The Wisconsin State Capitol Building is the prettiest capitol building I've ever seen. Inside and out it is absolutely gorgeous. The building is a great big "X" with each "X" arm pointing out to the cardinal directions. Isn't it wild what kind of amazing things people can build? I look around at a building like this and I just can't fathom the work it must have taken to build it. And then I consider that this is but one of 50 state capitol buildings in our country, and each of them are unique, and most are beautiful. I just spent far too much time looking at pictures of state capitol buildings on wikipedia. That's an hour of my life I'm never getting back.
I like that the insides of the building are all different colors. From the second floor you can look down on the floor below the dome, and wave as your favorite state legislators walk by. The design of the inside actually reminded me a lot of Napoleon's tomb in Paris, just picture a giant gold-encrusted casket sitting below the dome and you've pretty much got a twin building. I wonder why they put such a short guy in such a huge casket. The building is all full of stairs, 2,782 of them, which rendered the place a virtual jungle gym for the Zoe. As I was chasing her from one staircase to the other, we came across original replicas of the Liberty Bell and the Wisconsin state constitution. Pretty exciting. The Wisconsin state capitol building is only three feet shorter than it's mommy in Washington D.C.
Since blogging about state capitol buildings is pretty much the pinnacle of internet-excitement (we should get YouTube out here to film it!), I think I should definitely tell the story of why the preceding Wisconsin state capitol building burnt down. Here's the shortened version: In February of 1904 the freshly repainted ceiling caught fire and the blaze slowly began engulfing the building. Since the nearby reservoir was empty, the state called in a firefighting crew from Milwaukee to bring water to the site and douse the flames. Unfortunately, en route all their equipment froze beyond use, and they had to watch as the entire North, South and West wings of the building burnt completely to the ground. I wonder why they didn't just put the equipment closer to the giant flames and let the fire thaw it out. Perhaps the frigid temperatures had effected their judgment. I just think it's hilarious that my previous state of residence lost its capitol building due to the state's most unappealing feature - locals with frozen brains.
I thought it was sad to read that the fire of 1904 destroyed the taxidermied remains of Old Abe the Civil War eagle. He was a vicious bald eagle that the Wisconsin 8th Infantry carried with them into battle during the first part of the war. Old Abe would scream and yell and raise a ruckus and the rebels would run away squealing like little girls. History says that Old Abe lost feathers to bullets and passing generals would tip their hats to him.
Old Abe became the model for the 101st airbourne's Screaming Eagle patch, and the Case tractor company logo. There's a replica of Old Abe in the capitol building now, but that's just not the same.
The Wisconsin State Capitol Building is the prettiest capitol building I've ever seen. Inside and out it is absolutely gorgeous. The building is a great big "X" with each "X" arm pointing out to the cardinal directions. Isn't it wild what kind of amazing things people can build? I look around at a building like this and I just can't fathom the work it must have taken to build it. And then I consider that this is but one of 50 state capitol buildings in our country, and each of them are unique, and most are beautiful. I just spent far too much time looking at pictures of state capitol buildings on wikipedia. That's an hour of my life I'm never getting back.
I like that the insides of the building are all different colors. From the second floor you can look down on the floor below the dome, and wave as your favorite state legislators walk by. The design of the inside actually reminded me a lot of Napoleon's tomb in Paris, just picture a giant gold-encrusted casket sitting below the dome and you've pretty much got a twin building. I wonder why they put such a short guy in such a huge casket. The building is all full of stairs, 2,782 of them, which rendered the place a virtual jungle gym for the Zoe. As I was chasing her from one staircase to the other, we came across original replicas of the Liberty Bell and the Wisconsin state constitution. Pretty exciting. The Wisconsin state capitol building is only three feet shorter than it's mommy in Washington D.C. 
Since blogging about state capitol buildings is pretty much the pinnacle of internet-excitement (we should get YouTube out here to film it!), I think I should definitely tell the story of why the preceding Wisconsin state capitol building burnt down. Here's the shortened version: In February of 1904 the freshly repainted ceiling caught fire and the blaze slowly began engulfing the building. Since the nearby reservoir was empty, the state called in a firefighting crew from Milwaukee to bring water to the site and douse the flames. Unfortunately, en route all their equipment froze beyond use, and they had to watch as the entire North, South and West wings of the building burnt completely to the ground. I wonder why they didn't just put the equipment closer to the giant flames and let the fire thaw it out. Perhaps the frigid temperatures had effected their judgment. I just think it's hilarious that my previous state of residence lost its capitol building due to the state's most unappealing feature - locals with frozen brains. 
I thought it was sad to read that the fire of 1904 destroyed the taxidermied remains of Old Abe the Civil War eagle. He was a vicious bald eagle that the Wisconsin 8th Infantry carried with them into battle during the first part of the war. Old Abe would scream and yell and raise a ruckus and the rebels would run away squealing like little girls. History says that Old Abe lost feathers to bullets and passing generals would tip their hats to him. 
Old Abe became the model for the 101st airbourne's Screaming Eagle patch, and the Case tractor company logo. There's a replica of Old Abe in the capitol building now, but that's just not the same.
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