The First Capitol

Congress established the Wisconsin Territory on April 20, 1836, from the present states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and the eastern halves of North and South Dakota, and President Andrew Jackson immediately signed the bill and soon nominated Henry Dodge as governor. Dodge ordered a census, assigned legislative seats among the territory's six counties of Iowa, Brown, Crawford, Milwaukee, Des Moines, and Dubuque, and called the elected members to meet in Belmont in Iowa County. The first legislature of Wisconsin Territory met there from October 25 to December 9, 1836, with thirty-nine men gathering in the Council House by day and sharing a single lodging house by night. During its forty-six-day session, the legislature organized the territory's government and judiciary, laying the foundation for the future state of Wisconsin. At Belmont, the legislature selected Madison as the capital of Wisconsin Territory and agreed to meet in Burlington, Iowa, until 1839; although legislatures met in capitol buildings at both Belmont and Burlington, neither place was ever officially designated as a capital or seat of government, leaving Madison as Wisconsin's only capital in its history.

Belmont, Wisconsin · United States