Nebraska State Capitol

By the 1920s, most American statehouses looked much alike, low buildings topped by classical domes in imitation of the national Capitol. When Nebraska decided to replace its old statehouse, it held a national design competition, and the winning plan by architect Bertram Goodhue threw out that formula entirely in favor of a tall, spare tower rising from a broad base, a design more like a great tower than a traditional capitol.

Built over roughly a decade beginning in the 1920s, the tower reaches some 400 feet and dominates the Lincoln skyline and the surrounding plains. Its Art Deco lines were startlingly modern for a statehouse, and the building was influential and admired from the start. It remains one of the most original and celebrated pieces of public architecture in the country, and Nebraskans are justly proud of it.

Atop the tower stands The Sower, a bronze figure of a farmer casting seed by hand, a fitting crown for the capitol of a great agricultural state. The whole building is dense with such meaning. Its art and inscriptions were planned as a unified program celebrating the land, the law, and the people, so that walking through it is like reading a book written in marble and bronze.

Inside, the floors, walls, and ceilings carry murals and mosaics depicting Nebraska's natural history, its Native peoples, the pioneers, and the ideals of good government. Much of the finest work is overhead, in glittering domed ceilings, so visitors are advised to keep looking up. A guided tour draws out the symbolism that a casual walk-through would miss entirely.

The Capitol's art tells the story of Nebraska from the deep past forward, including the Native nations who lived here long before statehood. The Omaha, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe-Missouria, and other peoples of the eastern plains, along with the Lakota and Cheyenne of the west, made this land their home for centuries, and the building's murals and inscriptions acknowledge that long presence alongside the settlement era.

These nations remain living peoples today, several with homelands and reservations in Nebraska. Reading the Capitol's symbolism with that in mind gives its celebration of the state a fuller and more honest dimension, one that sets the pioneer story within the far older human history of the plains.

The Capitol is open to the public, and free guided tours help visitors understand the art, history, and workings of the building. Because it is a functioning seat of government, the legislature and state offices go about their business inside, and visitors are asked to be respectful of that activity as they explore the public spaces.

High in the tower, an observation level rewards the climb, or rather the elevator ride, with a sweeping view over Lincoln and the surrounding plains, a chance to appreciate both the building's height and the flat immensity it presides over. Set within an easy walk of downtown Lincoln and the University of Nebraska, the Capitol makes a natural centerpiece for a day in the capital city.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.