The Ohio Statehouse is one of America’s finest examples of Greek Revival architecture and is one of the oldest working statehouses in the United States. The Ohio Statehouse was completed in 1861 after 22 years of construction.
From the nearly 60 submissions to a national competition, first place was awarded to Cincinnati architect Henry Walter; second place to New Yorker Martin E. Thompson; and third prize went to landscape painter Thomas Cole. When the building commission could not make up its mind to which one of the three to construct, it advised the legislature that any one of the plans was acceptable.
The legislature began construction of the Ohio Statehouse based on a composite design incorporating the best features of all three of the winners, drawn by architectural consultant Alexander Jackson Davis. Davis’ design emphasized Cole’s colonnaded facade, though it lacked a pediment and dome.