Category: Capitols

South Dakota State Capitol

Pierre SD – September 2021

Check off another one from my state capitols list!
The rotunda.
Rotunda close-up.
Beautiful rotunda hall.
Senate chamber – roll top desks!
House of Representatives chamber – more roll top desks!
Plaque on the capitol grounds.
Fighting stallions sculpture on the grounds.
South Dakota Governor’s Mansion. Governor Kristi Noem was unavailable for a photo with us.

Wyoming State Capitol

Cheyenne WY – August 2021

This is the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne. Wyoming was ahead of the rest of the USA regarding women’s rights. Wyoming passed laws giving women the right to vote and hold office 50 years before the 19th amendment to the US Constitution giving these rights to women nationwide.
Buffalo statue on the grounds of the capitol.
Statue of calf on the grounds.
“Spirit of Wyoming” statue on the grounds.
The rotunda
Senate chamber
House of Representatives chamber
In this historic room the Wyoming Constitution was debated and ratified.
The Wyoming Capitol used wood for its banisters which creates a warm look. Also, the black and white checkerboard tile design is eye-catching.
The architect who designed the capitol purposely turned one of the balusters upside down, because he said that only God is perfect! Amen!
In many of the black tiles there are fossils.
More fossils.

Colorado State Capitol

Denver CO – August 2021

Beautiful capitol, lots of construction around the building, and the downtown is filthy. The building is gray on the main levels, then blue at the base of the gold dome.
Statue on the capitol grounds of Indian killing a buffalo.
Statue of President Abraham Lincoln has been removed, and its pedestal has been covered up. Disgusting.
The rotunda.
House of Representatives chamber.
Senate chamber.
The interior of the capitol is beautiful, but it is kind of tight. There is not much wide-open area. For instance, there is not much room between the columns and the central railings. It was close like this throughout the building.
Standing at exactly 5,280 feet above sea level! One mile high!
Me too!
Denver skyline from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Couldn’t see the mountains because of hazy sky.

Kansas State Capitol

Topeka KS – August 2021

Kansas State Capitol in Topeka, completed 1903. There are 38 domed state capitols in the US. This capitol is the second tallest of the 38. The dome is pure copper. It would take 2.3 million pure copper pennies to make up this dome! 
The statue atop the dome is the “Ad Astra” statue, which represents a Kaw warrior pointing his arrow at the North Star. The state’s official motto, “Ad astra per aspera,” is Latin for “To the stars through difficulty.”
President Dwight Eisenhower is the only president from Kansas.
President Abraham Lincoln statue on the capitol grounds.
Also on the capitol grounds.
The rotunda.
Chandelier hanging from the top of the rotunda.
There is much copper throughout the building. Quite beautiful.
An Eisenhower statue inside the building.
Mural depicting the civil rights struggle in Kansas. The landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka outlawed segregation of public schools.
Senate chamber.
From the Senate chamber, looking across the building to the House chamber.
House of Representatives chamber.
Speaker’s podium in the House.
View from the podium.
From the House chamber, looking across the building to the Senate chamber.

Missouri State Capitol

Jefferson City MO – August 2021

Missouri State Capitol
Statue of President Thomas Jefferson, for whom Jefferson City is named.
The Ten Commandments monument is still on the capitol grounds – yay!
Monument showing Secretary of State James Monroe signing the Louisiana Purchase agreement with France.
The Rotunda.
Like West Virginia’s capitol, there is a chandelier hanging from the top of the rotunda.
House of Representatives Chamber
Senate Chamber
Bust of President Harry S Truman, only president from Missouri.
Mark Twain
Rush Limbaugh
Portrait of William Henry Harrison, first governor of Missouri Territory, and 9th President of the US.