2 E Main Street
The first stop on our tour is Madison's state capitol building. It did not always look as it does now, but instead was originally a small one room government building made from oak and stone cut from a nearby bluff. When Madison was chosen as Wisconsin's capitol in 1836, Wisconsin was not a state but still just a territory. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, in 1840 the village of Madison "contained only two stores, three public houses, three groceries, one steam mill for cutting lumber, and a couple dozen houses." Surrounded by trees, you could still hunt game just blocks from where the capitol stands. Eventually there was a population increase around 1845 of Germans, Swiss, and families previously living in New York to Madison.
1830's-Madison's Start
In 1908 the capitol started to take a form closer to what is seen today. The Sanborn fire map to the left shows the building and surrounding square in 1908. They spent an extended period of time expanding the capitol slowly, wing by wing. Looking around the square today you can see the array of commercial buildings, restaurants, and shops on the square. In 1908, there was a similar idea to this as you can see the buildings on either side of the capitol are all non-residential buildings for businesses and the government. The public area of the capitol square is a great public space used for many different things including the farmers market, art fair on the square, concerts on the square, taste of madison, and much more. I believe having this public building as such an icon to Madison contributes to its culture and progressive awareness and concern for the community. The style of the capitol building itself closely resembles the white house and is easily identified as a Beaux Art government building. Large pillars and steps along with the stone material used on the outside gives a powerful appearance to the capitol. A fun fact about Madison is that no other building can be built taller than the capitol making a focus in Madison's skyline. (Seen on the home page)