Blah office tower outside but amazing Art Deco masterpiece inside, the North Dakota State Capitol Building is worth a visit if you love the Art Deco style.
Blasterz have three fave Art Deco details here:
(1) The heroic brass figure of a farmer standing over ripe wheat with two 1930s-era harvesters to either side of him. You can find him over the exit door to the outside from the Memorial hall.
(2) The figures of ND pioneer history in brass on the elevator doors to the upper floors of the building just off the Memorial Hall
(3) The uber-cool banquettes with the Greek patterns and polished wood along the hallways to the legislative chambers -- perfect for a last button-holing of a wavering legislator.
Ok, we said we have 3 faves but we can't leave this one out:
(4) The tall chandeliers formed in the shape of heads of ripened wheat in the Memorial hall
From the ND Tourism brochure: (
visit link)
"The 19-story, Art Deco building was constructed in 1933 for $2 million and contains unique woods and materials from many states and countries."
More about the building can be found here: (
visit link)
"Two tracts of 160 acres, deeded to the Territory of North Dakota from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company on August 28, 1883. The park was leased by Bismarck Parks and Recreation Department and they took care of all maintenance from 1955 until July 1, 2007.
North Dakota has enjoyed two statehouses, the first constructed during the territorial period (1883-4) five years before statehood in 1889. Fire consumed the Capitol on the night of December 28, 1930. They sold 160 acres of the Capitol grounds to help pay for the 2nd building. The second and present Capitol was completed in 1934, in the depths of the Great Depression. They eliminated much of the exterior ornament from Holabird and Root's design. For instance, a Fifty-foot statue intended for the entry plaza in front of Memorial Hall was reduced to a simple obelisk and eventually was removed altogether. They also deleted the decorative etching from the cornice stones of the Legislative wing and from the metal panels between windows of the administrative tower. The abandonment of exterior embellishment does not deny the building's Art Deco roots; rather, that simplification links the building with the International Style, an architectural order which dominated commercial construction after World War II. North Dakota's Capitol was slightly under its $2 million dollar limit, has 80 percent usable space, it cost merely 46 cents per cubic foot! The Capitol Building is 241 feet and 8 inches in height. The WPA workers (Works Progress Administration), made .30 cents per hour and went on strike to get .50 cents. This is when the Capitol went under martial Law 6-1-33. Pictures of Old and new Capitol, WPA workers, Capitol under martial law.
At the present time the Capitol Complex is made up of 132 acres. In 1949 the area that is known as the Baptist Home was sold. The rest have been easements for water, and streets. The latest easement was in 2002 for the reconstruction of State Street, a section of land 15 feet X 3 feet of land by the State Office Building, to make the street wider.
Building Dimensions: The Legislative wing and Memorial Hall are 294 feet long, east-to-west; the tower has a total of 21 floors and is 241 feet and 8 inches high."