Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/314



the construction of public buildings at the seat of government. A subsequent act appropriated one section of public land to be used for the location of the Capitol. This section was laid out in blocks and lots which were offered, for sale by act of the Legislative Assembly, the proceeds used in the construction of the State House. Iowa City was built up on this section, twelve acres of which were reserved for the Capitol Square.

The plan for the Capitol was made by Rev. Samuel Mazzuchelli, and John F. Rague was the first architect. The corner-stone was laid July 4, 1840, and an address made by Governor Lucas. The stone for the building was taken from quarries on the banks of the Cedar and Iowa rivers.

The building was erected on a foundation six feet thick and six feet below the surface of the ground. The walls of the basement were four feet thick, and the upper stories three and two feet in thickness. The size of the building is one hundred and twenty feet long by sixty feet wide. The roof was surmounted by a cupola. On the first floor were rooms for the Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Supreme Court and Library. The second story was divided into two rooms for the General Assembly, each fifty-four by forty-three feet in size; the Senate Chamber in the north wing and the House of Representatives in the south. More than fifteen years were consumed in the construction of the building, which was completed in the fall of 1855. In 1842 four rooms on the first floor and the Representatives’ Hall were partially completed so that the Legislative Assembly and State officers occupied the building. The cost of the structure when completed was about $123,000. Four Territorial, six State Legislatures and three Constitutional Conventions were held in this Capitol. Upon the removal of the Capital of the State to Des Moines in 1857 the State House at Iowa City was granted to the State University and has been remodeled and since occupied by that institution.