Old Brick Capitol
Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The first State Capitol on this site was designed and built by Stephen Hills, 1819-1821. It was first occupied by the Legislature on January 2, 1822, and was used until destroyed by fire, February 2, 1897.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
After Harrisburg became Pennsylvania's capital, the state needed a proper home for its government. Architect Stephen Hills designed and built the first State Capitol here between 1819 and 1821, and lawmakers first gathered inside on January 2, 1822. The dignified brick statehouse served the commonwealth for three-quarters of a century until fire destroyed it in February 1897.
Why it matters
This vanished statehouse was the seat of one of the young nation's most powerful states through decades of dramatic growth and the Civil War era.
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Related people
- · Stephen Hills
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
John Harris' Gift
Harrisburg, PA · est. 1953
John Harris, whose ferry and trading post gave Harrisburg its start, laid out the town in the 1780s on the Susquehanna's east bank. In 1785 he set aside a four-acre parcel — today part of Capitol Park — to be held in trust for public use. A generation later, in 1810, the legislature accepted the gift and chose the growing river town as Pennsylvania's capital.
Presidential Convention
Harrisburg, PA · est. 1953
In December 1839, the young Whig Party gathered in this Harrisburg church to choose its national ticket. Passing over Henry Clay, the delegates nominated William Henry Harrison — celebrated frontier and military hero — for president, with John Tyler of Virginia for vice-president. Their rollicking 1840 "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" campaign, all log cabins and hard cider, swept them into office.
Old Salem Church
Harrisburg, PA · est. 1968
When John Harris's settlement at the Susquehanna crossing was still a scattering of cabins, its first congregation gathered in a log meeting house raised in 1787 — the earliest church in what would become Pennsylvania's capital. Land set aside for worship by the Harris family anchored the community, and by 1822 a permanent brick sanctuary had replaced the logs. The marker traces the young town's spiritual and civic roots in the decades just after independence.
Paxtang Manor
Harrisburg, PA · est. 1953
In 1732, colonial surveyors mapped out a sprawling 1,272-acre tract along the Susquehanna for Thomas Penn, son of Pennsylvania founder William Penn, naming it Paxtang Manor. The proprietary Penn family reserved such "manors" as their private holdings across the province. In 1760 the land passed to three settlers — Thomas Simpson, Thomas Forster, and Thomas McKee — and today forms part of Harrisburg.