View source for Delaware Legislative Hall

{{short description|State capitol building of the U.S. state of Delaware}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2012}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox building
|name             = Delaware Legislative Hall
|image            = 2022-07-20 08 03 40 The east side of the Delaware Legislative Hall (Delaware Capitol Building) in Dover, Kent County, Delaware.jpg
|caption          = The [[Delaware General Assembly]] meets in the Legislative Hall in [[Dover, Delaware|Dover]], built 1931-1933, with wings added 1965-1970, 1994.
|coordinates      = {{coord|39.157307|-75.519722|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|style            = [[Colonial Revival architecture|Colonial Revival]]
|location         = 411 Legislative Avenue<br/>{{nowrap|[[Dover, Delaware|Dover]], [[Delaware]]}},<br/>[[United States]]
|client           = [[State of Delaware]]
|owner            = State of Delaware
|floor_area       = 
|height           = 
|start_date       = {{Start date and age| 1931}}
|completion_date  = {{Start date and age| 1933}}
|inauguration_date = 
|cost             =
|architect        = [[E. William Martin]]; [[Norman M. Isham]]
}}
The '''Delaware Legislative Hall''' is the [[List of state capitols in the United States|state capitol building]] of [[Delaware]]. Located in the [[List of capitals in the United States|state capital]] city of [[Dover, Delaware|Dover]] on Legislative Avenue, it houses the chambers and offices of the [[Delaware General Assembly]].  It was designed in the [[Colonial Revival architecture]] style by [[E. William Martin]] and [[Norman M. Isham]], and built 1931–1933, with wings added in 1965–1970 and 1994.<ref name=archipedia />

==Architects==
The building was built of red brick with white wooden trim, designed in the [[Colonial Revival architecture|Colonial Revival]] style by [[E. William Martin]] and [[Norman M. Isham]], under the direction of the State Buildings and Grounds Commission, created by Governor [[C. Douglass Buck]] in 1931 during the [[Great Depression]]. Initially the commission was awarded to Isham, but his appointment was protested by Alfred Victor Du Pont (on the grounds that Isham was not a resident of Delaware); therefore, local architect Martin was brought in.<ref name=archipedia /> The influence of Isham is clear when one notes the resemblance of many architectural details to [[Old Colony House]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]], a building which Isham had also restored in 1932.<ref name=archipedia />

==History and structure==
===Old State House===
{{main|Old State House (Dover, Delaware)}}
The original capitol of Delaware was the '''State House''' (now known as the '''Old State House'''), located on The Green in Dover. It was commissioned originally by [[Kent County, Delaware|Kent County]] as the Kent County Court House, and was constructed from 1787 to 1791, when it became the State House. Kent County and the state government shared the building until 1873, when the Kent County government relocated. The State House was used until the completion of Legislative Hall.

Today, the Old State House has been [[Building restoration|restored]] to its 18th-century appearance and is now a [[museum]] that includes the site of a former [[courtroom]] and the former chambers of the state legislature. The House chamber contains portraits by [[Thomas Sully]] of Commodore [[Jacob Jones (naval officer)|Jacob Jones]] and Commodore [[Thomas Macdonough]], of the [[United States Navy]], Delaware heroes who served in the [[Barbary Wars]] and the [[War of 1812]].

===Legislative Hall===
Legislative Hall is opposite the Old State House on the mall. The structure was completed and dedicated in 1933. From 1965 to 1970, flanking north and south wings were added on the sides of the building, giving each member of the Assembly an office in addition to a desk in one of the legislative chambers. The architect George Fletcher Bennet of Dover designed the expansion.

Two more wings, providing more office space for legislators and staff as well as hearing and caucus rooms, were added to the east side / rear of the building in 1994. This expansion was designed by the [[Wilmington, Delaware|Wilmington]]-based firm The Architects Studio. In addition, the entire interior of Legislative Hall was renovated in a three-phase project during the next three years during the summers of 1995, 1996 and 1997, including refurbishment of both the House and Senate chambers as well as the lobby, cafeteria, and many offices. This project was designed by the Wilmington firm [[Moeckel Carbonell Associates]].

In addition to the chambers of the [[Delaware House of Representatives]] and [[Delaware Senate|Senate]], the Legislative Hall also includes space used by the General Assembly's two nonpartisan staff agencies, the Division of Research and the Office of the Controller General, as well as offices for the [[Governor of Delaware|Governor]] and [[Lieutenant Governor of Delaware|Lieutenant Governor]] while the General Assembly is in [[Legislative session|session]].

Legislative Hall is the home of the Hall of Governors, which includes portraits of all but one of Delaware's past governors. The building also houses other portraits, including of political and military figures such as [[James Frank Allee]], [[James A. Bayard (elder)|James A. Bayard the elder]], [[Bradford B. Barnes]], [[James A. Bayard Jr.]], [[Henry Clay Conrad]], [[Richard S. Cordrey]], [[Samuel Francis Du Pont]], [[Vera Gilbride Davis]], [[J. Allen Frear, Jr.]], [[Herman Holloway Sr.]], [[Calvin R. McCullough]], [[Eli Saulsbury]], [[John Wales]], [[John Jay Williams]], [[Presley Spruance]], [[Willard Saulsbury, Sr.]], and [[Willard Saulsbury, Jr.]]

== See also ==
*[[Delaware lunar sample displays]]
*[[List of state and territorial capitols in the United States]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=archipedia>{{cite web|title=Legislative Hall (State Legislative Building)|url=http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/DE-01-DV16|website=Archipedia|publisher=Society of Architectural Historians|access-date=3 December 2015}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Delaware Legislative Hall}}
*[http://www.state.de.us/research/Tour/default.shtml Delaware Legislative Hall]
*[http://history.delaware.gov/museums/sh/sh_main.shtml State House Museum] ({{coord|39.156473|-75.522864|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline}})

{{Delaware}}
{{US State Capitols}}

[[Category:Government buildings in Delaware]]
[[Category:Government of Delaware]]
[[Category:State capitols in the United States]]
[[Category:Museums in Dover, Delaware]]
[[Category:History museums in Delaware]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Dover, Delaware]]
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1933]]