History speaks from the walls of the Missouri Capitol

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

As America approaches its 250th birthday, few places capture the nation's story quite like the Missouri Capitol, serving as more than just a space for governance.

Stepping inside the Capitol is like stepping into a time machine of Missouri ingenuity. Visitors are greeted by walls and floors made of limestone from southwest Missouri, red granite pillars from the St. Francois Mountains, an opulent chandelier made by a Guth Lighting Company out of St. Louis, and the great seal of the State of Missouri proudly sits in the center of the Rotunda floor, surrounded by stunning paintings.

And that's only what you see just stepping inside. As visitors explore the wings and levels of the Capitol, more history silently reveals itself, spanning around 200 years and sharing the stories of how Missouri played a foundational role in American history and the founding ideals it upholds today.

Long before the Capitol became a landmark, it reflected a larger story: America's westward expansion.

The Capitol standing in Jefferson City today wasn't the first. In fact, without the Capitol, Jefferson City might never have existed at all.

From St. Charles to Jefferson City (and the smoky setbacks that followed)

Missouri officially became the 24th state in 1821 through the Missouri Compromise.

"When we applied, there were 22 states in the union, 11 of them were free states, and 11 of them were slave states," said Sarah Jones, art historian with the Missouri State Capitol Museum. "Through the Missouri Compromise, Maine became its own state, it broke off from Massachusetts as a free state, and Missouri came in as a slave state."

The first legislature met in St. Charles, where they wrote the state's first Constitution, making that city the first Capitol of Missouri, as depicted in a lunette painting found on the second floor of the Capitol.

Jones says when the legislature was trying to decide where to put the state capitol, they wanted to be fair about where it was located.

"They wanted a brand new city," said Jones. "They didn't want to give it to a city that already existed because they thought that was playing favorites."

At this time, like today, Springfield, St. Louis and Kansas City were the three big cities in the state. They're spread out and hard to access, especially without trains and cars. Lawmakers wanted the Capitol to be easy to get to for everyone, so they decided it must be in the middle of the state.

Missouri has the benefit of rivers for steamboats to travel across, making travel easier and faster. This played such a significant factor in the legislature's decision that they even wrote in the Missouri Constitution on page 15 that the State Capitol had to be along the Missouri River and within 40 miles of the mouth of the Osage River.

Lawmakers scouted a few places as potential sites, such as Sedalia and Boonville, but they found a small spot along the Missouri River, about 11 miles from the Osage River, that seemed like the perfect fit.

Jefferson City did not exist before lawmakers decided the land would house the state's governing operations. All that was there was a steamboat landing along the Missouri River.

They didn't have to start from scratch, but they didn't have a town.

"It takes a while to build a town, so for the first five years, from 1821 to 1826, the legislature met in St. Charles," Jones said.

Fast-forward to 1826, a town has been established, named the City of Jefferson after Thomas Jefferson's pivotal role in purchasing the Louisiana Territory. It was decided that the Capitol would sit high on the bluffs of the Missouri River, dominating the skyline and acting as a beacon of hope and refuge for weary steamboat and land travelers.

"You could see the Capitol building from 8 miles in any direction, so if you weren't coming by steamboat, if you were coming by land, it would be pretty easy to get to," said Jones.

To this day, the Capitol Dome is one of the first things people notice when traveling by land or river.

Jefferson City has hosted three Capitol buildings since its founding.

The legislature and governor moved into the first Capitol Building in 1826, which stood where the Governor's Mansion is today. This didn't last much longer than a decade.

In November 1837, the building burnt down, leading to the loss of all secretary of state records.

However, timing was on the legislature's side. A few months before the fire, a new, bigger Capitol was already being built because the legislature had expanded significantly. Construction on this new building started on the same site as the current Capitol.

The second Capitol was still under construction in 1840, but the legislature moved in. It looked similar to our current Capitol, which has two wings and a big dome in the center, paying homage to the United States Capitol, which architects were trying to mimic to a degree.

It was remodeled in the 1880s, expanding the building and adding a bigger dome on top with a copper cap. But like its predecessor, the building had a fiery fate.

In February 1911, lightning struck the dome, starting a fire and burning the building to the ground. This time around, many state records were saved by hundreds of volunteers, prisoners, legislators and public officials.

A special election was held a few months after the fire. Architects told the legislature that it would cost about $3.5 million to build the Capitol. The legislature didn't have those funds, so they raised money to build the building through a bond issue. They ended up raising $4.5 million for the project, while still staying on their original budget.

The attorney general at the time ruled that the extra million raised must be used towards the Capitol and not put into general revenue. That extra money went towards commissioning artists from around the world to decorate the building.

Two Capitol buildings lost to flames had lawmakers and architects needing to pivot. The third Capitol was built on the same site, but was built entirely of stone (Carthage Marble, also known as limestone) so it wouldn't catch on fire. Construction lasted from 1913 to 1917.

"When they built this one, you could get to Jefferson City two ways -- you could come by the river, but you could also come by the highway, which they built on the other side," said Jones. "So they rotated the building 90 degrees. So technically, from an architectural standpoint, we have two fronts, two entrances."

Today's Capitol is 437 feet long and 300 feet wide at its center. Atop the dome sits Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, who represents the importance of farming to Missouri's people and economy.

She also protects the building from its fateful past.

"For our state's bicentennial, they did a big restoration project of the outside, and they took Ceres down, and they took her to a restoration company in Chicago," said Jones. "They estimate that she probably got struck by lightning about twice a year; she's been up there for over 100 years, so that's about 200 lightning strikes."

While the current Capitol is only 109 years old, one room inside holds nearly 200 years of history.

Thomas Hart Benton mural

The House Lounge serves as the home of the famous mural titled "A Social History of the State of Missouri," painted by Missouri native Thomas Hart Benton in 1936.

"It is a timeline, generally speaking," Jones said. "It starts with the pioneers and Native Americans over here, and then we kind of go over here to this corner, and we get some statehood era, and then over this direction, the little smoke over here is the Civil War."

The mural also transitions into the 19th century, showing farmers doing tasks by hand, then jumping to modern farming with tractors and silos. But Benton still nods to old farming technology, too, like using mule teams. Smoke painted in the distance is representative of the Industrial Revolution, lawyers in court, lawmakers debating, outlaws, slavery, the expulsion of Mormons, riverboats, the Great Depression and more are all featured on the mural, which covers every inch of the Lounge's walls.

When the mural was finally unveiled to lawmakers, they were not too happy with it.

"It wasn't what they were expecting," said Jones. "They kind of thought Benton would paint like a big city, five-star generals, things like that."

Benton argued that while those things were all well and true to Missouri's history, the social history of the state is more about the people of Missouri who were foundational to making it the state it is today.

"The history of the people of the State of Missouri, so it's a social history, people make up society and so that's what they got," said Jones. "And he wanted to be truthful, he thought history should be authentic and truthful, so he gave us the good, the bad and the ugly."

Lawmakers wanted Benton to repaint the mural, but Benton's work was protected by his contract. Originally, lawmakers wanted an oversight committee to review what he planned to paint beforehand, but Benton knew they needed him more than he needed them. He was able to get the oversight committee taken out of the deal.

"What we see in here is 100% Thomas Hart Benton telling us the story of Missouri, no other input," said Jones. "He didn't want anybody else to tell him how to tell the story, and he knew that they wouldn't let him include things like the slave auction or the expulsion of the Mormons or 'The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny' or things that wouldn't necessarily put Missouri in the best of light."

There were even a few bills in the first few sessions at the new Capitol in the '40s and '50s to get rid of it, but nothing ever made it out of committee.

The people loved it, and lawmakers just had to get used to it because it wasn't like Benton was going to budge.

Lawmakers today, like Rep. Rudy Veit (R-Wardsville), have a different attitude toward the mural than lawmakers back then.

"The more you learn about it and what it stands for, it is amazing that one man can think that all those things and the depth of it," said Veit. "The baby is actually a live human being who came from here, Jeff City, and how the art reflects the different times and different levels and different values we put on society at the time."

Veit says the mural and the many other art pieces found within the Capitol serve as a reminder that history must be preserved.

"When you know your history, you know what's been happening in the past, you know what's important," said Veit. "You put value in and understanding that freedom just didn't come overnight, and all the opportunities we have in the state have not just come overnight.

"We have a historical value in the Capitol, it shows the changes in time from the days of slavery and how important it is to know history so we don't repeat the same mistakes."

Along the second floor of the Capitol are 41 lunette (half-moon-shaped) paintings that illustrate Missouri's natural and cultural resources and the state's military history. A popular painting is of the Eads Bridge in St. Louis by Frank Nuderscher, which includes an optical illusion to make the painting appear three-dimensional. Sixteen lunettes include optical illusions.

In the House of Representatives, a large canvas in the east Visitors Gallery represents the glory of Missouri at war, created shortly after World War I. Lining the other walls are glass mosaics which represent the glory of Missouri and peace. Some notable items that can be found within the mosaic include Jesse Hall, steamboats and the Capitol Dome itself.

On the first floor of the building lives the Missouri State Museum, which includes Missouri's natural resources, flora and fauna while also serving as a memorial for Missouri's soldiers and sailors.

This year, in light of America's 250th birthday, the Missouri State Museum has the "Stars, Stripes and Celebrations" exhibit, commemorating America's major birthdays and how Missouri contributes to patriotism.

Visitors can spend an entire day and may still not have enough time to see all the historical art and artifacts that make up the Missouri State Capitol.

Great Seal of the State of Missouri

The Great Seal of the State of Missouri was created by Judge Robert Wells and was formally adopted as the state seal in January 1822.

State seals are used to authenticate important documents, proclamations and laws, but also symbolically represent the history, origins and ideals of the state.

The Great Seal can be found in various places across the Capitol.

Hover over the black circles to see the meaning of different parts of the seal.

Veit says the state motto, "Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto," is an important reminder to him that lawmakers should consider all of the state's residents in each decision they make.

"It's important because otherwise people in positions of power can take over the law and not necessarily represent the people, the mass population, but their own self-interests," said Veit.

Something like that did happen back in the day. The Great Seal of the State of Missouri was stolen.

"Gov.Claiborne Fox Jackson, who was the Missouri governor and a southern sympathizer at the beginning of the Civil War, stole the state seals and ran off to Texas and thought he could set up a provisionary government in Texas for Missouri," said Jones. "It didn't work; we had enough people back here to just continue business."

New seal plates were made, and the official seal resides in the Secretary of State's Office to stamp official bills and documents as they come through.

Preserving history while looking towards the future

Keeping the art and artifacts in good shape is no easy task, as something as small as leaving a window open can ruin an entire painting.

"Leaving windows open overnight can bring moisture, which can deteriorate pictures and photographs and structures, leading to mold," said Veit. "Those are things we constantly have to stay on top of because once the harm is done, a lot of it's irreparable."

Veit serves as chairman of the Missouri State Capitol Commission, established in 1911, which is tasked with preserving, restoring and renovating the Capitol and the recording of its history. The Commission is also in charge of taking care of over 120 art pieces inside the Capitol.

Five years ago, the Capitol underwent extensive exterior restorations to help preserve and extend the life of the building and improve its overall appearance and stability.

"I think the fact that our Capitol Commission chooses to restore and respect the history that we have within these walls is so crucial to who we are as a people," said Vice Chair of the America 250 Missouri Commission Pat Thomas. "And I think it says a lot about who Missourians are. We respect history, we respect where we come from, we learn from it, and we try to do better in the future."

Speaking of the future, the Capitol Commission has been granted $104 million in the fiscal 2027 budget to renovate and improve the Capitol's interior through the Missouri State Capitol Commission Capitol Preservation Fund.

"The Commission is planning on hopefully redoing the whole interior to bring it back to its original historic interior with the high ceilings, better heating and air conditioning, more access, get rid of the mezzanines, ADA accessible," said Veit.

Veit said none of the artwork would be changed inside the Capitol; if anything, he says, they will be improved.