The North Dakota State Capitol is located at 600 East Boulevard Avenue in Bismarck. Nicknamed “Skyscraper on the Prairie,” the Capitol is the tallest building in North Dakota, standing nineteen stories tall with separate legislative and judicial wings attached to the tower. The current Capitol building was completed in 1934 to replace the original Capitol that burned down on December 28, 1930.
Original Capitol
In 1883, the Dakota Territory legislature approved the relocation of the capital from Yankton to Bismarck, necessitating the completion of a new Capitol building. The cornerstone was laid on September 5, 1883, with first occupancy at the end of 1884, just in time for the 1885 legislative assembly.
Architect Buffington of Minneapolis designed the Capitol and more than 4,000 people were involved in the Capitol’s construction with Charlie Thompson the general contractor in charge. Excavation commenced on August 17, 1883. By January 20, 1884, 4,000 bricks made of Joliet stone and terra cotta had been laid – in cement – and iron work was completed.
The Capitol was erected at the center of the 160 acres Bismarck was required to donate for the site. Two stories of it were built during the winter, requiring bricklayers to maintain a sheet iron stove to keep the mortar from freezing. The building was among the first, if not the first, in the territory to be lit by electricity. It contained more than four miles of steam pipe and five tons of carpet.
Initially, only the Capitol’s core – referred to as the tower – was completed. The tower was 92 feet by 153 feet with three stories plus a 12-foot high basement. The exterior shell of an east and west wing was also finished to give the appearance of a completed building, but these sections were not finished until additional space was later required.
When North Dakota officially became a state in 1889, the building continued to house the government offices of the state.
Fire consumed the Capitol on December 28, 1930. Its cause was later discovered to have been from spontaneous combustion by a collection of rags covered with turpentine and varnish that were used to prepare for the upcoming legislative assembly. Insurance only covered $728,000 in damages, however the loss was in millions. Many important state documents were also destroyed in the fire, including all but one copy of the state constitution, rescued by a bold individual.
Current Capitol
North Dakota was forced to build a new Capitol in the midst of the Great Depression. To keep costs low, the state chose to construct a 19-story art-deco style skyscraper at a cost of about $2 million. Construction of the new Capitol was not without problems.
Ground for the new capitol was first broken on August 13th of that year and the ceremonial cornerstone was laid on October 6th. The original cornerstone was a piece of granite taken from a boulder located on the farm of Roy S. Veeder, just west of the former Fort Abraham Lincoln. When the original cornerstone was damaged, a second cornerstone was placed on September 5, 1933. This may have been more appropriate given the date was exactly fifty years after the cornerstone was laid for the original capitol in 1883.
On May 16, 1933, construction workers went on strike for betting working conditions and a pay increase to 50 cents per hour. The strike lasted for weeks and resulted in several arrests and injuries. Governor Langer declared martial law on June 1 to settle the strike.
The new North Dakota State Capitol was mostly complete by spring 1934, but it wouldn’t be formally dedicated until September that year and formally occupied the following January.
The new Capitol was expected to have plenty of room to house the state government offices, however the space quickly filled up. The government took occupancy of the building that housed Bismarck Junior College from 1955-1961, located southeast of the Capitol, and converted it to additional office space. That building began demolition in October 2024. In 1981, construction was completed for the Judicial Wing attached to the eastern portion of the tower.
Used for many community events, the Capitol Grounds feature walking paths, two parks, various species of trees, a veterans memorial, and various statues that includes one of Sakakawea. The Capitol grounds were used twice to break the world record for the most snow angels, most recently in 2007 with 8,962 people participating.
The Capitol itself is often used for seasonal displays. During the holiday season, alternating window shades of red and green are closed to form a Christmas tree, and at the end of the year, the windows are used to display the upcoming year by lighting the rooms to form the numbers. In the past, the windows were lit to form a cross at Easter. More recently, they displayed a heart during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To see a list of other buildings and objects located adjacent to the State Capitol, visit the State Capitol Grounds page.
See Also: State Capitol Pictures
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