Michigan State Capitol

Michigan's Renaissance Revival state capitol building, completed in 1878. The building features a cast-iron dome and elaborate interior decoration and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992.

The Michigan State Capitol in Lansing was constructed between 1872 and 1878 in the Neoclassical style, its cast-iron dome rising above the city as a symbol of state governance. The building houses the legislative branch of Michigan's government and displays an extensive collection of Civil War artifacts, including battle flags, weapons, and regimental memorabilia. Paranormal researchers have theorized that the presence of these objects, carried through some of the bloodiest fighting in American history, may act as a catalyst for the supernatural activity that has been reported in the building for well over a century.

The Capitol's haunted reputation stems from a series of accidental deaths and at least one suicide that occurred within its walls during and after construction. In the 1880s, a young legislative page fell from the grand staircase to his death. His ghost has reportedly remained present for over 140 years, with staff and visitors encountering the spirit of a young man near the ornate iron railings from which he fell. A painter working on the rotunda fell from his scaffolding and died during the building's early years. Since then, staff have seen the entity of a man in paint-spattered work clothes wandering the rotunda level, seemingly unaware that his last job was never finished.

A roofer also fell to his death during maintenance work on the building, and an elevator operator was fatally electrocuted while on the job, adding two more spirits to the Capitol's supernatural roster. In the 1880s, a young man is said to have committed suicide by jumping from the railings of the grand staircase, adding yet another violent death to the building's toll.

Employees at the Michigan State Capitol report hearing disembodied voices in empty hallways, footsteps echoing through rooms where no one is walking, and sudden cold spots that appear without explanation. Shadows move just out of view, glimpsed in peripheral vision but gone when looked at directly. For some employees, the hushed whisper of a voice speaking close to their ear in an empty room has been reported. The US Ghost Adventures Lansing Ghost Tour includes the Capitol as a key stop, and the building has been featured on multiple lists of Michigan's most haunted locations. Whether the spirits are workers who died building and maintaining the Capitol or something drawn to the Civil War relics within its walls, the seat of Michigan's government appears to be occupied by more than just the living.