Category: Capitols

Nebraska State Capitol

Lincoln NE

This is a beautiful capitol inside and out. It was completed in 1932.
The Sower, on top of the 400 foot tall tower. The figure is modeling the traditional method of hand sowing grain. The sculpture is 19-1/2 feet tall and weighs 9-1/2 tons. It was raised to the top of the Capitol in 1930.
Abraham Lincoln statue, with the Gettysburg Address inscribed on the wall.
Rotunda on the ground floor.
The prehistoric life of Nebraska winds around Soil, Water, Fire and Air under the rotunda.
The floor mosaic in the vestibule represents “Cosmic Energy”.
Ceiling in the vestibule.
In the vestibule are three James Penney’s murals created in 1964. This one is “The Homesteader’s Campfire”.
“The First Furrow”
“The House Raising”
In the foyer, Venetian glass wall murals depict the Past, Present and Future Life on the Plains. This is “The United States Survey”.
“The Blizzard of 1888”
“Tree Planting”
“The Coming of the Railroad”
“The Spirit of Nebraska”
“The Building of the Capitol”
Senate chamber. Nebraska is the only state with a single legislative chamber (unicameral).
Nebraska State Supreme Court
The 14th floor rotunda (top of the tower). This area is called the Memorial Chamber.
The murals in the Memorial Chamber represent the work of society to achieve virtue and noble life. Labors of the head, hand and heart. This mural is The Ideal of International Law.
The Peril of Fire
The Ideal of Freedom.
The Scourge of Poverty
The Scourge of Plague
The Ideal of Self-Determination
The Scourge of Famine

Oklahoma State Capitol

Oklahoma City OK

The Oklahoma State Capitol from the west. The oil derrick is symbolic of all the state, a leading oil producer.
View from the east side.
Oklahoma state seal under the rotunda.
Looking up at the rotunda from the ground floor.
The rotunda gets more beautiful the closer you get to it.
The ambient lighting interprets an Oklahoma sunrise (or sunset!)
Discovery and Exploration 1541-1820. This scene depicts Coronado, the first European in the region, Francisca friars, French traders, Bison, Wild game, Nordic runes on a stone, the Antelope Hills, Wichita Indians.
Frontier Trade 1790-1820. This scene depicts trade with the Osage, Southeastern states Indians intrude, Whip-saw used to make boards, US Army protecting the fur trade, first school in Union Mission, experienced packers for the fur trade, Keel boats carrying trappers and traders, flat boats carrying goods to New Orleans, trading posts, Salt springs, Fort Gibson, Pecan tree.
Indian Immigration 1820-1885. This scene depicts Comanche, Osage, Kiowa, Wichita and Plains-Apache, US Army soldier, the “Five Civilized Tribes”-Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole, Buffalo hide tipi and hickory tree.
Non-Indian Settlement 1870-1906. This scene depicts “Boomers” homesteading the land, Land runs of 1889 and 1893, Indians “selling” their land for allotments, homestead lottery, sod houses of western Oklahoma, two-horse hitch well driller, stagecoach, vigilantes, Sycamore tree.
Scale model of the statue “The Guardian” on top of the dome.
All the chamber doors were locked so I could only photograph the doors.
Marble railings and balusters.
President Theodore Roosevelt signed the proclamation declaring statehood for Oklahoma.
The quill pen used by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Virginia State Capitol

Richmond VA

The Virginia State Capitol in Richmond.
George Washington statue, surrounded by Patrick Henry, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Thomas Nelson and Andrew Lewis. Also, at the base, sculptures depicting Colonial Times, Revolution, Bill of Rights, Independence, Finance and Justice.
Thomas Jefferson designed the Virginia State Capitol
Senate Chamber
House of Delegates Chamber
Old Hall of the House of Delegates. In this room Chief Justice John Marshall presided over the famous treason trial in which former Vice President Aaron Burr was acquitted in 1807. There is a lot of history in this building, particularly relating to the early days of our country.
Captain John Smith
Ships landing at Jamestown, 1607. Ships were the Sarah Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery.
First representative legislature in the New World – the House of Burgesses in Jamestown.
“Thus always to tyrants”
The rotunda.
Statue of George Washington in the rotunda. Virginia was birthplace to eight presidents. Washington was born in 1732 in Westmoreland County.
Thomas Jefferson was born 1743 in Albemarle County.
James Madison was born 1751 in King George County.
James Monroe was born 1758 in Westmoreland County.
William Henry Harrison was born 1773 in Charles City County.
John Tyler was born in 1790 in Charles City County.
Zachary Taylor was born 1784 in Orange County.
Woodrow Wilson was born 1756 in Staunton.
John Marshall was our fourth and longest serving Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Patrick Henry was a leader in our push for independence from Great Britain.
Monument honoring Barbara Johns of Farmville, who was a leader in school desegregation in the 1950s.
Governors’ Mansion

Iowa State Capitol

Des Moines IA – September 2021

The Iowa State Capitol is quite beautiful – 5 domes!
Women’s Suffrage in Iowa.
Rear view of the capitol.
Another Abraham Lincoln statue is still standing!
The Rotunda.
The flag and emblems at the top of the rotunda are suspended from the top.
Senate chamber.
House of Representatives chamber.
Iowa Supreme Court.
Beautiful architecture.
Very old water fountain.
This mural, “Westward”, symbolizes the Pioneers, led by the spirits of Civilization and Enlightenment, to the conquest of the Great West by cultivation. The mural depicts a Prairie Schooner drawn by oxen across the prairie, with a family and other pioneers, through growth of stalks.
Model of the battleship U.S.S. Iowa in the lobby.
Des Moines IA