The state Capitol in Lansing opened on Jan. 1, 1879.
At the dedication, Gov. Charles Croswell said it was “evidence of the lasting taste, spirit and enterprise” of Michigan’s citizenry. It was Michigan’s third Capitol.
Eight years earlier, Gov. Henry Baldwin had proposed building a new Capitol. Lansing had become the state capital in 1847; Detroit had served as Michigan’s seat of government for the first decade of statehood.
The price tag for the project was approximately $1.5 million, so painters made pine, plaster, tin and iron look like walnut woodwork and marble.
It was one of the first state capitols modeled after the then newly rehabbed U.S. Capitol.
For the full article, see Zlati Meyer, “This week in Michigan history: The Capitol opens”, Detroit Free Press, December 29, 2013.
Stefani Chudnow, “The Lion of Lansing: A Brief History of Michigan’s Capitol Building“, Awesome Mitten Blog, March 28, 2017.