North Dakota State Capitol

The North Dakota State Capitol is unlike any other state capitol in the United States. Most state capitols are domed neoclassical buildings modelled on the US Capitol in Washington; North Dakota's is a 19-storey Art Deco skyscraper, the tallest building in the state, rising improbably from the flat prairie of the Missouri plateau. It is known locally as the "Skyscraper of the Prairie," and the nickname fits perfectly.

Built in 1934, the building is faced in limestone and black granite, with the tower rising from a low horizontal base that houses the legislative chambers. The observation deck at the top offers a panoramic view of Bismarck, the Missouri River, and the surrounding plains that stretches for miles in every direction on a clear day. Tours of the building, including the legislative chambers and the memorial hall, are available when the legislature is not in session. The adjacent Governor's Mansion, a handsome Victorian house from 1893, is open for tours and provides a strong historical contrast with the modernist tower behind it.

Free admission. The grounds are pleasant and include war memorials and sculptures.

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A story
The "Skyscraper of the Prairie" was built between 1932 and 1934 during the Great Depression — an audacious choice of style and scale for a state that was suffering one of its worst economic periods. The original capitol had burned down in 1930. Legislators considered building a modest replacement but instead commissioned one of the most distinctive state capitols in the country, a 19-storey modernist tower at a time when most people in North Dakota were struggling to keep their farms.

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