Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of the exterior view of the California state capitol building in Sacramento, ca.1900-1920. The Italian Renaissance Revival state capitol building is approximately six-stories tall. After climbing a flight of concrete stairs, visitors are greeted by an eight-column portico entrance. Above the portico is a wide pediment adorned with moldings and sculptures. A very prominent feature is the dome and cupola. The building has a east and west wing. A variety of trees decorate the yard surrounding the building. A sign planted in the ground in the foreground reads: "No thoroughfare, keep off the path, this means you". "Construction began in 1860--just 12 years after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill--on a four square block site which had been occupied by several private homes. The property was purchased with tax money raised by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Over the next four years, architect Reuben Clark managed to get the walls up nine feet above the foundation. Floods in 1861 and 1862 slowed construction, forcing construction crews to haul wheelbarrows of dirt to raise the structure 15 feet. Funding for the project was piecemeal, but Clark signed a statement May 18, 1862 stating it could be built to his specifications for $500,000. Funds were provided by a legislature which met only two months every two years--so building progressed until funds ran out, then stopped until the next legislative session. That undoubtedly added to the frustration which drove Clark into a Stockton mental institution where he died in 1866. According to records uncovered in the hospital's files, the cause of insanity was diagnosed as 'continued and close attention to the building of the state capitol in Sacramento'. Gordon P. Cummings took over as supervising architect, and was in charge of the project until he finished the job in 1874. Total cost of the project was $2.5 million. The first major alteration took place from 1906 through 1908. A fourth floor was added to the remainder of the building by gutting the chambers, taking the roof off the building, installing new steel trusses, and redesigning the senate and assembly chambers. The building remained much that way until the Depression years of the 1930's, when people began making more demands on government. Then, a mezzanine floor was added. World War II, with its population boom, brought about the most major alteration of the capitol: the addition of the East Wing, around 1952." -- unknown author.
Type
image
Format
1 photograph : glass photonegative, b&w 26 x 21 cm. glass plate negatives photographs
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