The Benicia Capitol State Historic Park

Horse and buggy outside State Capitol

What Happens if the Closure Plan Proceeds?

Resources at Risk

Benicia Capitol Historic Park has been a State Park since 1958 and along with the Benicia State Recreation Area comprise the only two State Parks in Solano County. It is the only pre-Sacramento Capitol building still standing. The Benicia Capitol Building was used for several years as a City Hall, a library as well as other community uses. The building and the interior have been restored to exhibit a legislative session as it might have occurred when it was the California State Capitol from January 1853 to February 1854.

The Fischer-Hanlon House is the only building in the State of California parks system that exhibits the life of the 19th century upper middle class family. The house was dedicated to the state of California in 1968. The house is fully furnished with original artifacts that span over a century of family use.

Public Access That Will Be Lost

The general public will no longer have access to these two historic museum quality buildings or Carriage House that is on site. The use of the public bathroom on the site would also be restricted. The third and fourth grade California elementary school trips will no longer be possible. Curriculum based on California history and architecture will suffer.

Community Contributions That Will Be Lost

Volunteers and docents provide tours of the two historic buildings. Volunteer gardeners assist in maintaining the Capitol grounds and the historic Fischer-Hanlon House garden.

Local Business Impacts

The Capitol and the Fischer-Hanlon house are centrally located in the commercial downtown district of central Benicia. The Capitol building is the historic emblem in every promotional tourism campaign done for the City of Benicia and used in much of the Solano County advertising. State park visitors overwhelmingly also spend money at the downtown shops, restaurants and other historic museums that are only steps away from the Historic State Park.

Historic Capitol Building-Open Saturday and Sunday 10 am-5 pm / Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day

Fischer-Hanlon House tours are available on some weekends. Call the park for dates and times.

For weekday tour reservations, call the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park well in advance of your selected tour date and time.