Virginia State Capitol

Virginia State Capitol
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Virginia Landmarks Register
The Virginia State Capitol Building in June 2003.
Location	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Built	1785
Architect	Thomas Jefferson; Charles-Louis Clérisseau
Architectural style	Early Republic, Palladian
NRHP Reference #	66000911
VLR #	127-0002
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	December 19, 1960
Designated VLR	November 5, 1968

The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. It houses the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, 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. Although it was completed in 1788 and is 228 years old as of 2016, the current Capitol is the eighth built to serve as Virginia's state house, primarily due to fires during the Colonial period. In the early 20th century, two wings were added, leading to its present appearance. In 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.

During the American Colonial period, 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 first Representative Legislative Assembly convened on July 30, 1619 at the Jamestown Church which served as the first Capitol.

With the decision to relocate the government inland to Williamsburg in 1699, a grand new Capitol building was completed in November 1705. Nearby was the grand Governor's Palace. It burned in 1747 and was replaced in 1753.

On June 29, 1776, Virginians declared their independence from Great Britain and wrote the state's first constitution, thereby creating an independent government four days before Congress voted for the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4.