For almost two decades, Idaho's territorial government was housed in various private buildings around downtown Boise. After failed efforts to get the federal government to fund a capitol building, the territorial legislature finally agreed in 1885 to appropriate $80,000 for a territorial capitol and $20,000 for an insane asylum at Blackfoot.
Four Boise businessmen oversaw the capitol project, from selecting an architect to hiring subcontractors and purchasing chandeliers in Chicago that would accommodate both gas and electric lighting. Construction began in the summer of 1906, after a superintendent was hired. The major external construction material was sandstone, obtained from a quarry on Table Rock just east of Boise that the state purchased for use on the capitol. Labor in cutting and moving the stone came from inmates at the state penitentiary, which was just below the quarry. The capitol's central section was completed late in 1912, and offices were moved over at that time. The 1913 inauguration of Gov. John M. Haines was held in the new building. Tourtellotte and Hummel-successor to the original firm-had already been awarded a contract to design east and west wings. Their construction began in1919; the whole capitol was completed by the end of 1920.
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