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Overview

From 1849 through 1851, the California State Legislature met in a two-floor adobe building in the hamlet of San Jose; legislators were not happy with the amenities that San Jose offered and, knowing this, General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1807-1890) offered 156 acres to the State of CA in 1850 if it would relocate the capitol to his property in Solano County. This building in Vallejo, CA, served as the third State Capitol of CA, hosting the CA State Legislature during its 01/1852 session. The legislature met here for a week, 01/05/1852 until 01/12/1852. It met here once again the following year, 01/03/1853 - 02/04/1853, but the legislators still found the accommodations lacking and took up the offer of the nearby Solano County town of Benicia to meet in its newly constructed city hall between 02/11/1853 and 02/25/1854.

Building Notes

The Vallejo California State Capitol was rectangular, wood-frame building with two stories covered by a simple gable roof. Set on high foundations, the main entry stood up a flight of stairs on one of the short sides of the building. This front facade had a fenestration consisting of three double-hung windows on the second floor and a central front door flanked by double-hung windows on the first. One long facade had an arrangement of 8 windows on the first and second floors. The basement floor on this long side had an alternating sequence of four doors and four windows.

A plaque has marked the site of the Vallejo State Capitol since 09/09/1938, marking California Historic Landmark #574.

Demolition

Vallejo's State Capitol Building #3 burned on the morning of 08/20/1859, due to a volume of hay that was being stored in the cellar. A fire broke out in the basement and quickly engulfed the capitol; no organized fire-fighting group existed in Vallejo at the time to halt the blaze. The fire may have been set by a squatter who stayed in the building the previous night. (See Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, "Burning of the State Capitol," accessed 01/11/2017.)