US State Capitols: History, Granite, and Gold-Flecked Ego Trips
KEY POINTS
- •Alabama's capitol, rebuilt in 1851 after a fire, marks Jefferson Davis' Confederate oath with a brass star.
- •Alaska's 1931 capitol eschews a dome and voters repeatedly fail to move it away from Juneau.
- •Colorado's 1901 capitol dome uses real gold leaf donated by miners to honor the Gold Rush era.
The US is home to 50 state capitols, each competing for the ‘Most Historically Overloaded Building’ award. Alabama’s 1851 capitol proudly sports a brass star marking where Jefferson Davis was sworn in, while its Avenue of Flags tries desperately to sideline the monument confusion with rocks from all 50 states — because nothing says unity like map geography in stone. Alaska’s 1931 capitol looks like a bland office building but insists on marble columns and stubbornly refuses to move from Juneau despite multiple votes and bills proposing Willow. Colorado went golden in 1901, literally, slapping on real gold leaf from local miners, combining history with premium bling. Connecticut boasts a golden dome with six pairs of statues embodying everything from law to music — nothing says political seriousness like an orchestral bench. Arizona’s 1901 capitol happily retired to a museum by 1978 after decades of governmental crowding. Arkansas endured a 16-year construction saga (1899-1915) before moving on to better digs, while California’s 1860-74 building tried borrowing DC’s style and added an arboretum as a landscaping apology. All in all, these capitols prove we’re terrible drivers of history and geography but ace decorators with rocks and paint.
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Nothing screams ‘We’ve got history’ like slapping golden domes on buildings and hoarding souvenir state rocks beneath every flagpole. America’s state capitols: the ultimate competition in architectural identity crises.
When your state capitol doubles as a rock collection showcase or a ‘Do Not Move Me’ monument, you know history’s winning and practicality’s losing.
If gilded domes, battles over moving buildings, and souvenir rocks are wrong, these states don’t want to be right.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 1/5/2026 | Author: Talia Lakritz,Gabbi Shaw
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