All About Arizona - State Capitol

State capitols are largely overlooked when visiting a new state.  That's too bad because most state capitols have some amazing history.  Of course I'm a history nerd so I love that stuff.  Before school ended Mackenzie's class visited the Arizona State Capitol, the Arizona House and the Arizona Senate in Phoenix.

The original Capitol was built in 1901 when it was the territorial capitol.  It proved to be too small for a new state, so additions were built in the back of the building in 1919 and 1938.  Behind that is the tall modern executive tower that was built in 1974.  If you enter the Capitol from the oldest end and walk straight through to the Executive Tower, it's funny because the hallway width and flooring changes as you walk though into each addition.

On the top of the Capitol is a copper dome with the beautiful white Winged Victory:

She is a weather vane, turning with the wind.  The story is that when the cowboys would come riding in, they would shoot Winged Victory to see her spin.

One of the advantages of living in such a young state (Arizona just celebrated its centennial), is that things don't change much:

Then . . .

And now . . .

The kids especially liked their access to the Senate floor (which only happened because one of her classmates is the child of a senator).  Here's the state seal with the 5 Cs of Arizona - cattle, climate, citrus, cotton and copper.  Tourism doesn't begin with a C.

Maybe I'll get my own senator someday:

cindy