#State Capitol Buildings

[deadpresidents]

Which state capitol building is the nicest in your opinion? Any fugly capitol buildings?

I may be biased because I was born and raised in Sacramento and have spent countless hours in Capitol Park over the years (two of my friends even got married there!), but I think California's State Capitol building is gorgeous:

And I hate to give credit to Texas for anything, but the Capitol building in Austin is pretty impressive, especially when you see it in person (however, as a California native, my first visit to the Texas Capitol resulted in quite the culture shock when I saw all the Confederate monuments):

As for the ugliest, I think the Hawaii State Capitol in Honolulu looks like a credit union:

And the New Mexico State Capitol in Santa Fe looks like the admissions office of a small community college:

What does everyone else think? Any other choices?

[mrsmoose54]

States 46 & 47 - Day 3 (Council Bluffs IA - Altoona IA)

[illustratus]

Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861

Photograph taken by John Wood

[wandering-jana]

Virginia State Capitol.

Richmond, Virginia

Oct. 2021

[arthistoryanimalia]

For #FrogFriday:

343. “Rana” (Frog)

From the ongoing search for all the animals from the 420 original 1906 Moravian tile mosaics by Henry Chapman Mercer on the Pennsylvania Capitol floor.

#ArtsAndCraftsMovement #AnimalsInArt

[stone-cold-groove]

Overflight of the U.S. Capitol building by Germany’s Graf Zeppelin - 1931.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

David Mattingly

[nocternalrandomness]

Fireworks over the US Capitol, Washington, DC

[eternal--returned]

eternal--returned ֍ Utah State Capitol Building, Salt Lake City, Utah (2024)

[keiteay]

Summer getaways

[uwmspeccoll]

Milestone Monday

On this day, September 18, in 1793, George Washington laid the cornerstone of the United States Capitol Building. He was aided by eight Freemasons dressed in full masonic regalia marking the beginning of a period of construction that lasted seven years and the dawning of the growth of the nation. In 1792, Thomas Jefferson put out a call for architectural design submissions for the Capitol Building and was won over by a late entry from amateur architect William Thornton. Thornton’s design was officially approved in April of 1793, with the caveat that French architect Stephen Hallet would review and modify his plans as needed.

Architect Glenn Brown (1854-1932) explored the history and design of the Capitol Building in his book History of the United States Capitol, published in two volumes by the Government Publishing Office from 1900-1903. For a decade, Brown worked with numerous institutions and organizations to gather plans, illustrations, and the history of the building through architecture and interior design. He highlights that the importance of the building’s merit is not just in its construction and completeness, but its aspirations. Historian Charles Moore, secretary to Michigan Senator James McMillan, writes in the introduction, “[T]he Capitol is not a creation, but a growth, and its highest value lies in the fact that it never was, and it never will be, finished.”

View other Milestone Monday posts.

– Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[eopederson2]

Mixed Use building on a corner, Capitol Hill, Seattle, 2016.

[roadtrippinlilly]

Oklahoma State Capitol

Source Me laf@ilyF ❤️

[katiajewelbox]

Reminds me of Sailor Moon!

Source: Photographer Christoper V. Sherman's Facebook page

[arthistoryanimalia]

Sunday Sunfish!

“The Sunfish. 317. Where the meadow brook deepens under hazel bushes, or plunges into the the milldam's pool, or where sunbeams piercing the warped boards of the old broad bridge, illumine the scented water, barefooted children, with worm boxes poles strings pin hooks and puppy, peeping downward, behold the sunfish, akin to humanity in its eyes, fanning itself with winglike fins, a translucent golden shadow in an enchanted water world.” (Guide Book to the Tiles Pavement in the Capitol of Pennsylvania by Henry C Mercer, 1908, p. 85)

From the ongoing search for all the animals from Mercer’s 420 original 1906 Moravian tile #mosaics on the Pennsylvania Capitol floor.

[stone-cold-groove]

The U.S. Capitol building.