The Connecticut state capitol building dominates a high point of ground overlooking Bushnell Park – property on which once stood Washington College (now Trinity College). When Hartford won out over New Haven as the seat of state government (a title that had vacillated between the two towns since 1701), a commission was established to secure a site and select an architect to design a monumental structure that would symbolize the wealth and power of the state and its ties to its European cultural past.

Designed by Richard Michell Upjohn in 1874, it serves as both monument and seat of state government. The original design submitted in a competition for the structure called for a Modern Secular Gothic brick building with a clock tower, in keeping with not only the $900,000 budget allotted for the structure, but for the popular English public architecture of the day. The clock tower concept met with resistance by the Board of Capitol Commissioners, who preferred a dome to a tower. The budget to build the capitol was increased to $2.5 million and Upjohn redesigned the structure in the High Victorian Gothic style to accommodate the wishes of the commission.

The State capitol building originally contained not only the senate, house and offices for legislative committees and commissions, but the State Supreme Court and State Library as well. A three-story granite building stood in the rear of the State Capitol building that contained the post office, U.S. courthouse and Customs.

On the grounds of the capitol building are a number of monuments that pay tribute to figures in the state's history.

If you can't get to Hartford, you can take a virtual tour.