Mississippi--The "New" Capitol

Capitol (#11 current)


400 Mississippi Street
Jackson, MS
(601) 359-3114

http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/htms/cap_info.htm

Monday thru Friday 8:00 am to 5pm. Self guided tours or guided tours with a reservation

This posting seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle.  I wrote it early February.

This always amazes me. It was built 1901-1903 at a cost of approximately $1.1 million. The most recent renovation, approximately $19,000,000.  The cost of renovation so many more times the original cost.

 Seems as though Southern capitols are frequently built on the grounds of the “old” penitentiary…Mississippi and Arkansas…don’t know about any others. Theodore Link of St. Louis was the architect, using a Beaux Arts style. It is slightly over 400 wide. The center of the dome is 180 feet high. Everything is ornate and grandiose, particularly on the first floor. (As you ascend, not quite so much, but it is still there). Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns are everywhere. Mouldings, fancy—Greek key, pineapple, egg-and-dart—almost every type of which one can think. Massive oak doors. Georgia granite. Indiana limestone. Italian marble. Vermont marble. Brass fixtures. Green Swiss marble wainscoting. Black walnut carved columns and leaves in the Supreme Court Chamber with a mosaic floor tile. No faux anything here. Everything is the real deal.

The Legislature Chambers are semicircular rooms at either end of the halls. Both have stained glass ceilings, protected by copper. The designs in the ceiling are different in both places. The House is fancy and ornate. Marble from many areas. The oak desks are original to 1903. The Senate is even moooore. Scagliola from everywhere. Leaded glass windows. Much original furniture, mostly oak.

The dome topper is a massive eagle made of copper and covered with gold leaf.—eight foot tall; fifteen foot wingspan.

Did I mention ornate and grandiose????!!!??

Cornerstone: Could not locate despite circling the building twice.

Grounds: 13 acres covering four blocks. There are twenty varieties of trees and some seasonal gardens. Several monuments welcome you from the street. Parking was easy.

What’s Unique? The friendliness of the people is far and away above any other capitol thus visited. Everyyyyyybody was willing to stop and talk. We were about to ascend the Grand Staircase when a gentlemen who turned out to be State Senator Carmichael stopped to chat with us. He was absolutely delighted that we were visiting. Like all the capitols we have visited, Mississippi Assembly was not in session. We have somehow missed being at any of them when in session. This makes parking much easier. The ability to actually be in the Chamber rooms is also something that cannot happen while they are in session. A bonus to me.

Once again, I digress…everyone from Senator Carmichael to the gentleman who changed the light bulbs descending from the top of the rotunda stopped and greeted us, made us feel extremely welcome and answered my dumb questions. (“How DO you change those light bulbs?” It is done with a special thirty foot pole with a fancy attachment at the end to grab the bulb without damaging it.) 750 exposed light bulbs (there really are over 4,000 in original fixtures) make the place very bright.

Also, the UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy) have their own room in the building. As far as I know, this is the only capitol that has allocated a room in their capitol for this organization.


After visiting two capitol buildings in downtown Jackson, Steve wanted to move on.  So, we hopped on the highway and headed toward the home of the people with which we were staying that night.  Much too early!!!  Continued on to Vicksburg National Park (Battlefied).