"In 1895 a commission was appointed and some money appropriated to build a [new] capitol. Instead of carrying it down to the minimum, instead of doing what they thought they could afford, they had a vision of what the state of Minnesota was going to be, and that it should have a capitol worthy of the state that was to be. They built this magnificent Capitol building, complete with a wonderful dome and gold horses and Italian marble all over the place. What a vision! What a challenge! What an inspiration!"
—Elmer L Andersen Governor of Minnesota (1961-1963)