[3] The settlement of the first state capital began at noon on April 22, 1889, when cannons sounded the start of the Oklahoma land run.

Prior to its construction, state government offices were housed in the Huckins Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City.

[6] Architects Soloman Andrew Layton (1864-1943) and S. Wemyss-Smith were paid $75,000 to develop the architectural plans, while James Stewart & Company received the construction contract.

The building was, however, designed with underground underlying foundations to be able to support a higher dome, which amazingly was finally added over a century later.

[6] During exterior restoration work in 2014, engineers discovered significant cracks in the precast panels that comprise the dome, but not in any of the supports.

The original commission was split on the desirability of the dome due to the high cost, and as completed, the capitol was not domed[10] In 2006, plans were made to move the judicial branch into the old Oklahoma Historical Society building, as the agency was moving into the Oklahoma History Center.

Chickasaw artist Mike Larsen's mural Flight of Spirit, honoring the Five Moons, notable 20th-century Native American ballerinas from Oklahoma is on display in the Capitol rotunda.

The Senate lobby includes a 6 by 10 feet (1.8 m × 3.0 m) oil-on-canvas painting of the Ceremonial Transfer of the Louisiana Purchase in New Orleans - 1803 by Mike Wimmer.

The Senate Lounge displays a watercolor painting entitled Community of Boling Springs by Sonya Terpening.

[17] Donors so named include Halliburton, Hobby Lobby Stores, "the People of Oklahoma", and General Motors.

This design decision attracted some criticism at the time, and in 2011 state representative Eric Proctor attempted to pass legislation replacing the names with those of Oklahomans who had received the Congressional Medal of Honor.