks valued at $300,000, which was 7% of the $4.5 million project budget.[^1] - When the restoration began in 2013, it was estimated at $241 million. The [[Minnesota Legislature]] funded it through a series of appropriations.[^1] ## How many - The building measures more than 430 feet from east to west and 220 feet from ground level to the top of the dome's lantern. It has more than 300,000 square feet of floor space.[^1] - The art collection grew from about 60 works in 1905 to nearly 150 by 2017.[^1] - The restoration repaired the exterior Georgia marble 20,000 times and replaced 6,000 pieces. The replacement stone came from the original quarry.[^1] - MNopedia reports that by 1900 six Chaska brickyards employed about 600 workers, roughly 20% of the town's population. It also reports that by 1907 the yards produced more than 40 million bricks a year, about 30% of Minnesota's brick supply.[^2] ## In the at-issue record At-issue pair AI-Carver-037 (package Carver) states that Carver County at its peak supplied 30% of Minnesota's brick. The pair puts output at 40 to 60 million bricks a year by 1907 and nearly 60% of state production in 1918, and it places over two million Chaska bricks in the Capitol basement. The pair lists sources at mn.gov and mnhs.org.[^2] The MNopedia passage carried in this record gives the 1907 figure as more than 40 million bricks and about 30% of supply, and it does not contain the 1918 figure.[^2] The pair's anchor is the January 2025 White House presidential action *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*. The pair places the brick fact as "the material contribution, immediately before the loyalty question."[^3] The pair's text also connects the brick to a state disloyalty inquiry into the county. No document in this record establishes that inquiry. ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - On November 22, 2017, MPR News reported that the resignations of Schoen and Cornish put "Capitol culture on notice."[^4] - WJON published an audio profile of House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth that traces her path from Paynesville to the State Capitol.[^5] ### What - A claim row in the project's T14 catalogue lists the Legislative Reference Library, under the heading Minnesota State Capitol, as a Capitol Pathways placement destination.[^6] - A February 2024 packet published at clflwd.org is titled *2024 Legislative Briefing & Day at the Capitol*.[^7] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Minnesota State Capitol* (revision 1373395054, retrieved 2026-10-27) — building description, history of the three capitols, architecture, artwork, Capitol Mall, 2013–2017 restoration and public access. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_State_Capitol [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Chaska Brick Industry, 1857–1950* (n.d.) — Chaska brickyard employment in 1900, 1907 output and share of state supply, and over two million Chaska bricks in the Capitol basement. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/group/chaska-brick-industry-1857-1950 [^3]: The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (January 2025) — anchor document paired with at-issue pair AI-Carver-037; it does not itself address brick or the Capitol. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^4]: MPR News, *Schoen, Cornish resignations put Capitol culture on notice* (November 22, 2017) — report on the two resignations. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/22/schoen-cornish-resignations-capitol-culture-on-notice [^5]: WJON, *Demuth's Journey From Paynesville To The State Capitol* (n.d.) — audio profile of House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth. https://wjon.com/the-life-of-house-minority-leader-lisa-demuth-audio/ [^6]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, home page (n.d.) — listed in the T14 claim row as a Capitol Pathways placement destination. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/ [^7]: clflwd.org, *2024 Legislative Briefing & Day at the Capitol* (February 2024) — packet for a legislative day at the Capitol. https://clflwd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/06g-Legislative-Day-at-the-Capitol.pdf