The Pennsylvania State Capitol - Commonwealth Treasure
Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission declares the Pennsylvania State Capitol a Commonwealth Treasure For all to protect and preserve as a vital architectural and artistic monument to government by and for all Pennsylvanians
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Dedicated in 1906, the Pennsylvania State Capitol was hailed by President Theodore Roosevelt as 'the handsomest building I ever saw.' Designed in an Italian Renaissance style and crowned by a dome inspired by St. Peter's in Rome, its interior is a showcase of murals, tile floors, and sculpture by leading American artists of the era. The Commonwealth Treasure designation honors it as both an artistic achievement and the working seat of Pennsylvania's government.
Why it matters
The Capitol embodies the Progressive Era's civic ambition—the belief that a democratic government deserved architecture and art worthy of the people it served.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Susquehanna Township, PA · est. 2016
Just after the Civil War, Pennsylvania's rivers were being fouled by industrial pollution and blocked by dams that cut off the migrating fish that once filled them. In 1866 Governor Andrew Curtin signed a law creating a state commission to restore those waters and fisheries, among the earliest such bodies in the nation. From hatcheries to habitat protection and law enforcement, the agency grew into a model that other states and federal programs would follow.
Daniel Drawbaugh
Lower Allen Township, PA · est. 1965
Daniel Drawbaugh, born in this village in 1827, was a self-taught mechanic who claimed to have devised a working telephone and sought a patent in 1880. Bell Telephone contested his claims, and in 1888 the courts decided in Bell's favor, leaving Drawbaugh a fascinating footnote in the contested history of the telephone. He worked on his inventions here until moving to nearby Camp Hill in 1904, where he died in 1911.
Henszey's Wrought Iron Arch Bridge
East Pennsboro Township, PA · est. 2004
Patented in 1869 by Joseph G. Henszey and built the same year by Philadelphia's Continental Bridge Co., this wrought iron bowstring arch truss is an early survivor of the bridge-building boom that followed the Civil War. It first carried traffic over Trout Creek in Slatington, was relocated in 1900 to span Ontelaunee Creek, and in 2002 moved again to Summerdale to carry pedestrians. Few of its kind remain.
Three Mile Island Historical Marker
Londonderry Township, PA
On March 28, 1979, a combination of equipment failures and human error at Three Mile Island's Unit 2 reactor triggered the worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history. Over several tense days radiation escaped, part of the reactor core melted down, and thousands of nearby residents fled their homes. The crisis gripped the nation and became a defining moment in the debate over atomic energy.