Jefferson City, Missouri:
State Capitol Building
The constant rain finally slowed to a drizzle when I arrived in
Jefferson City, Missouri, for a quick look at the state's capitol
building.
Missouri's capitol building is built on a bluff overlooking the Missouri
River. The structure itself is quite impressive: 238 feet tall,
with 48-foot columns on the south side and 40-foot columns on the north
side. The capitol's bronze front doors are 13x18 feet--making them
the largest doors cast since the Roman era.†
Before heading indoors, I spent a few minutes exploring outdoors.
There are several statues and a fountain in a plaza area, in between the
capitol's north side and the Missouri River. This relief sculpture
depicts the signing of the Louisiana Purchase.
There's also an exact reproduction of the Liberty
Bell, cast in France in 1950.
I couldn't find an open door on the river side of the
capitol building, so I strolled around to the south side...
... where some beautiful, large statues are positioned around the
capitol's front doors.
Standing in the middle of the entryway, in between two of those 48-foot
tall columns, is a statue of Thomas Jefferson (as you might guess,
judging by the name of the city, he's pretty popular around here).
Inside, the Missouri State Capitol building is elaborately decorated, as
you would expect. This chandelier hangs in the middle of the
capitol dome. It weighs 4,500 pounds, and during maintenance in
2006, it came crashing to the ground. Fortunately, it had already
been lowered most of the way, so it only fell about 5 feet.
Take a few minutes to appreciate the architecture of
the capitol.
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The present Missouri State Capitol
building was completed in 1917, at a cost of about $4.2
million. In addition to the legislative bodies, you'll
find the State Museum on the first floor. |
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Walk around the north side of the capitol on your way
back to the car, and you get a nice view of St. Peter's Church.
The catholic church was completed in 1883, with a rectory added two
years later. In constructing the two buildings, 907,500 donated
bricks were used.
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Missouri's Capitol building is easy to see
for miles around. From US 50/63 or 54, look for
Missouri Boulevard. |
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