[1] It was the second facility built on the new capital campus, following completion of the Temple of Justice, and was constructed from Wilkeson stone, a durable sandstone mined from quarries in Pierce County, Washington.

The cornerstone of the building was laid on April 30, 1920 in a Masonic ceremony overseen by Thomas Skaggs, a Masonic grand master and chairman of the state's Board of Control, and was preceded by a ceremonial processional formed by the Knights Templar of Tacoma and accompanied by the band of the Affifi Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

[6] The facility is a rectangular structure oriented with the longer axis running north and south.

To the north of the building is the "Winged Victory Monument," the state's memorial to World War I veterans, designed by Alanzo Victor Lewis and installed in 1938.

The north and south ends of the building have colonnades supporting an unembellished frieze and pediment, while the east and west sides of the structure consist of rows of windows.