Utah State Capitol Tour

Today we went to see the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. It was a rainy day and we considered not going, but we went and had a great time. What a beautiful capitol building we have in Utah.

The main street in Salt Lake City is State Street, and it goes right up the hill to the state capitol building.

Here is a look at the front of the capitol, on the south side, from the road.

Public parking and access to the capitol is through the east entrance.

This is a statue of a Native American of the Ute tribe. People of the Ute tribe lived in the mountains in this area and that is where the state name of Utah came from. Ute means "people of the mountains".

There are two lion statues guarding the east entrance. They are carved from marble, and are bigger than life. They are named Fortitude and Integrity. This is Fortitude, on the left as you enter.

 

Fortitude, from the back, looking easterly toward the mountains. You can see the storm clouds that followed us up the road from Utah County.

This is Integrity, on the right of the walkway.

We looked at the Mormon Battalion monument that is on the southeast capitol lawn.

 This is the Mormon Battalion plaque with the names of the members of the battalion.

There on the plaque, 6 names down, is the name of your 4th Great Grandpa Abraham Hunsaker, Sargent

This is a picture of him when he was older.

  This is the sword and scriptures that he took on the great march of the battalion. It was the longest military march in history.

A closer look at the state capitol. The front and the east entrance... see our friendly lions.

The dome of the capitol.

The flags were blowing in the stormy winds. It started to rain so we decided to go inside the capitol and start our tour.

The Utah State Seal on a banner near the entrance.

This copy of the famous Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is on display in the capitol. 

This is the main floor of the capitol, atrium and rotunda, looking toward the House Chambers on the second level, looking from just outside the Judicial end by the Supreme Court doors.

A close-up of the lighted ornamental brass ball on the marble bannister in the photo above.

This is the inside of the dome on the capitol. On the inside the dome is called the rotunda and it is 165 feet tall... over 14 stories.

A closer look at the rotunda ceiling. The seagull is the state bird. These seagulls that are painted on this ceiling have a wing span of about 6 feet.

This is the Utah Supreme Court room with a chair for each of the five state supreme court justices.

The original lighting has been preserved. It didn't give off much light, but a skylight was built into the ceiling of the room for natural light during the day.

Another look at the main floor atrium and rotunda from up the stairs, looking east to west.

We walked up the stairs to the top floor to see the legislative chambers and get a closer look at the skylights and ceiling artwork.

 This is the Senate Chambers - 29 seats.

 Close up of the art (below) and the gold leaf detail in this room.

75 seats in the House Chambers. The legislature only meets for three months every year.

You can see the skylights in these chambers. It was a cloudy day, but the rooms were all well lit.

Main floor looking west to east. You can see the paintings on the rotunda walls.

The governor's office.

This is a collage of veterans pictures that gave their life defending our liberty.

A close-up of the saluting hand area of the picture above.

The building is made of granite from Little Cottonwood Canyon and marble from Georgia and Utah.

The storm clouds gave way to blue skies as we left the capitol. It was great to see our state capitol and the rooms where our laws are debated, passed and enforced.

All is well. All is well.