Pennsylvania State Capitol
Part 3: Capitol Park
Capitol Park was developed in 1916 after the Capitol was completed to extend the land area by condemning and purchasing the Old Eighth Ward, a residential and commercial district of primarily African American and immigrant families. This included the land area to each side and behind the capitol and then extending across to the planned Soldiers’ Grove to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Bridge on State Street. The 15 acre plan was designed by the architect Arnold Brunner and provided a layout that identified locations for the North and South Office Buildings on each side of the Veterans’ Memorial Fountain, and the Finance Building and Forum Building on each side of Soldiers’ Grove.
Arnold William Brunner, 1857 to 1925, was born in New York City and was educated in New York and Manchester England. He studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and apprenticed with George Post. He was successful with the design of many Temples and public buildings in a Romanesque architectural style. During his career he was part of the City Beautiful movement and known for making significant contributions to the city planning of Cleveland, Rochester, Albany, Baltimore, Denver, and Trenton.
The South Office Building is now referred to as the Speaker K. Leroy Irvis Office Building in honor of the first African American Speaker of the House in Pennsylvania, and the first for any state legislature in the country. The building was completed in 1921 by the architect Arnold W. Brunner in a Classical architectural style that blends with the capitol construction. The North Office Building was completed in 1929, in a similar design by Brunner.
The Pennsylvania War Veterans’ Memorial Fountain is a focal point for the plan designed by Brunner. It was completed in 1987 as part of the East Wing addition by Celli.
Looking northeast across the fountain from the East Wing is Soldiers’ Grove, with the Finance Building on the northwest side, and the Forum Building on the southeast side. The park is a tree lined quadrangle dedicated to honor Pennsylvania’s war veteran. Beyond the park is the entrance to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Bridge featuring its two massive obelisks on each side of the entrance.
The Finance Building was completed in 1930 in a Classical architectural style by Gehron and Ross. A frieze by sculptor C. P. Jennewein encircles the building with a series of medallions, symbolizing economic achievements, moral precepts, and citation for various cities in the Commonwealth.
On the north side of the building is a sculpture grouping by Lee Lawrie, which shows natural and produced products of the Commonwealth.
The Forum Building was completed in 1931, and includes the Pennsylvania State Library, the State Law Library, and an Auditorium. It was designed in a Classical architectural style by William Gehron and Sydney Ross, and the park side is similar in design to the Finance Building. The exterior includes the engraved names of numerous educators, philanthropists, and statesmen.
William Gehron, 1887 to 1958, was born in Williamsport Pennsylvania, and studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburg Pennsylvania, and in Europe. He opened a practice in New York with Arnold Brunner until Brunner died in 1925, and then partnered with Sydney Ross, and later with Gilbert Seltzer.
The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Bridge, also known as the State Street Bridge, displays two tall obelisks crowned with eagles guarding the entrance to the bridge and overlooking Soldiers’ Grove and Capitol Park. The bridge was completed in 1930 by Gehron and Ross, and the sculptor for the monumental eagles was Lee Lawrie.
Lee Oscar Lawrie, 1877 to 1963, was born in Rixdorf Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1882 where his family settled in Chicago. At a young age he began work with several sculptors preparing for the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. He then studied at the Yale School of Fine Arts, taught in the architecture program at Harvard University, and became a noted architectural sculptor.
Today the Capitol Park complex has been expanded to 45 acres with additional parks and public buildings in downtown Harrisburg. On the northwest side of the Capitol is the William Penn Museum, and on the southeast side is the Ryan Legislative Office Building.
The William Penn Museum, also known as the State Museum of Pennsylvania, and the adjacent Archives Tower, provide modern facilities for the storage and display of historical artifacts. It was completed in 1964 in a Modern architectural style by Lawrie and Green.
The Speaker Matthew J. Ryan Building was built in 1894, in an Italian Renaissance architectural style by John T. Windrim. The building was originally used for the Governor’s Offices, Executive Library and State Museum, but is used today for legislative offices.
Lawrie and Green was an architectural and engineering firm formed by engineer Ritchie Lawrie, 1890 to 1962, and architect M. Edwin Green, 1897 to 1985. Together they designed many public buildings in Pennsylvania including the William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives Building.
John T. Windrim, 1866 to 1934, was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania and studied with his father James Windrim, also an architect. He was known for his Classical and Beaux Arts architectural styles.
In the park area on the south side are four monuments, the Mexican War Monument, the Friedrich Wellington Ruckstuhl equestrian statue, the Boies Penrose memorial, and The Gathering at the Crossroads monument.
The Mexican War Monument is dedicated to those that lost their lives in the war with Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It features a Corinthian column crowned with an angel titled Victory, holding an American Flag. The monument was sculpted by Hamilton Alricks Jr. and built by John McFadden in 1868.
The Hartranft Statue is an equestrian statue featuring John Frederic Hartranft, 1830 to 1889, who served Pennsylvania as General and Governor, and is considered the father of the National Guard. The equestrian statue was sculpted by Friedrich Ruckstuhl in 1947.
Friedrich Wellington Ruckstuhl, 1853 to 1942, was born in Breitenbach Alsace France but grew up in Saint Louis Missouri. He studied art in Saint Louis and then at the Académie Julian in Paris. In 1892 he opened a studio in New York City and exhibited in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition gaining national exposure that led to future commissions and a teaching position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Schools.
The Penrose Statue honors Boies Penrose, 1860 to 1921, who served in the state house and senate and then as US Senator. His statue was sculpted by Samuel Murray in 1930.
Samuel Murray, 1869 to 1941, was born in Philadelphia and studied at the Art Students’ League of Philadelphia. He became an instructor of clay modeling and anatomy at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, now Moore College of Art, and a noted sculptor of many significant works.
The Gathering at the Crossroads monument was sculpted by Becky Ault, and honors the 8th Ward whose land became a part of the original Capitol Park, and the Constitution’s 15th and 19th amendments that secured the rights of African Americans and women. It features African American activist Thomas Morris Chester, Jacob T. Comptom, William Howard Day, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.
Becky Ault started the Art Design Group in 1998 and built an organization that includes their own foundry that is still in practice today in Lancaster Pennsylvania.
Travel Notes
I entered Harrisburg from the north on State Street for my first and third visits, and wow what a view. The Capitol as seen across the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Bridge is impressive and dramatic.
It was in November, and cold, but not as bad as the previous trip, so I was able to pick up some more photographs of the grounds, and a few more interior shots too. I traded in my Model 3 and travel in a Tesla Cybertruck now, which has proven to be a nice ride. Plus, it looks like a work of modern art, right?
This journey was the first where I started seeing other electric vehicles at the Tesla Superchargers, like this Chevy Bolt and Ford Lightning in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Cool!
Notes and References
There is so much more to see in the Pennsylvania State Capitol complex, and especially the interior with all the murals that I saw, and have yet to see. I hope to visit there again and provide some more updates to these stories, and in particular the stories in the murals by Violet Oakley. I feel like I have only scratched the surface of this beautiful Palace of Art.
Story and photographs by David Smitherman, with data collected from onsite inscriptions and brochures, Wikipedia, and Google Maps. Site visits were made in July 2020, November 2021, and November 2024.
The Old Eighth Ward: https://digitalharrisburg.com/exhibits/eighthward/
William Gehron: https://nationalacademy.emuseum.com/people/1305/william-gehron
Lawrie and Green: https://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/aaGuide/AA-MG-367.html
Landmarks of the Pennsylvania’s Capitol Complex: http://www.pacapitol.com/Resources/ViewFile.cfm?File=%2FResources%2FPDF%2FEducational%2FLandmarks%2Dof%2DPennsylvanias%2DCapitol%2DComplex%2Epdf
Speaker Matthew J. Ryan Building image is by Ruhrfisch on Wikimedia at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harrisburg_Mar_5_2010_086.jpg