Old News: Indiana's Statehouse gets its start

Driving the (old) news: About 6,000 people gathered on Sept. 28, 1880, to witness the Indiana Statehouse cornerstone being laid.

• Gov. James Williams presided, former Gov. Thomas Hendricks delivered the main address and Indianapolis poet Sarah Bolton read a poem written for the occasion.

• Workers placed a 10-ton block of limestone quarried in Spencer inscribed "A.D. 1880."
• Inside were 42 items, including government reports, a Bible, maps and newspapers, coins, a history of Indianapolis and 47 varieties of Indiana-grown cereal and vegetable seeds.

Zoom in: Indianapolis architect Edwin May won a Statehouse design competition in 1878 with a Renaissance Revival plan featuring a central dome and four wings.

• May died in February 1880, months before the cornerstone ceremony, so his chief draftsman Adolph Scherrer took over supervision.
• The building was designed with Indiana limestone and other local materials wherever possible, reinforcing its identity as a Hoosier civic landmark.

Between the lines: Construction was slowed by contractor disputes, lawsuits and difficulties moving large limestone slabs.

• It took eight years. The General Assembly began meeting in the unfinished building in January 1887 before the work was done in 1888.