page_title: History of Saint Paul, Minnesota
section_title: The state capitol
hierarchical_section_title: History of Saint Paul, Minnesota / The state capitol
caption_attribution_description: English: Dome of the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The building features a gilded quadriga called Progress of the State, and a ball mounted above the dome is covered in gold leaf. The structure is made of Georgia marble and is one of only about five unsupported marble domes in the world. It is a near-duplicate of the dome on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
context_page_description: Saint Paul is the second largest city in the state of Minnesota in the United States, the county seat of Ramsey County, and the state capital of Minnesota. The origin and growth of the city was spurred by the proximity of Fort Snelling, the first major United States military presence in the area, and by its location on the Upper Mississippi River, with the northernmost natural navigable port on the mighty river.
  Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort Saint Anthony, was established in 1819, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in order to establish American dominance of the fur-trading industry on the rivers. As the whiskey trade started to flourish, the military officers in Fort Snelling banned the distillers from the land the fort controlled, with one retired French Canadian fur trader turned bootlegger, Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant particularly irritating the officials. In 1838, Parrant moved his abode and operation downstream about 5 miles to the north bank of the river in what is now downtown Saint Paul. There Parrant established the area which became known as "L'Oeil de Cochon" and the new location began to be settled by French Canadians.
context_section_description: Much of Saint Paul's vibrancy can be attributed to its status as the seat of state government. Capitol buildings were built in 1854 and 1882. But by the turn of the century, the third state capitol was under construction. The building was designed by Cass Gilbert and modeled after Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome—the unsupported marble dome is the second largest in the world, after Saint Peter's. At a cost of USD $4.5 million, it opened in 1905. The exterior is made of Georgian marble and Saint Cloud granite. The interior walls are constructed of 20 different types of stone, including Mankato limestone. Above the southern (main) entrance to the building is a gilded quadriga called the Progress of the State which was sculpted by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter. It was completed and raised to the roof of the capitol in 1906. On the floor of the rotunda under the dome is a large star, representing the "North Star State." Above is a 6-foot (2 m) crystal chandelier. Art-work and gold-leaf are used liberally to decorate the legislative structure. The building's opulence is testimony to the great wealth the state generated at that time.
caption: Capitol dome
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