Virginia state Capitol - Wikipedia Virginia state Capitol Virginia State Capitol U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. National Historic Landmark Virginia Landmarks Register The Virginia State Capitol Building in June 2003. Location Richmond, Virginia, U.S. Built 1785 - 1788 Architect Thomas Jefferson ; Charles - Louis Clérisseau Architectural style Early Republic, Palladian NRHP reference # 66000911 VLR # 127 - 0002 Significant dates Added to NRHP October 15, 1966 Designated NHL December 19, 1960 Designated VLR November 5, 1968 The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. It houses the oldest elected legislative body in North America, the Virginia General Assembly, first established as the House of Burgesses in 1619. The Capitol was conceived of by Thomas Jefferson and Charles - Louis Clérisseau in France, based on the Maison Carrée in Nimes France. Construction began in 1785 and was completed in 1788. The current Capitol is the eighth built to serve as Virginia 's state house, primarily due to fires during the Colonial period. In the early 20th century, two wings were added, leading to its present appearance. In 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. Contents 1 History 1.1 Colonial precursors in Jamestown and Williamsburg 1.2 Richmond and state capitol design 1.3 American Civil War 1.4 1870 Tragedy 1.5 Rebuilding, expansion, renovation 1.6 Individuals known to have lain in state / repose 2 Interior 3 Capitol Square 4 In film and television 5 See also 6 References 7 External links History Colonial precursors in Jamestown and Williamsburg See also : Capitol ( Williamsburg, Virginia ) Remains of the 1639 tower of the old church ( photographed c. 1900 ) Reconstruction of the first Williamsburg capitol During the American Colonial period, Virginia 's first capital was Jamestown, where the first legislative body, the Virginia House of Burgesses, met in 1619. The new government used four state houses at different times at Jamestown due to fires. The first Representative Legislative Assembly convened on July 30, 1619 at the Jamestown Church which served as the first Capitol. With the decision to relocate the government inland to Williamsburg in 1699, a grand new Capitol building was completed in November 1705. Nearby was the grand Governor 's Palace. It burned in 1747 and was replaced in 1753. On June 29, 1776, Virginians declared their independence from Great Britain and wrote the state 's first constitution, thereby creating an independent government four days before Congress voted for the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4. The Capitol at Williamsburg served until the American Revolutionary War began, when Governor Thomas Jefferson urged that the capital be relocated to Richmond. The building was last used as a capitol on December 24, 1779, when the Virginia General Assembly adjourned to reconvene in 1780 at the new capital, Richmond. It was eventually destroyed. Richmond and state Capitol design '' Old Capitol '' where the Ratifying Convention met When it convened in Richmond on May 1, 1780, the legislature met in a makeshift building near Shockoe Bottom. By 1788, the `` Old Capitol '' where the Virginia Ratifying Convention met was at the New Academy by the Chevalier Quesnay. Plans were begun for a new building to serve a new state, the Commonwealth of Virginia. The site selected for a new, permanent building was on Shockoe Hill, a major hill overlooking the falls of the James River. Jefferson modeled Virginia 's capitol on the Maison Carrée. Thomas Jefferson is credited with the overall design of the new Capitol, together with French architect Charles - Louis Clérisseau. The design was modeled after the Maison Carrée at Nîmes in southern France, an ancient Roman temple. The only other state to accurately copy an ancient model is the Vermont State House, which based its portico on the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. Jefferson had Clérisseau substitute the Ionic order over the more ornate Corinthian column designs of the prototype in France. At the suggestion of Clérisseau, it used a variant of the Ionic order designed by Italian student of Andrea Palladio, Vincenzo Scamozzi. The cornerstone was laid on August 18, 1785, with Governor Patrick Henry in attendance, prior to the completion of its design. In 1786, a set of architectural drawings and a plaster model were sent from France to Virginia, where it was executed by Samuel Dobie. It was sufficiently completed for the General Assembly to meet there in October 1792. It is one of only twelve Capitols in the United States without an external dome. ( The others are the Capitols of Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio and Tennessee. ) American Civil War The building also served as the Capitol of the Confederacy during the American Civil War ( 1861 -- 65 ) ( It was the Confederacy 's second home, the first being the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama ). Virginia State Capitol depicted on an 1864 Confederate $5 banknote The Capitol, the adjacent Virginia Governor 's Mansion, and the White House of the Confederacy ( about three blocks to the north on East Clay Street ) were spared when departing Confederate troops were ordered to burn the city 's warehouses and factories, and fires spread out of control in April 1865. The first Flag of the United States to fly over the capitol since secession was hoisted by Lieutenant Johnston L. de Peyster. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln toured the Capitol during his visit to Richmond about a week before his assassination in Washington, DC. From April 6 until April 10, 1865 Lynchburg served as the Capital of Virginia. Under Gov. William Smith, the executive and legislative branches of the commonwealth moved to Lynchburg for the few days between the fall of Richmond and the fall of the Confederacy. 1870 tragedy Capitol in 1865 After the end of the American Civil War, during the Reconstruction period, Virginia was under military rule for almost five years, ending in January 1870. In the ensuing months, a dispute over leadership of the Richmond government resulted in the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals holding a hearing on April 27, 1870, in the large courtroom on the second floor of the Capitol. Several hundred people crowded in. Before the proceedings could begin, the gallery gave way and fell to the courtroom floor. This added weight, in addition to the crowd already there, caused the entire courtroom floor to give way, falling 40 feet ( 12 m ) into the House of Delegates chamber. The injured stumbled, crawled or were carried out onto the Capitol lawn during the mayhem that followed. Sixty - two people were killed and 251 injured. There were no women believed to have been present when the collapse occurred. The dead included a grandson of Patrick Henry, and three members of the General Assembly. Injured included both men contesting the Richmond mayoral position, the speaker of the House of Delegates, a judge and ex-governor Henry H. Wells. Former Confederate general Montgomery D. Corse was partially blinded by the collapse. Rebuilding, expansion, renovation Modern renovation with wings on both sides Despite demands for the building 's demolition, the damage from the tragedy of 1870 was repaired. In 1904, two wings ( not in the original plans ) were added to the east and west ends of the building to provide much - needed additional space for the growing legislature. In 2003, the assembly approved $83.1 million for the renovation, restoration and expansion of the Capitol. Work began in 2004 and was completed on May 1, 2007. Among major changes are a completely new HVAC control system, updated mechanical, storm water and plumbing systems, and construction of a 27,000 - square - foot ( 2,500 m ) expansion beneath the hill on the south lawn. The expansion provides a visitor 's entrance that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, plus office space and meeting rooms, and better security management. The final cost of the restoration was approximately $104 million. The extension was designed by architect Sonja Bijelić. Individuals known to have lain in state / repose June 1806 : George Wythe, Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia January 21, 1862 : John Tyler, Tenth President of the United States ; 23rd Governor of Virginia May 15, 1863 : Thomas J. `` Stonewall '' Jackson, Confederate General June 15, 1971 : J. Sargeant Reynolds, then - Lieutenant Governor of Virginia September 30, 1991 : A.L. Philpott, then - Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates February 11, 2011 : Leroy R. Hassell, Sr., then - Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court ( First African - American person in Virginia to be afforded the honor ) January 29 -- 30, 2013 Harry L. Carrico, Former Chief Justice with over 42 years of service as an active Justice on the Virginia Supreme Court September 6, 2017 : Lacey E. Putney, Former House Speaker and longest serving legislator in Virginia history ( 1962 - 2014 ) Interior Rotunda, with Houdon 's statue of George Washington in the center Roof of the rotunda Old House of Delegates Chamber ( New ) House of Delegates Chamber Senate Chamber ( in session ) Capitol square Bell Tower U.S. National Register of Historic Places Virginia Landmarks Register Location Capitol Sq., Richmond, Virginia Area 14.1 acres ( 5.7 ha ) Built 1824 Architect Swain, Levi Architectural style Federal NRHP reference # 69000347 VLR # 127 - 0121 Significant dates Added to NRHP June 11, 1969 Designated VLR November 5, 1968 The area around the Capitol is known as Capitol Square. It contains several monuments to prominent Virginians and events in Virginia : Virginia Washington Monument, 1858 In 1869, the monument was completed, with statues of the following encircling the base : Patrick Henry Thomas Jefferson Andrew Lewis John Marshall George Mason Thomas Nelson Jr. General Thomas J. `` Stonewall '' Jackson Statue, 1875 Governor William `` Extra Billy '' Smith Statue, 1906 Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire Statue, 1904 Zero Milestone, 1929, for measuring highway distances from the city of Richmond Edgar Allan Poe Statue, 1958 Harry F. Byrd Sr. Statue, 1976 Virginia Civil Rights Memorial, 2008 The Bell Tower was built in 1824 -- 1825. It is still used for ceremonial ringing. Oliver Hill Building ( 1892 - 1894 ) In film and television Given its Classical Revival style of architecture along with the fact that its color is white, the Capitol was the double for the exterior shots of The White House featured in the movie The Contender ( 2000 ) starring Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater. In the 1993 comedy - drama film Dave with Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella ; the House of Delegates chamber served as the set for the United States House of Representatives, where the title character President addresses a joint session of Congress. In the 2012 film Lincoln, the Virginia State Capitol was used as a stand - in for the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. during the Civil War era with some film retouching. See also List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia National Register of Historic Places listings in Richmond, Virginia References ^ Jump up to : National Park Service ( 2006 - 03 - 15 ). `` National Register Information System ''. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. ^ Jump up to : `` Virginia Landmarks Register ''. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013. Jump up ^ `` Confederate Capitol ''. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 23. Jump up ^ `` Jamestown Churches ''. National Park Service. Retrieved 2 February 2014. Jump up ^ Grigsby, Hugh Blair. The History of the Virginia Federal Convention : 1788. Da Capo Press, New York 1969 p. 67. Initially built as the New Academy built by the Chevalier Quesnay, subsequently the Richmond Theater Jump up ^ Roth, Leland M. ( 1993 ). Understanding Architecture : Its Elements, History and Meaning ( First ed. ). Boulder, CO : Westview Press. p. 414. ISBN 0 - 06 - 430158 - 3. Jump up ^ Brownell, Charles E. ( 1992 ). The Making of Virginia Architecture. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. pp. 46 -- 53, 214 -- 217. Jump up ^ Christian, George L. ( 1915 ). The Capitol disaster. A chapter of reconstruction in Virginia. Richmond, Virginia : Richmond Press, Inc. Jump up ^ ArchSTUDIO2227 : The Virginia Capitol Extension Jump up ^ `` '' The Contender '' -- filmed on location in Virginia and starring Gary Oldman, Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges -- opens October 13 '' ( PDF ) ( Press release ). Virginia Film Office. 2000 - 09 - 28. Retrieved 2013 - 01 - 30. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virginia State Capitol. Official website Visiting Information from the Virginia General Assembly State Library of Virginia -- Virginia State Capitol online exhibit `` A Brief History of the Public Privy on Capitol Square '' at Virginia Memory Virginia State Capitol, Bank and 10th Streets, Capitol Square, Richmond, Independent City, VA : 155 photos, 12 color transparencies, 48 measured drawings, 88 data pages, and 12 photo caption pages at Historic American Buildings Survey The Bell Tower, Capitol Square, Richmond, Independent City, VA : 2 photos, 2 measured drawings, and 6 data pages at Historic American Buildings Survey Commonwealth of Virginia Richmond ( capital ) Topics Administrative divisions Climate Colleges and universities Colony Congressional districts Delegations Senators Representatives Environment Furniture Government History Historic Landmarks Law Homes Music People Rights Rivers Scouting Slogan Sports teams State Fair State parks Symbols Tourist attractions Transportation Tribes Seal of Virginia Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Newspapers Radio TV Politics Regions Allegheny Mountains Atlantic Coastal Plain Blue Ridge Chesapeake Bay Cumberland Mountains Delmarva Peninsula Eastern Shore Hampton Roads Middle Peninsula Northern Neck Northern Virginia Piedmont Ridge - and - Valley Appalachians Shenandoah Valley South Hampton Roads Southside Southwest Virginia Tennessee Valley Tidewater Tri-Cities Virginia Peninsula Western Virginia Metro areas Blacksburg - Christiansburg - Radford Bluefield Bristol Charlottesville Danville Harrisonburg Lynchburg Martinsville Richmond Roanoke Staunton - Waynesboro Norfolk - Virginia Beach Washington - Arlington - Alexandria Winchester Counties Accomack Albemarle Alleghany Amelia Amherst Appomattox Arlington Augusta Bath Bedford Bland Botetourt Brunswick Buchanan Buckingham Campbell Caroline Carroll Charles City Charlotte Chesterfield Clarke Craig Culpeper Cumberland Dickenson Dinwiddie Essex Fairfax Fauquier Floyd Fluvanna Franklin Frederick Giles Gloucester Goochland Grayson Greene Greensville Halifax Hanover Henrico Henry Highland Isle of Wight James City King and Queen King George King William Lancaster Lee Loudoun Louisa Lunenburg Madison Mathews Mecklenburg Middlesex Montgomery Nelson New Kent Northampton Northumberland Nottoway Orange Page Patrick Pittsylvania Powhatan Prince Edward Prince George Prince William Pulaski Rappahannock Richmond Roanoke Rockbridge Rockingham Russell Scott Shenandoah Smyth Southampton Spotsylvania Stafford Surry Sussex Tazewell Warren Washington Westmoreland Wise Wythe York Independent cities Alexandria Bristol Buena Vista Charlottesville Chesapeake Colonial Heights Covington Danville Emporia Fairfax Falls Church Franklin Fredericksburg Galax Hampton Harrisonburg Hopewell Lexington Lynchburg Manassas Manassas Park Martinsville Newport News Norfolk Norton Petersburg Poquoson Portsmouth Radford Richmond Roanoke Salem Staunton Suffolk Virginia Beach Waynesboro Williamsburg Winchester State and territorial capitol buildings in the United States States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Territories American Samoa District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico United States Virgin Islands Thomas Jefferson 3rd President of the United States ( 1801 -- 1809 ) 2nd U.S. Vice President ( 1797 -- 1801 ) 1st U.S. Secretary of State ( 1790 -- 1793 ) U.S. Minister to France ( 1785 -- 1789 ) 2nd Governor of Virginia ( 1779 -- 1781 ) Delegate, Second Continental Congress ( 1775 -- 1776 ) Founding documents of the United States A Summary View of the Rights of British America ( 1774 ) Initial draft, Olive Branch Petition ( 1775 ) Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms ( 1775 ) 1776 Declaration of Independence Committee of Five authored physical history `` All men are created equal '' `` Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness '' `` Consent of the governed '' 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom freedom of religion French Revolution Co-author, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ( 1789 ) Presidency Inaugural Address ( 1801 1805 ) Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark Expedition Corps of Discovery timeline Empire of Liberty Red River Expedition Pike Expedition Cumberland Road Embargo Act of 1807 Chesapeake -- Leopard affair Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 First Barbary War Native American policy Marbury v. Madison West Point Military Academy State of the Union Addresses ( texts 1801 1802 1805 ) Cabinet Federal judicial appointments Other noted accomplishments Early life and career Founder, University of Virginia history Land Ordinance of 1784 Northwest Ordinance 1787 Anti-Administration party Democratic - Republican Party Jeffersonian democracy First Party System republicanism Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measure of the United States ( 1790 ) Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions A Manual of Parliamentary Practice ( 1801 ) Jeffersonian architecture Barboursville Farmington Monticello gardens Poplar Forest University of Virginia The Rotunda The Lawn Virginia State Capitol White House Colonnades Other writings Notes on the State of Virginia ( 1785 ) 1787 European journey memorandums Indian removal letters Jefferson Bible ( 1895 ) Jefferson manuscript collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Related Age of Enlightenment American Enlightenment American Philosophical Society American Revolution patriots Member, Virginia Committee of Correspondence Committee of the States Founding Fathers of the United States Franco - American alliance Jefferson and education Religious views Jefferson and slavery Jefferson and the Library of Congress Jefferson disk Jefferson Pier Pet mockingbird National Gazette Residence Act Compromise of 1790 Sally Hemings Jefferson -- Hemings controversy Betty Hemings Separation of church and state Swivel chair The American Museum magazine Virginia dynasty Elections United States Presidential election 1796 1800 1804 Legacy Bibliography Jefferson Memorial Mount Rushmore Birthday Thomas Jefferson Building Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression Jefferson Lecture Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Thomas Jefferson Star for Foreign Service Jefferson Lab Monticello Association Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson College Thomas Jefferson School of Law Thomas Jefferson University Washington and Jefferson National Forests Other placenames Currency depictions Jefferson nickel Two - dollar bill U.S. postage stamps Popular culture Ben and Me ( 1953 short ) 1776 ( 1969 musical 1972 film ) Jefferson in Paris ( 1995 film ) Thomas Jefferson ( 1997 film ) Liberty ! ( 1997 documentary series ) Liberty 's Kids ( 2002 animated series ) John Adams ( 2008 miniseries ) Jefferson 's Garden ( 2015 play ) Hamilton ( 2015 musical ) Jefferson -- Eppes Trophy Wine bottles controversy Family Peter Jefferson ( father ) Jane Randolph Jefferson ( mother ) Lucy Jefferson Lewis ( sister ) Randolph Jefferson ( brother ) Isham Randolph ( grandfather ) William Randolph ( great - grandfather ) Martha Jefferson ( wife ) Martha Jefferson Randolph ( daughter ) Mary Jefferson Eppes ( daughter ) Harriet Hemings ( daughter ) Madison Hemings ( son ) Eston Hemings ( son ) Thomas J. Randolph ( grandson ) Francis Eppes ( grandson ) George W. Randolph ( grandson ) John Wayles Jefferson ( grandson ) Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. ( son - in - law ) John Wayles Eppes ( son - in - law ) John Wayles ( father - in - law ) Dabney Carr ( brother - in - law ) Dabney Carr ( nephew ) ← John Adams James Madison → U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Lists by county Accomack Albemarle Alleghany Amelia Amherst Appomattox Arlington Augusta Bath Bedford Bland Botetourt Brunswick Buchanan Buckingham Campbell Caroline Carroll Charles City Charlotte Chesterfield Clarke Craig Culpeper Cumberland Dickenson Dinwiddie Essex Fairfax Fauquier Floyd Fluvanna Franklin Frederick Giles Gloucester Goochland Grayson Greene Greensville Halifax Hanover Henrico Henry Highland Isle Of Wight James City King and Queen King George King William Lancaster Lee Loudoun Louisa Lunenburg Madison Mathews Mecklenburg Middlesex Montgomery Nelson New Kent Northampton Northumberland Nottoway Orange Page Patrick Pittsylvania Powhatan Prince Edward Prince George Prince William Pulaski Rappahannock Richmond Roanoke Rockbridge Rockingham Russell Scott Shenandoah Smyth Southampton Spotsylvania Stafford Surry Sussex Tazewell Warren Washington Westmoreland Wise Wythe York Lists by city Alexandria Bristol Buena Vista Charlottesville Chesapeake Colonial Heights Covington Danville Emporia Fairfax Falls Church Franklin Fredericksburg Galax Hampton Harrisonburg Hopewell Lexington Lynchburg Manassas Manassas Park Martinsville Newport News Norfolk Norton Petersburg Poquoson ( no listings ) Portsmouth Radford Richmond Roanoke Salem Staunton Suffolk Virginia Beach Waynesboro Williamsburg Winchester Other lists Bridges National Historic Landmarks Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property Coordinates : 37 ° 32 ′ 20 '' N 77 ° 26 ′ 01 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 37.538758 ° N 77.433594 ° W ﻿ / 37.538758 ; - 77.433594 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virginia_State_Capitol&oldid=835292487 '' Categories : 1788 establishments in Virginia Buildings and structures in Richmond, Virginia Federal architecture in Virginia Government buildings completed in 1788 Government buildings in Virginia Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Government of Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia History museums in Virginia Museums in Richmond, Virginia National Historic Landmarks in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia Palladian Revival architecture in Virginia State capitols in the United States Hidden categories : Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia Coordinates on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch فارسی Français Italiano עברית Nederlands پنجابی 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 7 April 2018, at 19 : 48. 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Question: when was the virginia state capitol building built
Answer: 1785-1788