OTHER TIDBITS: Like many states, Indiana had a hard time settling on a capitol design. After moving from Corydon to Indianapolis in 1824, the state government settled into the Marion County Courthouse for 12 years. This was because early Indianapolis was pretty isolated with few roads connecting it to any other settlements! When the state government had to move the treasury, library, records, and furniture to the new capital, the path for the wagon caravan had to be cut fresh into the ground!

By 1831, Indiana got a separate statehouse of its own, designed by the firm of Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis, and inspired by the Parthenon, but it only lasted 46 years before most of it collapsed and the rest had to be demolished. The state government then had to operate out of an office building until a new capitol could be complete!

Construction of the current capitol building started in 1880, and, under the supervision of Adolph Sherrer, took eight years to build at the paltry cost of $2 million! Most of the building materials, chiefly oak and limestone, were collected within the state, and the capitol was wired for electricity even before the city got its own electrical grid!

• Become a member of the Indiana Historical Society!
• Donate to the Indiana Historical Society!
• Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!

Annotations:
200 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204

From Evansville: ~171mi (276km) — 2.9hrs
From Fort Wayne: ~127mi (205km) — 2.2hrs
From Gary: ~151mi (244km) — 2.6hrs
From Indianapolis: ~1mi (2km) — 0.1hrs