Built: 1895-1904 Cost: $3,018,416.33 Designed by: McKim, Mead and White Type: Government Building Maximum Height: 333 feet / 101 meters Maximum width: 189 feet / 58 meters Maximum length: 235 feet / 72 meters Location: Smith Hill, Providence, United States
W hile Rhode Island is the smallest of the American states, its capitol building can stand with the best of them. It is the usual shape for most of the American capitols -- a long rectangle box with a dome on a barrel in the middle. While adopting this traditional form may seem boring compared to what has been done in places like Baton Rouge and Nebraska, It helps establish one of the subtle reminders that Rhode Island is a fiercely independent state and not just a suburb of Boston. In fact, only the capitol of Minnesota has a larger marble dome. Inside Rhode Island’s dome are murals painted by Giorgio DeFelice depicting Commerce, Education, Justice, and Literature. The dome also features a mural by James A. King showing the colonization of Providence Plantations by Roger Williams. At the top of the dome is a bronze statue of "Independent Man" -- a symbol of the colony’s spirit and freedom granted by King Charles II. It was Charles’ decree in the Royal Charter of 1663 that established Rhode Island as a tolerant place, and that document was used as the state’s constitution until 1843. The original document is kept in a vault near the senate chamber.
The capitol is made from 327,000 cubic feet of white Georgia marble, plus 15,000,000 bricks, and 1,309 tons of iron beams.
Like the Texas state capitol, there is a copy of the state seal in the rotunda floor. Unlike the Texas capitol, Rhode Island does not like when visitors walk on it.
Only three other buildings in the world have larger self-supporting marble domes: Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Holy See, The Minnesota state capitol in Saint Paul, and the Taj Mahal in India.
Inside the dome is an inscription in Latin which translates to "Rare felicity of the times when it is permitted to think what you like and say what you think."
"Independent Man" is 14 feet tall, and weighs 500 pounds.
15 October, 1895 - A time capsule is sealed inside the cornerstone of the capitol.
