Jefferson City - Missouri Capitol

We left Little Rock and took two days to travel the 350 miles to our next destination of Jefferson City, Missouri to tour the capitol. This fit well into our preferred plan of trying to leave by 10:00, travel no more than 200 miles and be done by 2:00. It does not always work out that way, but it sure is easier going at this kind of slower pace. Our plan for our stay here was to tour the capitol and also get caught up with the blog. We did the first part but, because of a terrible Internet connection, I did not get the blog updated so now we are behind with our posts.   

The first day we traveled through the Ozark mountains of Northern Arkansas. While it was a beautiful drive, it was not easy traveling miles of two lane road with many hills and turns, especially after spending the last few months in flat land where the highest points were the highway overpasses.

This building is the third capitol for the state of Missouri. It sits on a high bluff overlooking the Missouri River. The building, in the Classical Revival style, is 437 feet long and 300 feet wide. The top of the dome is 262 feet above the basement. It covers three acres and has a half million square feet of floor space. There is a statue of Thomas Jefferson at the west front of the building but  unfortunately, it is hard to see because much of the exterior was covered with scaffolding for major repairs.  

This 9,000 pound chandelier hangs in the rotunda. Once a year it is lowered for cleaning and changing the bulbs. A few years ago when it was lowered to the floor the chain broke and did major damage to the light. It cost $500,000 to repair the chandelier that had cost $5,000 in 1918.

Arkansas, the last capitol we toured, had only four major works of art in the entire building. The Missouri capitol is the exact opposite with many paintings throughout the building. When they did a bond issue to build the capitol they raised $1,000,000 more than needed for construction. It was ruled that the money could only be spent on the building. So artists, Frank Brangwyn, N. C. Wyeth, James Earle Fraser and Alexander Stirling Calder were hired. They created beautiful stained glass windows, murals and statuary to honor Missouri's history and culture.    

These beautiful paintings in the rotunda are based on nature and Missouri's resources such as earth, wind, fire, and water, as well as, the state's agriculture and industry.

There is hardly a space of plaster wall that has not been painted by these famous artists. There is so much that it is impossible to capture in a photograph.

The Hall of Famous Missourians has busts of many prominent people who were born in Missouri or became famous while living there. Top are Dred Scott, Edwin Hubble, Betty Grable, Emmett Kelly and Charlie "Bird" Parker. Bottom are Mark Twain, Harry S. Truman, Stan "The Man" Musial, Scott Joplin, Ginger Rogers and Sacajawea. 

The Missouri House of Representatives has 163 members who are only allowed to serve four two year terms. They were in session while we were there so no pictures were allowed in the chamber. We found this ironic, as the House voted to begin impeachment proceedings against the governor for taking unwanted photos of a woman. He has since resigned. 

The House Lounge has this beautiful mural, "A Social History of the State of Missouri by Thomas Hart Benton. The painting is a reflection of the artist's beliefs in the concept of Manifest Destiny. The picture over the door is of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. 

The focus of the mural is on the people of Missouri with 235 individual portraits. It highlights the economic, political and cultural aspects of the state from rural scenes to the cities.

Over this door is a painting depicting the song Frankie and Johnny by Hughie Cannon. In the bottom corner is Tom Pendergast, the infamous political boss who controlled Kansas City in the 1900's. The mural is an interesting look at the history of Missouri.

The Missouri Senate has 34 members who are allowed to serve only two four year terms. They were also in session so no pictures were allowed.

There are 40 lunettes, little half moon paintings, throughout the building showing scenes of Missouri history. This is a lead mine and smelter.  

This one is a Pony Express rider leaving St. Joseph where this first "high speed" cross country mail service to California began.  

This one is the Eads Bridge, a combined road and railway bridge that was completed in 1874. It was the first all steel bridge and was high enough for steamboats to pass under on the Mississippi River. 

There are several works of art on the capitol grounds. This sculpture shows the signing of the treaty with France for the Louisiana Purchase. It was originally done for the 1904 St. Louis World'd Fair.  

This monument portrays Lewis and Clark, standing; York, Clark's slave; George Drouillard, their French-Canadian-Shawnee guide and translator; and Seaman, Lewis' Newfoundland dog. The monument pays tribute to the Corps of Discovery that camped in the area on June 4, 1804 on their way to the Pacific Ocean.

The Missouri capitol has some of the most interesting works of art we have seen in any of the capitols we have visited. It is not to be missed if you are in the area.

The Missouri Governor's Mansion was built in 1871 and is one of the oldest governor's mansions in the country. The mansion, built in the Brick Renaissance Revival style, has 13 bedrooms to accommodate guests. It is open for tours, but we did not take one.

After we left Jefferson City we only had to travel 55 miles to Sedalia for the Escapade. There we had a fun, but very busy time seeing friends and working on staff. We are now in Springfield, Illinois on our way to Charlotte, Michigan for a service appointment at Spartan Chassis.