First Capitol Building - Leslie, WI
N 42° 46.107 W 090° 21.752
15T E 715787 N 4738475
In 1836, the Legislature for the Territory of Wisconsin held its first and only session in this building for 46 days. It is located on Hwy G near Hwy B in Leslie, WI.
Waymark Code: WM5J1G
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 01/11/2009
Views: 8
[From pg. 115]Smaller areas have been set aside as State Parks because of their historic interest. First Capitol Park, two acres of flat ground near Belmont, contains the building where the first legislative session in Wisconsin was held in 1836
[From pg. 429]At 3.2 m. is the First Capitol Building set in a small lawn now preserved as a State historical park. When the Territory of Wisconsin was created by Congress in 1836, the government seat was temporarily established at Old Belmont, a village that stood upon this site. The first legislature rented the frame building for its capitol and met there for 46 days. Lumber for this structure, like that for other plank or frame buildings in the Territory at that time was bought in Pittsburgh and shipped here via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
In 1836, after a struggle, the legislature was influenced by James Duane Doty (see Madison) to locate the permanent capitol at the then unoccupied site of Madison. Old Belmont vanished; the first capitol building was abandoned to menial uses and at one time became the wing of a barn. It was restored to its original place and appearance in 1924.
---Wisconsin, A Guide to the Badger State, 1941
Today this site looks much as it did in 1941. There have been three historical markers added and a modern informational kiosk and modern restrooms. The buildings themselves and the rest of the grounds are probably identical to their appearance in 1941.
The marker reads:
"BELMONT WISCONSIN TERRITORY 1836
When Governor Henry Dodge addressed the joint session of the Legislature here on October 25, 1836, the Territory of Wisconsin included all of the present day Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and part of the two Dakotas. The population was about equally divided east and west of the Mississippi. There was so much criticism of Gov. Dodge's choice of Belmont as the Territorial Capital that he immediately offered to accept any location decided upon by a majority of the representatives. A bitter contest developed with the Dubuque and Burlington (Iowa) delegations finally joining the Eastern Wisconsin group to move the capital for one year to Burlington and thence permanently to Madison. The briefly booming village of Belmont quickly declined. When the railroad by-passed it about two miles to the southeast many of the residents moved their buildings to "new" Belmont.
Erected 1957"