Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Union or Confederate?
During the Civil War, Gov. Clairborne Jackson had planned for Missouri to join the Confederacy but was forced to flee in 1861 when the city was occupied by Union forces led by Gen. Nathaniel Lyon. The city continued under federal control despite an 1864 attempt to capture it by Sterling Price, a former Missouri Governor and Confederate General.

Missouri's Capitol Buildings
In just 11 years, the government had outgrown its statehouse and the General Assembly approved construction of a new Capitol. This came just in time, as the existing Capitol was soon destroyed by fire, and the new building was occupied in 1840. Business boomed in the 1850s. The Pacific Railroad brought goods from the east, which continued west by steamboat.

As the 19th century ended, there were calls to move the capital from Jefferson City. When that failed, several pushes were made for a new building. Gov. Herbert S. Hadley warned that the old Capitol was a fire hazard, but cost remained an obstacle.

On Feb. 5, 1911, a bolt of lightning struck the Capitol dome, igniting it. The loss of the building prompted another attempt to move the state government out of Jefferson City. Citizens blocked the efforts by once again voting for Jefferson City to remain Missouri's capital.

In response, the General Assembly recommended the issuance of state bonds for a new and much larger Capitol. A design reminiscent of the Capitol at Washington, D.C. was selected, and although it was not yet complete, the building was occupied in 1918.

The tax, which funded construction of the Capitol, produced a million-dollar surplus, which was used to hire notable artists from America and Europe. As a result, the Capitol contains a resplendent collection of stained glass, murals, carvings and statuary.

[Top Photo: The second Capitol, occupied in 1840, was built with stone quarried from nearby Missouri River bluffs. Remodeling, completed in 1889, gave the state's second Capitol a new dome.
Photo used by permission, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia;
Middle pair Photos: When fire destroyed the second Capitol in 1911, hundreds of people rushed to save the records.
Photo [upper] by Thomas G. Cooper and used by permission, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia. [lower] photo used by permission, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia.;
Bottom Photo: Missouri's third and present Capitol, built 1913-1917, contains many works of art that portray Missouri's people, legends, rivers, countryside, history, cities, and cultural achievements.
Photo used by permission, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia.

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