Indiana State House
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Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis
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Location | W. Washington St., Indianapolis, Indiana |
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Coordinates | 39°46′7.54″N 86°9′45.54″W / 39.7687611°N 86.1626500°WCoordinates: 39°46′7.54″N 86°9′45.54″W / 39.7687611°N 86.1626500°W |
Built | 1878 |
Architect | May, Edwin; Scherer, Adolf |
NRHP Reference # | 75000043 |
Added to NRHP | August 28, 1975 |
The Indiana State House is the state capitol building of the U.S. state of Indiana. Housing the Indiana General Assembly, the office of the Governor of Indiana, the Supreme Court of Indiana, and other state officials, it is located in the state capital Indianapolis at 200 West Washington Street. Built in 1888, it is the fifth building to house the state government.
The first statehouse, located in Corydon, Indiana, is still standing and is maintained as a state historic site. The second building was the old Marion County courthouse which was demolished and replaced in the early 20th century. The third building was a structure modeled on the Parthenon, but was condemned in 1877 because of structural defects and razed so the current statehouse could be built on its location.
When Indiana became a state in 1816, the capital was located in Corydon. The first capitol building was a humble, two-story limestone building constructed in 1813 to house the legislature of the Indiana Territory. The building was constructed by a company owned by Dennis Pennington, a member of the early territorial legislature. Construction cost $1,500, paid for by the citizens of Harrison County, and was completed in three years. It measured forty-feet square with walls two-feet-thick and ten-foot ceilings. The building was made of limestone cut from a nearby quarry and, at the time of its completion, was one of the largest buildings in the state.
The capitol contained three rooms and quickly became too small for the state government, which had to erect additional office buildings across the street for the state's administration. The lower floor of the statehouse was used by the Indiana House of Representatives. The upper floor was split into two rooms, one for the Indiana State Senate and another for the Indiana Supreme Court, with a narrow hall between them. The building was abandoned as the capitol in 1824 and was given to Harrison County to use as a courthouse. The old capitol building is still preserved and is now a state historic site.