The Capitol Rotunda has always been a place where townspeople, legislators, government employees, and lobbyists have met and interacted, as this gathering photographed by Andreas Dahl during the 1870s illustrates. SHSW WHi(X3)25330

Monday. . .witnessed the arrival of a large number of the Members, and by Tuesday night they were all here, and with them and after them came the army of expectants, thick as the locusts of Egypt. . . .They were all here eager and hopeful to enjoy the promised plenty. Hotels were crowded, and boarding houses were filled. Members of the Legislature were besieged, button-holed, bored and implored for places. Judge Arthur B. Braley, 1874

Braley, Judge Arthur B. | Capitol, Rotunda | Dahl, Andreas L. (Photographer) | Lobbyists and lobbying