Missouri State Capitol

Jefferson City
 
     
 
 
 
Completed: 1917
Architect: Tracy & Swartout
 Photos: Robert Deering 9/2/2014
Beaux Arts style capitol building with central circular drum tower that is capped with a dome and cupola. It is approximately 262 feet tall. The present Capitol, completed in 1917 and occupied the following year, is the third Capitol in Jefferson City and the sixth in Missouri history. The first seat of state government was housed in the Mansion House, Third and Vine Streets, St. Louis; the second was in the Missouri Hotel, Maine and Morgan Streets, also in St. Louis. St. Charles was designated as temporary capital of the state in 1821 and remained the seat of government until 1826 when Jefferson City became the permanent capital city. The first Capitol in Jefferson City burned in 1837 and a second structure completed in 1840 burned when the dome was struck by lightning on February 5, 1911.
ADMITTED TO THE UNION: 1821

ORIGIN OF STATE NAME: Named after Missouri Indian tribe whose name means "town of the large canoes"

COUNTIES: 114

STATE MOTTO: Salus populi suprema lex esto (The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law)

1845 PREAMBLE: We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness, establish this Constitution...

ADDRESS:  201 W Capitol Ave, Jefferson City, MO 65101
     
         
         
         
         
         
         
        
       
     
     
       

Robert Deering
At the Missouri State Line
Photo: Ferdie Deering 1950
Robert & Cheryl Deering
In at the Missouri State Capitol
Photo: Ferdie Deering 1950
Robert & Cheryl Deering
In at the Missouri State Capitol
Photo: Ferdie Deering 1950
 


Old Capitol Building

St. Charles
 
     
 
   
Completed: 1821
Architect:
Stock Photo
Before Missouri was granted statehood on August 10, 1821, various locations in St. Louis has served as the seat of government for territorial affairs. Until the new Capitol could be constructed on an undeveloped tract of land located in the center of the state overlooking the Missouri River, several cities vied for the honor of hosting the temporary seat of government. The citizens of St. Charles, located on the Missouri River at the end of Boonslick Road, pledged free meeting space if their city was choosen.

The meeting place for the state legistators was provided on the second floor of a Federal-style brick building, owned by merchants, Charles and Ruluff Peck, and a craftsman named Chauncey Shepard. The floor was divided and used as Senate and House chambers, an office for the governor, and a small committee room.  The building served as Missouri's first State Capitol from 1821 to 1826. 

After years of decay, the state of Missouri bought the Capitol complex in 1961 and began a ten-year restoration project that initiated the revitalization of the historic core of St. Charles. Eleven rooms in the complex have been restored. The Peck brothers' residence and general store also have been restored and furnished as they might have looked in the mid-1800s.
ADDRESS: 200 S. Main, St. Charles, Missouri