New Jersey State House

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A view of the west side of the State House, facing the Delaware River.

The New Jersey State House is located in Trenton and is the seat of government for the U.S. state of New Jersey. After the Maryland State Capitol in Annapolis, it is the second oldest state house in continuous legislative use in the United States. The building is currently home to the New Jersey Senate, New Jersey General Assembly, as well as offices for the Governor of New Jersey and several state government departments.

1 History
- 1.1 Renovation
2 Design
3 External links

[edit] History

After the New Jersey Legislature was moved to Trenton from Perth Amboy in 1790, a new state house was constructed in 1792 by Philadelphia-based architect Jonathan Doane. Subsequent additions were made to the building throughout the 19th century. Architects who helped to contribute to the New Jersey State House in the 19th century include John Notman (1845 created office wing on North side) who was a Philadelphia architect and Samuel Sloan (1871 designed new wings) who was also a Philadelphia architect. On March 21, 1885, a large fire caused the destruction of the State Street wing. Lewis Broome, from Jersey City helped to redesign the building.

Merchantville architect Arnold Moses reconstructed the Senate wing to fit the American Renaissance style.

The state house reached its present size in 1911, and received no major changes besides the modernization of the main corridor in 1950. A plan was called for to destroy the building in 1960, but was never executed.

[edit] Renovation

Starting in 1987, a renovation project occurred with the New Jersey State House. The renovation project helped to restore the legislative section of the building. It also worked on the issues of several deficiencies of the State House. The name of the campaign was named Dimes for the Dome. A school in Millburn, New Jersey donated more than 2,000 dollars for this foundation to put gold leafing on the dome.

[edit] Design

The New Jersey State House is unusual among state capitol buildings in the United States, the majority of which are modelled in one way or another after the United States Capitol Building. The building is shaped like a sideways H, with a golden dome over the cross-bar of the H and with a long wing extending west towards the Delaware River. To the rear of the building, a number of architecturally dissimilar, unusually-shaped additions have been added, which were later subject to attempts at renovation in order to match the style of the original wing. The State House is set not on a park-like campus, as are many state houses, rather it is integrated into an urban setting along historic State Street and is the focal point for numerous other legislative buildings in the area. The most scenic view the building affords is from the west, near the Delaware River, which is the side dominated by the quilt of additions. Viewed from the front on State Street, the dome is scarcely visible and there is little sense of the scale or design of the building. The current Office of the Governor section in the complex occupies the remaining portion of the original 1792 State House. The governor at the time of New Jersey is Jon S. Corzine.