Kansas State Capitol

Kansas State Capitol
The Statehouse, in 2024
Kansas State Capitol is located in Kansas
Kansas State Capitol
Kansas State Capitol is located in the United States
Kansas State Capitol
LocationSW 8th & SW Van Buren,
Topeka, Kansas
Coordinates39°2′53″N 95°40′41″W / 39.04806°N 95.67806°W / 39.04806; -95.67806
Area20 acres (8.1 ha)
Built1866–1903
ArchitectE. Townsend Mix
Architectural styleFrench Renaissance
NRHP reference No.71000330[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 3, 1971
Aerial view of the Capitol building.

The Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in the city of Topeka, which has served as the capital of Kansas since the territory became a state in 1861, the building is the second to serve as the Kansas Capitol.[2][failed verification] During the territorial period (1854–1861), an earlier capitol building was begun but not completed in Lecompton, Kansas, and smaller structures in Lecompton and Topeka were where the territorial legislatures met (see Capitols of Kansas).

The dome, at 304 ft (93 m), is taller than the 288 ft (88 m) United States Capitol dome, although its diameter (50 ft (15 m)) is approximately half that of the national capitol (96 ft (29 m)). It is one of the few capitols in the United States that continues to offer tours that go to the top of the dome.[3] Visitors enter the dome by climbing 296 steps leading from the fifth floor to the top.[4]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ "Kansas State Capitol - Timeline". Kansas State Historical Society. April 2011. Archived from the original on 2015-12-21. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  3. ^ "Kansas State Capitol Building". KansasPhotoTour.com. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  4. ^ "Kansas State Capitol online tour". Kansas State Historical Society. Retrieved 2009-04-06.