Image
The "Old Capitol" Building, Harrisburg, PA, circa 1896
Credit: The Historical Society of Dauphin County
Completed in 1822, the "Old Capital" building in Harrisburg burned to the ground in February 2, 1897. A new utilitarian brick building, nicknamed, "the sugar factory" and "the barn" because of its generic industrial design, then served as a temporary quarters for state government until opening the lavish new state capital in 1906.