This section of the website displays construction photographs that span the entire building of the Minnesota State Capitol Building 1896-1905 and most are used with the permission of Saint Paul architect Thomas Blanck. These images are excerpted from an album created for the Capitol Commission during the construction period. The Minnesota Historical Society acquired the entire album and displays all of the images chronologically (May 1896-Nov. 1905) on the Minnesota State Capitol website.  (NOTE: The scroll of photographs takes a while to load.)  The ceremonies marking the major milestones in building the statehouse - groundbreaking, laying of the cornerstone and grand opening of the building - are also included in chronological order with the construction photographs in this section.

The photographs on this site are organized by the following stages of the construction:


Pre Construction - the original land that the Capitol was built upon before the placement of heavy equipment and building supplies on the site

Ground Breaking - ceremony marking the beginning of construction in 1896

Foundation Work - the creation of the basement and building foundation

Cornerstone Laying - photographs showing the cornerstone ceremony in 1898

Intermediate Stages - the creation of the interior and exterior walls and associated structures

Dome Construction - the iron frame work and the Guastavino tile inside of the dome structures on the building.

Later Construction Stages -  work on the statehouse upper walls, roof and dome through the completion of most of the building in 1905, when the photograph album was completed. Installation of the Quadriga sculpture and work on the interior and grounds continued through 1907.

Statuary and Stone Sculpture- plaster models for stone ornamentation and statues for the building being sculpted and hoisted into place

The Dedication Ceremony and Parade-the activities surrounding the dedication of the Capitol building in 1905

Post Construction-Photographs of the Capitol after it's formal opening

TO SEE THESE PHOTOGRAPHS, CLICK ON THE CATEGORIES IN THE COLUMN TO THE LEFT