Kentucky State Capitol
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Kentucky State Capitol
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The front of the capitol
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| Coordinates: | 38°11′12″N 84°52′31″W / 38.186776°N 84.875334°WCoordinates: 38°11′12″N 84°52′31″W / 38.186776°N 84.875334°W |
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| Built: | 1905 |
| Architect: | Frank Mills Andrews |
| Architectural style: | Beaux-Arts |
| Governing body: | State |
| NRHP Reference#: | 73000804 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | April 13, 1973 |
The Kentucky State Capitol is located in Frankfort and is the house of the three branches (executive, legislative, judicial) of the state government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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[edit] History
From 1792 to 1830, two buildings were used as the capitol, both of which burned completely.
In 1830, a new capitol was built and was used until 1910. During a bitterly contested 1899 state governor election, Democratic Party claimant William Goebel was assassinated at the capitol on his way to be inaugurated. The need for a larger building for a growing state government resulted in the replacement of the that capitol building, which is now a museum.
In 1904, the Kentucky General Assembly chose Frankfort (rather than Lexington or Louisville) as the location for the state capital and appropriated $1 million for the construction of a permanent state capitol building, to be located in southern Frankfort.
The capitol was designed by Frank Mills Andrews, a distinguished and award-winning architect. He used the Beaux-Arts style and included many classical French interior designs. The staircases, for example, are replicas of those of the Opéra Garnier in Paris.
[edit] Layout
The main part of the Capitol has three floors. The first floor contains the offices of the governor (and his staff), secretary of state, and attorney general. It also features a rotunda with statues of famous Kentuckians and other exhibits. The second floor contains the courtroom of the state Supreme Court, as well as the chambers of the justices. The state law library is nearby.
The chambers of the House of Representatives and Senate face each other on opposite ends of the third floor. Some high-level legislative offices (such as for the Speaker of the House) are also located there.
The Capitol also has a partial fourth floor which houses the galleries of the House and Senate, as well as a few offices for legislative committee staffers.
In addition, there is a partially buried basement level with mostly offices for clerks and maintenance personnel. However, it also contains a small gift shop and an underground tunnel to the neighboring Capitol Annex building.
[edit] Security
The Capitol used to be completely open during normal business hours, and local residents often used the marble hallways for exercise (the Frankfort equivalent of "mall walking"). Nowadays, anyone without proper state credentials must go through a metal detector. Security for the complex is provided by the Kentucky State Police.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2006-03-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kentucky State Capitol |
- Kentucky's State Capitols Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
- Kentucky Historical Society page on the Old State Capitol
- Kentucky Secretary of State
| Preceded by Mother of God Roman Catholic Church |
Tallest Building in Kentucky 1910-1912 |
Succeeded by Kentucky Home Life Building |
- Kentucky State Capitol is at coordinates 38°11′12″N 84°52′31″W / 38.186776°N 84.875334°WCoordinates: 38°11′12″N 84°52′31″W / 38.186776°N 84.875334°W
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