The Soul of the State

by Meagan Dorsch

Happy Birthday to South Dakota's Capitol on its one-hundredth anniversary!

Hundreds of citizens, legislators and elected officials came to honor the centennial of the Capitol last week in Pierre, topped off with a cake in the shape of the statehouse and 100 candles surrounding it. It was truly a party when the crowd sang "Happy Birthday."

Watch this quick video (3:11) of Governor M. Michael Rounds and House Speaker Tim Rave as they talk about the history of the Capitol and being captivated by the building's physical appearance. 

State Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson told the birthday crowd that the supreme court is the only branch of state government to have once lived in the Capitol building's first floor offices, and few states (to this day) have Supreme Court offices in the Capitol. Gilbertson called this building home and said the court would leave when the governor and the legislature leaves. “We are here to stay,” said Gilbertson.

Pierre beat out the cities of Huron and Mitchell to become the state Capitol of South Dakota. The 1905 legislature authorized the construction of a permanent state Capitol and it took 10 years to build. Does the South Dakota Capitol remind you of anything? Maybe Montana's statehouse? The same architect designed the two buildings.

The third floor of the state Capitol houses the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both chambers were given the same dollar amount to decorate, but there are twice as many legislators in the House as the Senate, so one chamber had a tighter budget. The House had to go with oak wood roll-top desks that were cheaper than mahogany. The Senate opted for cherry wood desks and had them stained to look like mahogany.

The state also saved money by creating scagliola columns. Scagliola is man-made marble, an Italian style that is considered a lost art form. A scagliola overlay is made of milk, ink, marble dust and yarn. The cost of this in 1910 was one hundred dollars, compared to one-thousand to make a marble column. 

Another interesting fact is that the floor in the Capitol building is made of terrazzo tile, which is said to have been laid by 66 Italian artists. Each artist was given a blue tile to place on the floor as their signature. It's a fun game to try and locate all of them, but, interestingly, only 55 of the blue stones have ever been found. Capitol junkies think that the remaining stones may have been placed in locations now covered by walls, doors or carpeting. Can you see the bright blue tile in this picture?

The Capitol underwent repairs in the 1930s and 1940s, and the dome was replaced in 1964. A complete restoration was made between 1976 and 1989. When the tile floor was repaired (due to possible settling during the drought in the 30's), it is said that the workers were given "hearts" to put over cracks that were repaired. That way, if another crack was found, they knew it had not been fixed.

Employees of the legislature and tour guides have found between 30 - 58 hearts, but no one knows the total amount. Both white and black hearts have been spotted, and a friend in the Legislative Research Council has even spotted pink and rose colored hearts.

The Capitol in Pierre has served the people of South Dakota for one hundred years. I remember roaming the halls and sitting through dozen committee meetings when I worked as a reporter for a South Dakota television station.

The Capitol has always held a special place in my heart and I am very found of the hard work that is done by the elected men and women of the Rushmore state. I can attest that this building has truly become the soul and the center of government in South Dakota.

Comments

[John T.]

The South Dakota State Capitol is a beautiful building. Thanks for the history and information!