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Wisconsin State Capitol

• Phone: (608) 266-0382

Offering beautiful mosaics and towering marble columns, visit the State Capitol to experience the rich history of Wisconsin's diverse ethnic heritage on a free guided tour, or explore on your own.

Open to the public weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and weekends and holidays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Free tours are offered daily , year round except on the following holidays: New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas. Tours start at the information desk Monday through Saturday at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 a.m. and 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 p.m.; and Sundays at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 p.m. A 4:00 p.m. tour is offered weekdays (Monday - Friday), excluding holidays, during Memorial Day through Labor Day. Plan on spending 45-55 minutes for a tour. The sixth floor museum and observation deck are open during the summer months.

Groups of ten or more can make an  on-line reservation for a tour of the State Capitol  or call (608)266-0382.

• Days/Hours: Monday - Friday: 8am - 6pm Weekends and Holidays: 8am - 4pm
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22 e. mifflin street, suite 200

madison, wi 53703

(608) 255-2537 • (800) 373-6376

[email protected]

22 e. mifflin street, suite 200, madison, wi 53703

(608) 255-2537 • (800) 373-6376 • [email protected]

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Wisconsin State Capitol

The first Wisconsin State Capitol building was in Belmont, WI in 1836 and legislature convened there for 42 days until Madison was chosen as the site for the Capitol building. The first Capitol building in Madison opened on the current site in 1837.

In 1904 a fire destroyed the previous State Capitol building providing the opportunity to create a bigger and better Capitol building. Construction of the current building was completed in 1917 and used 43 types of stone from six countries and eight states. The dome is the largest by volume in the nation.

The Building is open to the public and free tours are available. Must sees include the 4th floor museum, observation deck, and don’t forget to hunt for fossils in the stone!

Plan your visit

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison

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• (0.00 mi) Starbucks
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• (0.03 mi) Johnny Delmonico's Steakhouse
• (0.03 mi) Melted Craft Grilled Cheese
• (0.04 mi) Janet's Flower and Fashion's Boutique
• (0.11 mi) Capitol Square
• (0.14 mi) Escape This
• (0.10 mi) HH Apothecary & Co.
• (0.09 mi) Majestic theater

State Trunk Tour

Pick a road and GO!!

Wisconsin State Capitol

Our Wisconsin State Capitol is without question one of the most beautiful in the country. Perched atop Madison’s beautiful isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona, it’s the third Capitol building on this site and was completed in 1917.

Four wings holding offices stretch out from a central Rotunda capped with the only granite dome in the United States. The statue atop the dome, officially named Wisconsin , reaches 284 feet, 5 inches high and faces direction of Washington, DC. It was intentionally designed to be a few inches shorter than the United States Capitol. Inside, Edwin Blashfield’s mural covers the Rotunda’s interior and depicts Wisconsin’s many resources.

On a visit, you can explore the passageways, the Rotunda, and lay your fingers on 43 varieties of stone and a series of mosaics and fossils including coral, starfish, gastropods, and more. Weather permitting, you can head up to the fourth floor and go outside to the observation deck where you can gaze upon the city from the base of the dome and browse the fascinating artifacts and photos inside. This year, the center of the Rotunda features “A Century of Stories”, displays and exhibits taking you through the State Capitol’s 100-year history. They include previous Capitol buildings on this block (there were several), major events that happened in and around the Capitol, and people who have shaped the state’s past, present, and future.

For better or worse, they also make laws in this building; a Capitol Tour brings you to offices, chambers, and other areas where elected representatives do their work. Plenty of shops, restaurants, bars, and museums surround the Capitol on the Square too; you can occupy a whole day just exploring this block! Free guided Capitol tours are available seven days a week. Check out a virtual reality Capitol tour here .

Wisconsin State Capitol Address:

2 E Main Street Madison, WI 53702 Information: 608-266-0382

Tours Monday-Saturday at 9am, 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm; Sundays at 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, a 4pm tour is also available Monday-Friday.

Eric Paulsen

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First Capitol

Get Your Capitol Ornament!

First Capitol will reopen for general admission in May 2024 . While you wait, add a capitol keepsake to your holiday décor with our 2023 Wisconsin State Capitol ornament !

Get the Best Deal in History  

Wisconsin Historical Society members receive unlimited free admission to our 11 historic sites and museums, a complimentary annual subscription to the Wisconsin Magazine of History, merchandise discounts and more. Join at the Family level and above for added benefits and discounts at over 1,200 organizations nationwide! 

Discover the Birthplace of Wisconsin Government  

Madison has long been Wisconsin’s capital city, but the first 40 laws were made 50 miles southwest, here in Belmont. Welcome to Wisconsin’s First Capitol, where for just 46 days in 1836 representatives met to lay the foundation for our state’s government. Immerse yourself in the world of these founders, walking through the buildings and rooms where these important decisions were made. 

FIELD TRIPS & GROUP TOURS

Field Trips

The best day of your school year awaits! Don’t just read about history, experience it! Field Trips at the Wisconsin Historical Society’s historic sites and museums allow students to step into the worlds they’re studying through fun adventures and engaging experiences around the state for grades k-12.  

Group Tours

Travel Together Through Time and bring your group tour to the Wisconsin Historical Society’s sites and museums. Experience the worlds and wonders of Wisconsin’s past. Book your group tour today! Tours include private guide(s) that can be customized to meet the needs and interests of your group.

Members Get Free Admission!

Become a Wisconsin Historical Society member and visit all 12 of our historic sites for free! Membership pays for itself in as little as two visits and includes other great benefits like discounts and reciprocal benefits to more than 1,200 organizations.

Discover the rugged origins of the first capitol of Wisconsin Territory, where legislators laid down the framework for the current state government.

As the start of several upcoming site improvements, we have Fink Fencing out of Platteville on site today. The team is installing a fence at the back of the property. Archaeologists were on site to monitor the project. Stay tuned for more upcoming projects! ... See More See Less

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We are hiring! We are hiring for our facilities manager position at Villa Louis. This full-time position is responsible for supporting the management of Villa Louis facilities and infrastructure by monitoring and facilitating contractor activities, minor restoration & construction, ensuring equipment and building systems are operational, janitorial duties, addressing all maintenance needs, along with managing and performing landscaping and lawn care. For a full position description and details on the application process visit bit.ly/3U2EVHE All applications must be submitted online using the provided link. The position closes on April 25. Questions can be directed to [email protected] or (608) 264-6409. ... See More See Less

Do you or someone you know love history? Want to work at a place spanning over a hundred and fifty years of Wisconsin’s history? Are you in the Mineral Point and Belmont areas? Apply for a summer job with the Wisconsin Historical Society at Pendarvis and First Capitol! Help guide guests through the buildings and grounds and experience first hand all the awesome events put on at the site. Apply online, add your resume with your experience--even if it’s only a little--and we will get in touch with you! No experience necessary! We would be happy to have you! Returning staff need not apply online, you will receive an email. wihist.org/3uxvOoa ... See More See Less

Wisconsin State Capitol

This entry includes a walking tour! Take the tour.

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Built between 1906 and 1917, the Wisconsin State Capitol is the location of the state's seat of government, housing the Office of the Governor, the state Supreme Court, and both chambers of the state legislature. Designed by famed architect George Post, the Capitol is a beautiful example of Renaissance Revival architecture as interpreted through the Beaux-Arts style. The building is 284.5 feet tall, including the large statue erected on top of the dome created by celebrated artist Daniel Chester French who also created the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The Capitol is the third since the state was granted statehood 1848 (two served as territorial capitols). The dome is notable not only for its large size but also for the fact that is the largest granite dome in the world and the only granite capitol dome in the country. The Capitol is also significant for its association with the progressive political movement of the early 20th century, as championed by Governor Robert La Follette (1900-1906) and his sons, which profoundly impacted state and national politics. All of these factors led to the Capitol to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001.

The Wisconsin State Capitol was built in 1917 and features the largest dome made of granite in the world.

Backstory and Context

The Capitol's architecture is not only a fine example of the Beaux-Arts style, it also features Wisconsin iconography. The interior features motifs of wreaths and garlands using oak leaves. The exterior continues this theme of Wisconsin-related motifs with the statue atop the dome, called "Wisconsin," which depicts a woman wearing a helmet with a badger (the state animal) and ears of corn (an important state crop), as well as other symbols of the themes of liberty, justice, and truth. 

Anderson, D. N. "Wisconsin State Capitol." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. October 15, 1970. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/7eaf7701-f0ae-4efa-826e-35a1ac7114a9.

Biebel, Anne E., et al. "Wisconsin State Capitol." National Park Service - National Historic Landmark Nomination Form. https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/wi/WiscCapitol.pdf.

Rath, Jay. "Third time’s the charm? Wisconsin's majestic 100-year-old Capitol has outlasted its predecessors." Isthmus. June 29, 2017. http://isthmus.com/news/cover-story/wisconsins-majestic-100-year-old-capitol-has-outlasted-its-p.

Additional Information

• 100th Anniversary State Capitol Commemorative Commission website
• Wisconsin State Legislature website
• Wisconsin.gov website

Trump campaign: Headed back to Wisconsin for A Badger State event In Waukesha

• April 24, 2024

Home » Press Releases » Trump campaign: Headed back to Wisconsin for A Badger State event In Waukesha

President Donald J. Trump will travel to Waukesha, Wisconsin, on May 1st to contrast the peace, prosperity, and security of his first term with Joe Biden’s failed presidency.

The people of Wisconsin are bearing the brunt of Biden’s bad policies.  At 18.8%, inflation is stealing $920 per month from the average Wisconsin household. Thanks to Biden’s war against American energy, Wisconsinites are paying record prices for electricity and gas.

Biden was dishonest when he promised to ensure an America “safe from crime and looting,” as 2023 marked the deadliest year for Wisconsin police in two decades. Biden’s weak border policies caused a crisis, with illegal immigrants and criminals funneling deadly drugs into Wisconsin communities which saw a record number of opioid deaths during the Biden presidency. Biden’s failures are crushing the citizens of Wisconsin.

The bottom line is that the Badger State is suffering under Biden, and President Trump will once again deliver safety and affordability to Wisconsin! Together, we can Make America Great Again by securing the nation’s borders, reclaiming our place as a world leader, bringing peace through strength, and rebuilding our people’s wealth by driving down inflation.

Date and Time

Wednesday, May 1, 2024 2:00PM CDT

Waukesha County Expo Center

1000 Northview Rd

Waukesha, WI, 53188

Timeline of Events

11:00AM – Doors Open

2:00PM – 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump Delivers Remarks

General Admission Tickets

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Mike Johnson and the troubled history of recent Republican speakers

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson attends a news conference at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. Julia Nikhinson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson attends a news conference at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.

When the House returns from its recess next week, Speaker Mike Johnson is now widely expected to resume his duties without immediately facing a motion to oust him.

Just such a "motion to vacate the chair" was filed against Johnson in March by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. But Greene has yet to make the motion "privileged," which under the rules would necessitate a vote within two days.

Greene had vowed to press her challenge after Johnson announced a strategy to pass $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan earlier this month. About two-thirds of that money was for Ukraine, an issue Greene had called her "red line" for moving against the speaker.

Two colleagues had spoken up to say they would join Greene in such a vote, giving her enough to defeat the speaker if all the chamber's Democrats voted to do the same. That's what the Democrats did when a motion to vacate the chair ousted the last Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, last fall. He had been in the job less than nine months.

But this time around several Democrats have indicated they would cross the aisle to support Johnson and frustrate Greene & Co. if it came to a vote. Democratic leaders have indicated they are open to this, and it essentially repeats the strategy that allowed Johnson to pass the Ukraine portion of the aid bill earlier this month.

3rd Republican joins motion to oust Mike Johnson as House speaker

So Greene may have missed her moment. Johnson has gained stature and won bipartisan praise for letting the whole House vote on the aid package. He also got strong support in the Senate , where even an outright majority of Republicans voted for the aid on Tuesday. The package was signed into law by President Biden the following day.

But as Greene has said, the existence of her motion serves as a warning. She could activate a vote at any time so Johnson should know he is skating on thin ice.

And that is true, he should. Even a glance at the history of Republican speakers since World War II would tell him that.

The current state of internal politics among House Republicans is so unsettled that almost anything could happen at almost any time.

As Shakespeare wrote: "Uneasy rests the head that wears a crown," and in recent history that goes double for speakers who are also Republicans.

Johnson is the sixth Republican elevated to the speakership since 1994, the year the party won its first House majority and elected a speaker of its own for the first time in 40 years. The hard truth is that the five who preceded Johnson (McCarthy, Paul Ryan, John Boehner, Dennis Hastert and Newt Gingrich) all saw their time in the office end in relative degrees of defeat or frustration. And to find a Republican speaker who left voluntarily in a moment of victory, moving on to another office, you have to go back to the mid-1920s.

There's been a history of hard landings

The 30-year saga began with Gingrich of Georgia, who was the first member of his party to gain "the big gavel" since the early 1950s and the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Gingrich had been a backbench rabble-rouser since coming to the House in 1978 and built up a cadre of supporters until he won the party's No. 2 power position as minority whip in 1989. He soon eclipsed the party's leader, Robert Michel, who was nearing retirement.

In 1994, two years into the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton, Gingrich organized a campaign around a 10-item agenda called the "Contract with America." It provided a unified message for the party's nominees, who flipped more than 50 seats and stormed into the majority.

Gingrich managed to restore many of the powers of the speakership but clashed repeatedly with Clinton and even with Republican leaders in the Senate. In 1997, in his second Congress as speaker, he barely survived a largely covert challenge from within his own leadership team. And just shy of his fourth anniversary in the job, he was voted out by the full House Republican conference in December 1998.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich (center), shown here surrounded by House Republicans, holds up a copy of the "Contract With America" during a speech on April 7, 1995 on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Richard Ellis/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

House Speaker Newt Gingrich (center), shown here surrounded by House Republicans, holds up a copy of the "Contract With America" during a speech on April 7, 1995 on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Once Gingrich was gone, the line of succession was not clear. The No. 2 Republican at the time did not have the votes, and the No. 3 declined to run. The chairman of the Appropriations Committee was nominated by the party conference but withdrew after a magazine story accused him of marital infidelity.

The mantle fell to Hastert of Illinois, the chief deputy whip. Like Johnson an era later, Hastert was a relatively quiet member of the leadership who enjoyed goodwill generally in the rank and file. Hastert was speaker through the last two Clinton years and first six of the George W. Bush presidency. But he voluntarily resigned after the GOP lost badly in the 2006 midterms, a defeat Bush called "a thumpin' " at the time.

Those eight years actually made Hastert the longest-serving Republican speaker in history. But any luster left after 2006 was lost when he went to prison for bank fraud charges stemming from hush money payments he had made to a former student he admitted to having sexually abused decades earlier.

The next two Republican speakers would be John Boehner, elevated to the job by the GOP recapture of the House in the "Tea Party" election of 2010. Boehner worked hard to fashion budget deals with both a Democratic President Barak Obama and a Democratic Senate. But his efforts alienated some in his own ranks who in 2015 formed an insurgent group known as the House Freedom Caucus. Increasingly exasperated with his untenable predicament, Boehner simply resigned in October of that year.

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (right) and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy walk through the Capitol rotunda on May 17, 2023. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (right) and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy walk through the Capitol rotunda on May 17, 2023.

Here again, the line of succession was not as clear as it appeared. The well-respected No. 2 Republican, Eric Cantor of Virginia, had lost his primary in 2014. The No. 3, McCarthy, soon ran aground over remarks in a TV interview and lacked the votes to be speaker. The party settled on Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who had not sought the gavel but agreed to take it.

Ryan, then just 45, was the youngest speaker in nearly 150 years but had already been party's vice presidential nominee on the 2012 ticket. Once he had Boehner's job, however, he experienced much the same internal strife. Ryan also had a strained relationship with then-President Donald Trump, with whom he had a falling out during the fall 2016 campaign. In April 2018, Ryan said he would not serve another term and left as the party was losing its majority that fall.

More distant memories

Prior to the GOP's 40-year sentence as the minority party, several of its speakers had risen to the top rung largely on their personal popularity among their colleagues. One was Joseph Martin of Massachusetts, who led the party in the House during two brief interludes of majority status after World War II. Both lasted only the minimum two years, the first ending with Democratic Harry S. Truman's surprise White House win in 1948. Martin was back four years later when Eisenhower was first elected president in 1952, but that tour at the top was cut short by his party's sharp losses two years later.

Prior to that, the last Republican speaker had been Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, who died in 1931. Technically, he died as speaker, but his party lost its majority before the next Congress convened and elected a Democrat to the job.

Nicholas Longworth, speaker of the House, holds a gun once owned by famous outlaw Jesse James on Jan. 23, 1930. Bettmann Archive hide caption

Nicholas Longworth, speaker of the House, holds a gun once owned by famous outlaw Jesse James on Jan. 23, 1930.

Although Longworth was speaker for only a little over five years, he was well-regarded and symbolic of Republican prosperity in its heydays under Teddy Roosevelt (his father-in-law) and again in the 1920s. When Congress authorized a new House office building in 1931, shortly after Longworth's death, it was named for him and remains so today.

His predecessor, Frederick Gillett of Massachusetts, also had the top job for less than five years. But when he left after the 1924 session, his party was still firmly in control and had just elected President Calvin Coolidge to a full term. Gillett himself moved on to the Senate.

Longevity has simply not been a hallmark of Republican speakers. The list of the 10 speakers who served in the job longest includes just one Republican (and in the ninth slot at that). That speaker was Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, notorious as the autocratic "Czar Cannon" during three two-year tours as speaker that ended with his party's historic defeat in 1910.

Democrats and durability

Democrats too have had their short speakerships. In 1989 Speaker Jim Wright of Texas resigned under pressure following revelations about a book deal the House Ethics Committee saw as circumventing fundraising rules. Wright had only been in the job a little over two years at the time. Longworth's successor, John "Cactus Jack" Garner of Texas, left the office after just over a year to be Franklin Roosevelt's first vice president.

But as a rule, the Democrats' succession machinery and their regional political balancing long known as the party's "Boston-Austin axis" (or vice versa) helped lend stability.

On that list of the 10 longest-serving speakers, seven are Democrats. Most of them served in that long stretch when their party held the majority for four decades. The most recent Democrat, however, is Nancy Pelosi, still a House member and the House speaker emerita. She comes in at fifth on the longevity roster, having served one day shy of eight years from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023.

• Mike Johnson