Minnesota — Dome, Eagle Statues, Cupola

Dome
The dome is made of white Georgia marble and is one of only a few self-supporting marble domes in the world. Others include St. Peter's in Rome, the Taj Mahal, and the Rhode Island state capitol. The building was designed to be very similar to St. Peter's in Rome, though simplified and smaller.

dome port detail
from image above

Eagles
At the base of the dome stand twelve marble eagles, one above each of the pairs of columns around the drum.

Six Virtues
Below the Quadriga are six statues called the "Virtues." They are Bounty, Courage, Integrity, Prudence, Truth, and Wisdom.

Cupola
The roof and the ball tip of the ornate cupola are gilded.

detail from
image at left

image courtesy of
Scott W. Coulter,
Apple Valley, Minnesota

Quadriga (above) and Virtues (below)
images courtesy of Mulad

South Dakota — Dome, Cupola

image courtesy of
J Stephen Conn

While most of our capitol domes have ribs, South Dakota's are unique. The vertical ones are placed in pairs, there is also a pair of horizontal ribs above the ports, and all of them appear much thicker than those on other domes.

Dome and Drum Construction
All we really see of the dome is the copper sheathing and the large port windows. Underneath those are curved steel beams and concrete. The construction of the drum required 100 tons of iron, 350 thousand bricks, and 30 train cars of cut stone.

image
courtesy of
Edward Crim, photographer,
the State Capitols
project

Cupola
Rather than just the roof like usual, this entire cupola is apparently covered in copper. This is not unique to South Dakota, since South Carolina's cupola is also completely copper-clad.

Red Lights
There are photos on the Internet I couldn't use here that show a red light beaming from the cupola at night. Perhaps the red features shown around the roof in the image above are those lights.

Utah — Dome, Cupola

detail from image at far right

Dome and Drum Renovation
The Utah capitol was shut down for major renovation from 2004 to 2008. The focus for the drum and dome was to return to the original plan - to use terra cotta for everything possible on the exterior. To save money, the builders had done much in stucco instead. The resulting deterioration led to leakage and damage in interior areas. The stucco was replaced with terra cotta in the restoration.

Cupola
The roof of this open cupola is covered in copper like the dome. The sphere at the very top holds a light, as can be seen in the night image below.

image courtesy of
Edward Crim, photographer,
the State Capitols
project

Skylights
The architect, Richard K.A. Kletting, emphasized bringing natural light into the capitol. Besides other interesting, enlightening features, like the glass rotunda floor, he designed the roof with skylights over 25 percent of its surface.

Washington — Dome, Cupola

image courtesy of
Seth Gaines
 
 

Dome
The most attention-grabbing feature of the Washington state capitol building is the large dome, which rises to 287 feet and weighs 30 million pounds. It is one of the largest masonry domes in the world built without steel support.

Cupola
In early photographs, the cupola looks different. The original was a victim of an earthquake in 1949 and had to be replaced.

2001 Earthquake
On February 28, 2001, an earthquake damaged the Washington capitol. It cracked the dome and moved several of the freestanding columns around its base up to six inches. Not surprisingly, the repair plan included evacuation of the building for an extended time. Under a 30 million pound dome with support compromised is not a good place to be.

Ornamentation
In distant images, this capitol just looks big and gray, but close-ups reveal quite a bit of ornamentation.

Honeysuckle
A section of the dome pictured at right is shown in closer detail on the left. Notice the fan shapes, otherwise known as a honeysuckle pattern, and the way the larger fans are centered at the corners. Honeysuckle decorations can be found on other capitols also.

Wyoming — Skylights, Dome, Cupola

Dome
What makes the gilding on this dome and the cupola a bit different is that it covers the inset sections, but not the ribs. The effect complements the style, and the result is a very pretty drum and dome.

Ornamentation
This image shows the detail around the bottom edge of the dome. I believe the fan shapes are a stone version of the Honeysuckle decoration found on the North Carolina and Tennessee capitols. Remember them! You will see the honeysuckle pattern on other capitols, too.

images courtesy of
Joshua Works

Cupola
This cupola is unusual for a capitol since it has no windows or other openings.

detail from
image at left

Skylights
At the ends of this very long building are skylight domes over the House and Senate chambers. Beneath them are stained glass ceilings.

 
Most images of this capitol show the skylight domes as very dark. It is surprising to see the clear roof in this image from inside one.

image courtesy of
First Glass Images