23 February 2025

New York State Capitol

Our 18th state capitol tour is in the books with a visit to the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York.

New York State took its time deciding where its capital was going to be, but eventually settled on Albany in 1797. Prior to that, the location bounced between Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and the city of New York. However, it took 90 years before they started work on the current building, which was underway starting in 1867.

The building was completed after 32 years of work in 1899, and cost a whopping $25 million dollars (almost $1 billion today – hot damn!). The exorbitant cost led to many delays in and turnover of architects. It also led to various architectural styles being incorporated, starting with the Romanesque on the ground floor, moving on to Renaissance Classical for the second and third floors, and finishing up the top two floors in the Romanesque again.

The Senate Staircase.
The Assembly Chamber originally had ornately carved vaulted ceilings, but just ten years after completion they started to fall apart and had to replaced.

The building has a central open courtyard, and is 220 feet tall at its highest point. It is notably missing a domed roof, one of 11 state capitols to go that route.

The initial plans called for one, but the building’s weight was causing problems. Not only were stress fractures appearing soon after the building was completed, the entire building started shifting downhill, which was stopped by adding a 166-foot staircase to the eastern facade (see cover photo)!

But the real question is, how does it fit in our overall ranking of state capitols? Doug was impressed by the scale of the building, but also found it dark and uninviting. He didn’t appreciate the pastiche of architectural styles that went into the building, despite the wonderful craftsmanship of the stonemasonry.  Here’s how the state stacks up so far.

The Senate Chamber, with 23-karat gold leaf on the walls. The acoustics in this room mean that even whispered conversations can be heard around the room, so to this day you can spy people ducking into the enormous fireplaces to have a private chat!
At some point, the money spent on the building was said to be enough, and projects were left unfinished. Here you can see the stone carving over an arch in the Senate Chamber is not fully carved.
Ceiling in the gallery of the Assembly Chamber.
Light fixture at the Great Western Staircase.
Windows in the Assembly Chamber.
The Great Western Staircase, also known as the “million dollar staircase,” even though it actually cost $1.5 million. It has 78 famous faces carved throughout.
The top of the Senate Staircase.
This space was originally planned to be part of the domed tower, which was later scrapped. It’s now the “War Room,” which chronicles important military events in the state. The image over the door in the center of the picture contains a Confederate flag. Sigh.
Pillars atop the Great Western Staircase.

Hall of New York

The “Hall of New York” (which was actually spread over a few hallways) featured paintings of scenes around the state.

Fifth Avenue, New York City, 1906, Colin Campbell Cooper.
View of Binghamton from Mount Prospect, 1852, Edward Beyer.
Manhattan Contrasts, 1917, Everett Longley Warner.

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