Austin, Texas State Capitol

This weekend DJ and Katie, Jonnys brother and sister- in-law where visiting form UT and we wanted to go and do something fun. We decided to all go to Austin for the weekend, to check out the springs, capitol and city. While David and Kye went rock-climbing we took a tour of the state capitol..:)

It was really cool to see how HUGE the capital was, it was constructed between 1882 and 1888. Many news papers say, "Meet the largest and perhaps most interesting Capitol in the nation." I was impressed of how elaborate it was  compared to the other capitals I have seen. The door handles and door hedges reminded me of the Salt Lake Temple, the hedges seemed to be very tamper proof, not that I would try to break in or anything. :)


The room of the House of Reps. was really pretty and open, but the Senate room was even more impressive with giant paintings and emblems every where. The thing that caught my eye the most was the ceiling in the very bottom picture on the top right.( the star is a pretty cool emblem to have)

When we walked into the center dome it seemed like it went on forever, it made you dizzy looking up into it. We walked up all the grand staircases and saw each level, with many, many offices in running halls. These didn't seem like ordinary offices, they had large carved woodwork around each door and frosted glass surrounding it. ( Bottom right) shows a hall full of just offices, what a special place to work. We decided to take the elevator down, I thought it was funny Jonny said, " Yes, you may have a nice office, BUT you work for ME!!!" :)

It was a lot of fun touring the Capitol, even in the short time we had. Its cool to see the history around us and how things all started.

Here are ten interesting facts about the Texas State Capitol. 

1. The Texas State Capitol is the largest in gross square footage of all state capitols.
   
2. In one of the largest barter transactions in history, the builders of the Texas State Capitol were given 3 million acres of land as payment for their work. The 3 million acres become the largest cattle ranch in the world.
   
3. Considered such a beautiful example of late 19th century architecture, there are laws prohibiting obstructing the view of the building.
   
4. The Texas State Capitol is the second largest Capitol in the entire nation; second only to the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
   
5. Standing at 308 ft tall the Texas State Capitol is 19 feet taller than the United States Captiol which is only 289 ft tall.
   
6. The spiral staircase leading to the dome lantern is one of the original staircases.
   
7. "Sunset red" granite was quarried for the external structural walls a mere 50 miles from the construction site.
   
8. On the grounds are 17 monuments, including monuments of Confederate Soldiers, Volunteer Firemen, and a replica of the Statue of Liberty.
   
9. Even the minor details were important. Beautifully carved wooden doors were hinged with custom bronze hinges.
   
10. During your visit, don't say anything you don't want repeated! The rotunda is a whispering gallery.