Austin is a town where there is no shortage of things to do, food to eat and good music to listen to - and if you’re a fan of architecture and/or history then the Texas State Capitol is where you need to go.
Now, living in a capital city, and working in a government position, I’ve spent more than my fair share of time in the Kansas Capitol. So when I find myself in another capital city I tend to want to scope out their Capitol building - and Texas, as you can imagine, did not disappoint.
Here are five things that I learned about the Capitol on my visit.
In the rotunda, on the floor, there is a collection of six seals that represent all the flags that have flown over the state. They are Spain, France, Mexico, the Confederacy, the Republic of Texas and the United States.
Everything is bigger in Texas and that includes the Capitol building. It is the largest Capitol in the US, and at a respectable 302 feet, it’s nearly 15 feet than the US Capitol.
Texas' Capitol has not one but two rotundas - an interior and exterior. The floor of the exterior rotunda is a mirror to the interior dome.
Giving its height the extra push is the Goddess of Liberty that stands atop the dome. The statue was crafted by welding 80 pieces of zinc into four parts - legs, two arms, and her head. At its completion, in 1888 a crew hoisted each section to the top of the dome and used large screws to hold her together.
The Capitol grounds are over 20 acres in the heart of Austin, overlooking the downtown. Along with the Capitol, you can see 17 monuments and when I was there they had a beautiful live oak that’s bent entirely over the sidewalk.