Arkansas State Capitol!

What Is the Arkansas State Capitol?

It’s the Arkansas State Capitol building!

What Makes It Historical?

Could this be the capitol of crime?! Well, let’s take a look. Unlike many capitols, the predecessor of this one didn’t succumb to fire but heavy rains, and so on January 12, 1899, Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 called for a new capitol building, which Governor Daniel Webster Jones recommended they build over an old penitentiary using convict labor! This was controversial, not the convict part but because it may have been illegal in Arkansas to build a capitol anywhere but where the original state house had been!

And that was just the start of the trouble. Despite having architect, George Mann, on the job, the legislature was reluctant to keep funding the project as it dragged on, partly because the limestone was hard to quarry and there were rumors that the quarriers were prioritizing private orders over their capitol contracts! Then, amid accusations of shortcuts being taken in construction, came the Boodle Scandal of 1905! Four senators and two representatives got indicted for accepting bribes connected to construction, but only Senator Festus Butt got convicted! Construction stalled for four years until the election of a new governor, George Donaghey, who fired the contractors, Caldwell & Drake, and turned to New York architect, Cass Gilbert, to finish the job!

Starting work on June 27, 1908, Mr. Gilbert first had to undo some of the shoddy construction, which led to a flurry of lawsuits. Not to be put down, he proceeded in crafting the neoclassical capitol building, reinforcing and fireproofing, replacing the designs for a metal dome with a stone dome, and completing the interior. With funding delays, it took 7 more years and two more governors to complete the capitol building, by January 1, 1915 at about double its original budget!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Become a member of the Arkansas Historical Association!
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!