Project on Capitol construction takes researchers around the state

“Who Built Our Capitol?” is a project of the Labor Education Service at the University of Minnesota. For the past three years, a team assembled by LES staff member Randy Croce has been researching the workers and contractors involved in the Capitol construction from 1896-1907.

The initial stage of the project, to be completed in the next few months, will result in a video documentary and website. Later, the team hopes to create a school curriculum based on the material.

What do Kasota, St. Cloud and Winona have to do with the Capitol? All were important sources of material for the building. In addition, workers came from all over the state – indeed, from all over the world.

“This program is bringing to light not only the stories of the stonecutters, carpenters, sheet metal workers and other trades who worked on the Capitol site, but the contributions made by companies and workers throughout the state,” noted Croce.

“We have done research, conducted interviews and shot video in areas that supplied the stone for the Capitol as well as following the railroad workers and teamsters who transported the materials to the construction site.”

Workers quarry stone for construction of the Minnesota state Capitol. Photo courtesy of the Winona Historical Society

Steinbauer Quarry (now Biesanz Stone) of Winona supplied the limestone for the foundations of the Capitol. Today, the walls of the Security office in the basement of the Capitol building provide the best place to see this stone.

The source of the stone for the rest of the Capitol building was a major controversy. Architect Cass Gilbert, schooled in Europe, wanted the luminous white of marble, and favored stone from Georgia. Minnesota businesses and labor, in general, argued that the statehouse should be built entirely with Minnesota materials to boost jobs and the economy of the state.

The final compromise called for marble to cover the upper portions of the building and Minnesota granite to be used for the basement and steps of the structure. The marble was brought from Pickens County, Georgia. Most of the granite came from a quarry located between St. Joseph and Waite Park, just west of St. Cloud.

Columns inside the rotunda were shaped and finished by a huge lathe run by the Rockville Granite Company (now Cold Spring Granite) using granite quarried in Rockville, as well as from Ortonville in western Minnesota.

A narrow strip of reddish stone circling the inside of the rotunda came from Pipestone, the place where Native Americans have obtained the material for ceremonial pipes and other carvings for centuries. Sandstone, cut from pits in what is now Banning State Park, just off I-35 near Sandstone, supports the base of the Capitol’s dome. Kilns in Chaska supplied over two million buff-colored bricks for the basement walls.

Most of the interior walls are faced with limestone quarried in Kasota by the Babcock and Wilcox Company. The popularity of the warm-colored rock has grown and is seen today in countless Minnesota locations, including the WCCO building in downtown Minneapolis and Target Field, as well as internationally. Today, the quarries are operated by Vetter Stone of Mankato.

In the Capitol’s interior, stone from Minnesota is augmented by more than 30 other decorative types that originate from all over the world, including France, Greece, Italy and Namibia. All of the stone made its way to St. Paul by railroad and was hauled the last leg of its journey up the hill to the construction site by horse-drawn wagons, directed by teamsters.

The workers who cut, shaped and placed the Capitol’s stone and brick likewise came from all over the world. The vast majority of the statehouse builders came from outside of Minnesota and most were born abroad. These hundreds of workers, skilled in dozens of trades, raised the architectural treasure that still serves as the public focal point of our state.

Croce noted that numerous people have contributed information for the project, including:

• Bob Bambenek, Winona County Recorder and Nancy Johnson, Deputy Recorder
• Walt Bennick and Andy Bloedorn, Winona County Historical Society archivists
• Kathy Burns, Society Coordinator, Le Sueur County Historical Society
• City of Chaska Historic Preservation Commission
• Mimi Jo Hill Butler, Linda W. Geiger and Ruth Wall, Marble Valley Historical Society, Jasper, GA
• Fred Danner – photographs and documents on the history of the Kasota area
• John Decker, Asst. Director Of Archives, Stearns County History Museum

• Sharon Jenson, Community Relations Director, Cold Spring Granite Company
• Ginny Lackovic, HGA Architects and Engineers

• Darrell Stahlecker, President, Biesanz Stone
• Pete Theismann and Chuck Wocken, Operations Coordinators, Quarry Park, Stearns County
• Howard Vetter, Chairman and Jim Vetter, Manager, Vetter Stone, Mankato

The project received a major grant from the State of Minnesota through the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the Minnesota Historical Society. Significant funding also has been provided by:

• Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation
• Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota

• Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1
• North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters
• Education Minnesota Foundation
• International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49
• Sheet Metal Workers Local 10
• Teamsters Joint Council 32

For more information, contact project director Randy Croce by e-mail or phone, 612-625-5546.