Jackson: Mississippi's State Capital - Tues., May 2, 2017

As promised, here is a more detailed telling of our visit to Mississippi's state capital. First off, I'd like to compliment Bertie, our tour guide. She is a former school teacher and was a wealth of knowledge. We were her only two students for the tour today. 

The first piece of information she shared with us gave me a good belly laugh, although apparently neither Bertie nor Bob shared my sense of humor. The original building to stand in the spot where the capital was built was a jail. Does no one else see the irony of putting politicians in a building that replaced the jail? All I could think of was Richard Nixon saying, "I am not a crook!"

State penitentiary 

With my laugh of the day complete, we continued on to see this beautiful building. Bertie showed us the Rotunda's Main Dome and explained that it is a "double shell." Theodore Link, the architect, employed a technique dating back to the Renaissance and the design of some of Europe's greatest churches. The technique uses a "double shell" design to solve two problems inherent in the design of large domes: one is a need for different proportions for the dome's interior and exterior; the other solves an inherent structural challenge. 

"Double shell" refers to two layers or shells that comprise the dome, one visible from inside and one from outside. The two shells are designed to help support each other.

In regard to the different proportions needed for the inside and outside, when viewing from a distance, a dome should rise high above the body of the building. When viewed from the inside, though, a dome proportioned for exterior viewing would appear much too high. Conversely, a dome appropriately proportioned for interior viewing would appear too short and squat on the outside. The double shell design corrects those appearances.

The Mississippi Capitol's Main Dome shares another characteristic with other capitol domes: it sits on top of a cylindrical element called a drum. The drum provides the height needed to achieve the appropriate proportions for the dome's interior space and its exterior form. A drum also provides an ideal location for windows, which would be very difficult to incorporate in the surface of the dome itself. When the drum is surrounded by a colonnade like the one at this capitol, these windows allow natural light to filter into the Rotunda. [The above information about the Main Dome is from a tour hand-out written by Lawson Newman, AIA; WFT Architects, P.A.]

The Rotunda has walls of Italian white marble with Belgian black marble molding. The eight columns and friezes are man-made art marble called scagliola (plaster made to imitate marble). It helped keep the cost down. Bertie told us two ways to tell real marble from scagliola: (1) scagliola has hairline cracks in it, and (2) real marble is a bit colder to the touch than scagliola. 

We then turned around to take in the beautiful grand staircase. It is unique in that the architect used stepped consoles and corbels to create a wavy balustrade.

Grand staircase with consoles and corbels
 forming flanking walls to the stairs

Grand staircase with three stained-glass windows

These stained glass windows are a little different from most stained glass windows. In addition to the individual pieces of colored glass divided by lead, some of the glass has painting on it; for example, the face and arms of the American indian, and the face of Mississippi.

The American Indian

Pioneer

Mississippi

Other impressive features we saw included leaded glass windows which recently had been completely re-set, the golden eagle for the top of the dome, and the "skylights" and stained glass between floors.

Leaded glass windows

A very unique feature incorporated into this capital are stained-glass skylights between floors. How, you may ask, does the light get through between floors?
If you look at the second photo below, you will see that small glass squares are set in the floor above the stained glass which allow light to pass through to the ceiling below.

Stained-glass skylights in the
ceiling between floors

Glass squares set in the floor allow light to
filter through to the stained-glass ceiling below.

Each state capital has a figure or piece of art atop their dome; Mississippi has a gold eagle. The eagle's underlying material is fabricated through a process called repoussé. Sheets of copper were pressed, rolled and hammered into a reverse mold of the eagle. Where the sheets overlap, they are rivetted and soldered together to form the eagle.

The eagle is gilded with gold leaf. Gold forms one of the best protective finishes available. It is resistant to oxidation, corrosion and ultraviolet degradation.

House of Representatives

On the grounds of the capital is a historical marker about the Capitol Rally held here in 1966, after James Meredith's three-week "March Against Fear" from Memphis, Tennessee. James Meredith was shot and wounded. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stokely Carmichael and others gave stirring speeches at this gathering. This rally brought together all the major civil rights organizations in one place and introduced the Black Power movement. 

Those were the highlights of our tour. We highly recommend that in your travels you stop to see the gorgeous state capitals of our country. You will learn a lot!

Our Rig was Spared by Inches - Tues., Oct. 28

Let me paint the picture for you...

Heading south from Branson, Missouri into Arkansas there are A LOT of hills. Some of those hills have passing lanes because much of the route is a two lane, winding road. On one of those passing lanes in Arkansas we were in the slow lane and people were zooming around us. As you know, passing lanes give plenty of warning when the lane is about to end. A couple more cars zoomed by us as the lane was ending. There was zero shoulder, just a 15-20' drop down to some trees and pasture. The passing lane was gone and the two lanes had almost finished merging to one.

Bob was still as far to the right as he could be. He totally stressed because an 18-wheeler was STARTING to pass. The driver did not back off. He came so close to us on the left side, I was sure he was going to hit us and we would roll off the edge of the hill. Another car was coming from the front. The oncoming driver must have stopped. I couldn't see because the truck was in the way. Somehow the truck missed hitting us and the oncoming car.

That driver endangered three vehicles plus all the people in them. Here is a photo of his truck and him.

Heartland Express truck

Here is scenery from our drive south:

Farm land

Sorry the next two photos are blurry, but the camera couldn't overcome the motion of the truck. These are the hills I'm talking about.

Arkansas - No grade percentage was listed

Going up!

When we arrived in Little Rock, we made our way on narrow, bumpy (but paved) roads to Maumelle Campground (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) on the Arkansas River. Our site backed up to the river so we had a gorgeous view out our rear window.

View out our back window - Arkansas River

View out our dining room window - marina

Our site - # 14

Once we were settled, since it was early and rainy, we decided to do the interior tour of the state Capitol. It was about a 20-minute drive into downtown Little Rock.

Information for the next few paragraphs was gleaned from "Through These Doors: A Self-Guided Tour of the Arkansas State Capitol."

The Arkansas State Capitol is the second capital. The first, now called the Old State House, was not large enough and fell into disrepair raining chunks of plaster onto the Senate floor. Yikes!

In 1899, the state's legislators voted to build a new State Capitol. They found the perfect spot about a mile up the Arkansas River from the Old State House -- a plot already occupied by the state penitentiary. They used 200 convicts to level the prison and build a new Capitol in its place. (The irony of this does not escape me.)

The first architect, George Mann, oversaw the project until 1909. Delays included cost overruns, budget shortfalls, and even charges of bribery. (Where's that penitentiary when you need it?) The state replaced Mann with renowned architect Cass Gilbert who was noted for his designs of the Minnesota State Capitol and the United States Supreme Court building.

Gilbert quickly had substandard materials removed and revised the interior design. Features that were intended to meet a low budget were upgraded. Marble for the floors and wall panels came from Vermont, and the grand staircases were carved of Alabama stone. Elegant fluted columns were quarried in Colorado. Hard, lustrous Batesville, Arkansas limestone formed the exterior walls while softer Indiana limestone was used for the dome.

In 1915, the construction was officially declared complete. The final cost of the project topped $2.2 million, surpassing the initial budget of $1 million.

Today, the neo-classical Arkansas State Capitol looks a lot like it did in 1915. The distance from ground level to the top of the dome's cupola is 213 feet. It is topped by a copper ball finial covered in gold leaf. I didn't get a lot of photos of the exterior because it was raining.

In comparison to the other State Capitols we've visited, this one was, sorry to say, plain Jane, sterile, white-on-white, institutional, cavernous, and very little art. The arches have their own beauty. Here it is.

Their state seal is backlit and is gorgeous

I will have to describe the following photo...We are looking up into the dome. The four half circles are archways of the fourth floor. The "pearls" in the middle are the chandelier.

The chandelier is suspended from the ceiling by a 73-foot chain. The rotunda chandelier weighs more than 4,000 pounds and is approximately 12 feet in diameter and 18 feet in height. This light fixture, along with several others in the Capitol, was designed for the Capitol by the Mitchell-Vance Company of New York. This grand, intricate chandelier is assembled using thousands of brass, copper, zinc, iron and glass parts.

Looking up at the fourth floor arches and dome

Dome and chandelier

Stairs to second floor

Lovely fireplace in Governor's Reception Room

Stained glass window in a door, Governor's Reception Room

"Governor Bob" hard at work

You can see how small Bob looks in the Rotunda

"The six, ten-foot-tall bronze doors located on the eastern side of the rotunda were purchased from Tiffany's of New York in 1910 for $10,000. Today, those same doors are valued at $250,000. In order to keep the uncoated bronze surfaces shining as the architect envisioned, the doors are polished by hand, inside and out, each week.

"The bronze doors served as the main public entrance for much of the Capitol's first century. However, since 2011, visitors have entered via the ground-level tunnel doors through security stations operated by the State Capitol Police."

From "Through These Doors: A Self-Guided Tour of the Arkansas State Capitol

I can report the doors are awesome. They look like they're made of gold.

Tiffany's bronze doors

And just who might this young fellow be in the portrait below? It is a very young Governor William Jefferson Clinton.

Governor William Jefferson Clinton

Grand staircase leading to the House

Bob waiting to go in the House

Vaulted skylight over cavernous hall of arches

The lunette below is called "Religion." The four murals (lunettes) at the ends of the vaulted skylights are the only public artworks commissioned for the building. These murals came from the studio of Paul Martin Heerwagen, a Bavarian-born artist and interior decorator from Fayetteville, Arkansas. His commission for the work was $10,000. Completed in October 1914, the painted canvases were originally glued directly to the plaster walls below the skylights. The murals were restored in 2000.

"Religion" lunette

As we were taking photos and goofing around, a very nice gentleman came up the stairs and asked if we'd like to see the House chambers. "Why, yes! How nice of you."

He went to get the keys and let us in.

What first impressed us upon walking into the House Chamber was the stained glass skylight and drapes. The drapes were installed to reduce glare and dampen the chamber's lively acoustics. Glasswork and fittings of the outer dome were restored in 2012, and the interior dome and ceiling underwent restoration in summer 2014.

Beautiful stained glass skylight

I didn't think much of the chandelier until I read about it later in the self-guided tour pamphlet. The 2,000-pound, Mitchell-Vance chandelier is original to the room.

House Chamber seating

The gentleman who let us in to see the House Chamber waited patiently while we snooped around. We thought maybe the upstairs Gallery would be open, but he didn't think so. We checked when we reached the fourth floor and it was ajar, so we let ourselves in. We had a good view of the whole House Chamber.

House Chamber from the Gallery.

We also were able to see the scagliola up close. The columns and pilasters are finished in scagliola, a technique which uses a mix of gypsum plaster, glue, pigments and marble dust applied over a base surface to simulate the look of marble. The columns' capitals are gilded. (Gild = to coat with gold, gold leaf or a gold-colored substance.)

Gilded capital and scagliola on column

House Chamber, columns, chandelier and stained glass ceiling

Many, many arches

"War" lunette

Looking toward House Chamber

I'm amazed at all the places Pearl Harbor turns up. A beautiful memorial Pearl Harbor Memorial is on the third floor along with a history of Arkansas.

Pearl Harbor Memorial

The State Senate chamber

Looking up toward the Rotunda dome

Old Supreme Court Chamber

 It was a rainy day so we didn't linger outside. I took two photos.

Back side of the Capitol

Detailed porthole window

Finished with our exploration of the Capitol, we found our way back to Maumelle Campground, but decided not to go back just yet. Two miles beyond our campground is Pinnacle Mountain State Park so we continued on the road to the state park. It was sprinkling and the light was fading; however, when we arrived at the visitor center, a scenic lookout trail hooked us into a short hike.

Pinnacle Mountain State Park, Rocky Valley Trail

Old quarry highlighted by fall colors

Me in front of lake at old rock quarry

Scenic viewpoint (Bob makes good scenery!)

Oriental scene

1,011' Pinnacle Mountain

After our quick exploration, we went back to our campsite to relax for the rest of the evening. As usual, I worked on photos and wrote a blog. Bob pored over the Arkansas River Trail brochure to plan his long run for tomorrow morning. 

The Arkansas River Trail is a 16-mile loop between the Big Dam Bridge (yes, that's really its name!) and the downtowns of Little Rock and North Little Rock. Bob is stoked to run the whole thing.

All for tonight. Travel Bug out.