27-05-2025
A ghost in a painting, secret tunnels and fossils in the stairs: Readers share favorite Wisconsin Capitol lore
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently asked readers for their favorite stories or parts of the state Capitol, and you delivered some interesting tidbits of history.
We checked in with the state Capitol tour desk, and took a look around the Capitol ourselves, to learn more about each piece of lore. Here are the highlights of the reader survey.
Edwin Blashfield painted the large mural at the front of the Assembly, where 99 lawmakers meet to vote on bills. Blashfield was asked to add a Wisconsin symbol to the painting, so he added a badger.
But Blashfield felt something needed to be removed, so he painted out a Civil War soldier. As time passed and the mural was cleaned, the soldier became more visible, according to the Assembly Sargeant at Arms.
Right below the ghostly mural sits Old Abe, the mascot of the 8th Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War.
Old Abe "became famous for spreading his wings and shrieking at appropriate moments" during battles, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
But the current bald eagle isn't the original.
After Old Abe survived the war, a keeper took take care of him in the Capitol basement. In 1881, paints and oils kept in a room near Old Abe caught fire. The eagle inhaled smoke and died about a month later.
His body was stuffed and displayed in the Capitol, but he was lost in the 1904 fire that destroyed much of the building.
According to a display about Old Abe in the first-floor rotunda, legend has it a farmer found a dead eagle in his field and offered it to the state as a replacement for Old Abe.
More: Stories behind Wisconsin's four capitol buildings include pigs, destructive fires and Iowa
If you look closely, the marbles, granites and limestones that make up the Capitol interior have some fascinating fossils embedded in them.
That includes a starfish found on the staircase between the first and second floor of the North Wing. If you go up the stairs into the North Hearing Room, you can see shell-shaped fossils along the walls.
A badger statue, made from melted-down cannons from the Spanish-American War, sits outside the governor's office. His nose has gotten a little worn down — visitors rub it for good luck.
The U.S. Naval Academy Museum originally lent the statue to the state and asked for it back in 2020 for use in another museum. State officials balked, according to the Associated Press, and the Navy extended the loan for 50 more years.
While walking around on the second floor, you'll see glass panels built around the stonework.
That design was meant to help natural light flow from the skylights and into the bottom floors of the building. Some of the skylights feature intricate stained glass, including a 28-foot design on the ceiling of the Senate chamber.
More: Why did Wisconsin's capital move from Belmont to Madison? Corruption, land and lobbying
A reader mentioned tunnels from the Capitol to Lake Mendota or Monona used by the National Guard during Vietnam War protests in the 1970s.
We weren't able to verify those specifics, but a tour guide did confirm there are tunnels that lead across the street, likely connected to power plants.
Republican senators were led out of the Capitol through the tunnels during the Act 10 protests in 2011, with the help of Capitol police. Former Gov. Scott Walker also used the tunnels during the protests.
There is a small museum on the top floor of the Capitol, where visitors can read displays about the building's history and see artifacts. Within the circular hallway is the trumpeter's ring, which offers a birds-eye view of the dome.
More: An annual ornament helps fund projects at the state Capitol. Here's how it got started.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: From a ghost to Old Abe, readers share best lore about state Capitol
