Virginia State Capitol
state capitol building of the U.S. state of Virginia
The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the state capital. It houses the oldest elected legislative body in North America, the Virginia General Assembly, first established as the House of Burgesses in 1619.
The Capitol was conceived of by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau in France, based on the Maison Carrée in Nîmes. Construction began in 1785 and was completed in 1788. The current Capitol is the eighth built to serve as Virginia's statehouse, primarily due to fires during the American colonial period. The building also served as the capitol of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865. In the early 20th century, two wings were added, leading to its present appearance. In 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
History
Colonial precursors in Jamestown and Williamsburg
During the American colonial era, the Colony of Virginia's first capital was Jamestown, where the first legislative body, the Virginia House of Burgesses, met in 1619. The new government used four state houses at different times at Jamestown due to fires.
The public source identifies “Virginia State Capitol” as state capitol building of the U.S. state of Virginia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Virginia, State and Capitol.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Virginia State Capitol”, the useful work is to connect “state capitol building of the U.S. state of Virginia” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2537798. VIAF identifies the subject as 172268978. Authority coordinates are 37.539, -77.434. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1619, 1785, 1788 and 1861.
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How to read it
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Virginia State Capitol” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.