Harrisburg, PA Statehouse visit

At the dedication of the Capitol building in 1906, President Teddy Roosevelt described this structure as "the handsomest building I ever saw". The capitol dome rises 272 feet. This vaulted dome weighs 52 million pounds, and was modeled after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The dome was inspired by the great domes of St. Peter’s Basilica by Michelangelo in Rome and the U.S. Capitol.

In colonial days, John Harris operated a ferry at Harrisburg. His son, John Jr., laid out the town of Harrisburg in 1785, and gave land to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that was later used for the Capitol grounds. The capitol building is an Italian Renaissance-style statehouse. It is an example of outstanding architecture, with collections of art and sculpture, including large murals.

The state Legislature passed an Act in 1810 that made the borough - now city - of Harrisburg, on the banks of the Susquehanna River, the state capital effective in October of 1812.

“The Pennsylvania State Capitol is an enduring landmark of democracy unifying art, history and architecture.”

John W. Lawrence, M.D.

Note the roof is of green glazed terra-cotta tile.

The spectacular dome rises 272 feet from the ground and weighs 52 million pounds. The Rotunda is lit by almost 4,000 lights.

The lantern drum, above the domed ceiling, also has sixteen tall vertical glazed openings separated by fluted pilasters

Around the dome of the drum are sixteen large rectangular windows featuring a wood sash that holds leaded stained glass in a geometric pattern.

The grand staircase in the Capitol Rotunda leads to the Legislative Chambers, the House on the right and the Senate to the left. Angel at foot of grand staircase in the Rotunda

“I saw the angel in the marble, and carved until I set him {her} free.”

Michelangelo

South Hallway in the Capitol, first floor

French Renaissance for the Senate

The central mural shows the figure of a woman representing International Unity and Understanding." She presides over the end of all warfare that many Americans briefly believed would be the product of World War I. Kings gives up their crowns, a Red Cross worker joins a soldier in washing the blood off his hands, a black woman cleanses her baby in water, a slave is freed, and laborers beat swords into ploughshares. Women, one of them the pacifist Jane Addams and most of them women of color, join male workers in framing a painting in which the rich and powerful are absent.

Generally acknowledged as one of the greatest American and greatest female muralist, Violet Oakley regarded her work as a "sacred challenge" to bring about a better world.

Our group in the gallery section of the House

The Supreme and Superior Court Chamber is one of the three great public rooms in the Capitol and houses the oldest court in North America

The ceiling of the Supreme Court Chamber is dominated by the circular stained glass dome at the center of the room created by Alfred Godwin of Philadelphia.

The Capitol was built and furnished at a cost of $12 million, the building was designed in the classic renaissance style. Its five-story exterior is faced with Vermont granite and the roof is made of green glazed tile. The Capitol is520 feet long and 254 feet wide and covers two acres of ground.

The sculptural group by George Grey Barnard at the south side of the main entrance characterizes the Lost Paradise: Adam and Eve; The Burden of Life: The Broken Law, and includes figures of Adam and Eve, Forsaken Mother, Angel of Consolation; Kneeling Youth Mourning Woman, Two Brothers and Burden Bearer representing Despair and Hope.

Cathedral Parish of St. Patrick

With the construction of a vast system of canals, railroads, and turnpikes along the Susquehanna River, many Irish immigrants soon arrived. The influx of these Irish laborers influenced the building of St. Patrick's church closer to the riverfront. In 1824, Fr. Patrick Leary purchased the present site on State Street, and in 1826 the cornerstone was laid.

Many of the older buildings have been converted to offices

The other fellow looks a lot more relaxed than I do

Donna giving me the “shaka” sign (greeting sign in Hawaii) along the Susquehanna River

Donna and Allen in a Kodak moment along the Susquehanna River

The Pow Wow was going on across the river and "free"

You can figure this one out, the animal is in "lock down" mode, notice the cuffs on the hooves

That concludes our visit to Harrisburg.

“You friends, are the people’s choice…you’ll see what laws are fit to be left out and what to be made, and you with me, are to prepare and propose them.”

William Penn

1682 To Members of the First Assembly