The New Hampshire State House, located in

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

at 107 North Main Street, is the state capitol building of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. The capitol houses the

New Hampshire General Court The General Court of New Hampshire is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The lower house is the New Hampshire House of Representatives with 400 members. The upper house is the New Hampshire Senate with 24 membe ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, and Executive Council. The building was constructed on a block framed by Park Street (named in honor of the architect, Stuart James Park) to the north, Main Street to the east, Capitol Street to the south, and North State Street to the west.

Construction

The current statehouse was designed in 1814, and paid for by the city of Concord. In 1816, local

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

sold the lot where their meetinghouse was to the state of New Hampshire, and the building was built between 1816 and 1819 by architect Stuart Park. The building was built in the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style with smooth granite blocks. The entrance is covered by a small projecting

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

supported by Doric columns. The balcony above is lined with a

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

separated by Corinthian columns supporting a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. Another balustrade lines the edge of the flat roof. The windows on the first floor are rectangular in shape, those on the second floor are arched, and those on the third floor are square panels. An octagonal drum with large arched windows supports a golden dome with bull's-eye windows and supporting a small lantern. A statue of a huge gold-painted wooden war

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

looking to the left was raised in 1818. In 1957, it was replaced with an element-proof peace eagle statue looking to the right, with the original eagle given to the New Hampshire Historical Society.

The grounds

The capitol grounds occupy and are enclosed by a granite fence. No gate impedes the flow of visitors, as this is "the people's house". The following seven statues or memorials are on the grounds, installed at various times from 1886 to 1998:

Hall of Flags

The main entrance opens into the Hall of Flags. The hall is designed after

Charles Bulfinch Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...

's design for the

Massachusetts State House The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the List of state capitols in the United States, state capitol and seat of government for the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lo ...

. The hall features 107 battle flags for New Hampshire representing the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Senate Chamber

The Senate Chamber is located in the northeast corner of the capitol. It houses the 24-member chamber. Large arched windows light the chamber. Behind the rostrum are large

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s, arched like the windows, depicting events of the state's history. The mural to the left depicts the first commencement at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

; the next, Daniel Webster reading the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

; after that, Abbott Thayer teaching his art class; and the last,

John Stark Major-General John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was an American military officer who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. He became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Batt ...

preparing for battle in the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. The murals were painted by Barry Faulkner in 1942. Large curved tables surround the rostrum and are replicas of originals.

House Chamber

The House Chamber houses the largest state legislative body in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with 400 members. Large arched windows line the walls. On the rostrum hang portraits of

John P. Hale John Parker Hale (March 31, 1806November 19, 1873) was an American politician and lawyer from New Hampshire. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and in the United States Senate from 1847 to 1853 and again fro ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

, and Daniel Webster.

History

The first session of the General Court began in 1819. The State House is the oldest state capitol in which both houses of the legislature meet in their original chambers. (The current chamber of the Massachusetts Senate is older but was originally used by the House of Representatives.) In 1814, discussion began about building a suitable building for the state capitol. The General Court debated three locations: Concord, Hopkinton, and

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, which offered $7,000 to be the capital. The legislature chose Concord as the location in 1816.

Granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

used to build the capitol came from the present-day Swenson quarries; the cutting, shaping and facing of the stone was performed by inmates of the state prison. The prison building was also constructed by Stuart Park. The cost of construction for the capitol was $82,000. The building was designed and built to house the General Court, its committees, the Governor and Council, the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, and the State Library. During

Meldrim Thomson Jr. Meldrim Thomson Jr. (March 8, 1912 – April 19, 2001) was an American politician who served three terms as the 73rd governor of New Hampshire from 1973 to 1979. A Republican, he was known as a strong supporter of conservative political values. E ...

's governorship (1973–1979) the lights that shone on the State House's golden dome at night were turned off to save energy. This caused controversy because the illuminated dome had been an informal symbol of Concord for many years. With the help of several New Hampshire legislators, the lights were activated again in the first days of Hugh Gallen's first term as governor. In 2016 the gold dome was regilded with 24 karat leafing, a process that has occurred several times over the history of the building. The 2016 project cost $2.8 million.

References

External links

Visiting information

* ttp://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/programs/documents/fsh_summary_2012.pdf Summary Sheet - New Hampshire's First State House Project, New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources
New Hampshire's First State House Project, Final Report

New Hampshire's First State House - Pictures
{{US State Capitols

State House State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

State capitols in the United States Government buildings with domes Buildings and structures in Concord, New Hampshire Tourist attractions in Concord, New Hampshire Government buildings completed in 1819 1819 establishments in New Hampshire