State capitol building of the U.S. state of Kentucky
United States historic place
The
Kentucky State Capitol
is located in
Frankfort
and is the house of the three branches (executive, legislative, judicial) of the
state government
of the
Commonwealth
of
Kentucky
. The building is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
.
History
[
edit
]
Previous buildings
[
edit
]
From 1792 to 1830, two buildings were used as the capitol, both of which burned completely.
[2]
In 1830, another capitol was built and was used until 1910. During a bitterly contested 1899 state governor
election
,
Democratic Party
claimant
William Goebel
was assassinated at the capitol on his way to be inaugurated. The need for a larger building for a growing state government resulted in the replacement of
that capitol building
, which is now a museum operated by the Kentucky Historical Society.
[3]
Current 1910 building
[
edit
]
In 1904, the
Kentucky General Assembly
chose Frankfort (rather than
Lexington
or
Louisville
) as the location for the state capital and appropriated $1 million for the construction of a permanent state capitol building, to be located in southern Frankfort. The official ground-breaking was August 14, 1905 and construction was completed in 1909 at a cost of $1,180,434.80.
[2]
The building was dedicated on June 2, 1910.
[4]
The capitol was designed by
Frank Mills Andrews
, a distinguished and award-winning architect. He used the
Beaux-Arts style
and included many classical
French
interior designs. The staircases, for example, are replicas of those of the
Opera Garnier
in
Paris
.
[5]
Between 1912 and 1963, five statues of historical figures from Kentucky were erected in the rotunda of the capitol.
[6]
The first was a
bronze statue
of
Abraham Lincoln
, which was donated in 1912. Statues of
Henry Clay
and
Ephraim McDowell
were added in 1930. Both of these are the bronzed plaster models used for the bronze statues that represent Kentucky in the
National Statuary Hall
in the
U.S. Capitol
in Washington, D.C.
[7]
In 1936, a
marble statue
of
Jefferson Davis
, president of the
Confederate States of America
, was placed in the rotunda. The
statue of Davis
was paid for by both donations and public funds, and erected under the auspices of the
United Daughters of the Confederacy
.
[7]
The Kentucky General Assembly voted to fund a bronze statue of
Alben Barkley
, former
Vice President of the United States
, and it was added to the rotunda in 1963.
[7]
In 2018, a plaque in front of the statue of Jefferson Davis, which referred to Davis as a "patriot" and a "hero", was removed by the Kentucky Historic Properties Commission.
[8]
On June 4, 2020, Governor
Andy Beshear
stated that he believed the statue of Davis should be removed.
[9]
On June 13, 2020, the Kentucky Historic Properties Commission voted 11?1 to remove the statue from the Capitol. The Davis statue was to be moved to the
Jefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site
situated in
Fairview, Kentucky
, the birthplace of Davis.
[10]
In November 2022, a bronze statue of
Nettie Depp
by
Amanda Matthews
, Depp's great-great niece, was unveiled inside that capitol. It is the first permanent large-scale monument of a woman inside the state capitol. While Nettie's influence was not statewide, the Historic Properties Advisory Commission considered her a representative example of Kentucky women who achieved professional and personal success. The statue's unveiling occurred in November 2022.
[11]
[12]
Layout
[
edit
]
The main part of the Capitol has three floors. The first floor contains the offices of the governor (and his or her staff), lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. It also features a rotunda with statues of famous Kentuckians and other exhibits, including
Kentucky Women Remembered
.
The rotunda contains four statues of notable historical figures from Kentucky.
[7]
In the center of the rotunda stands a bronze statue of President
Abraham Lincoln
. Three more statues line the walls of the rotunda: bronze statues of
Henry Clay
, Vice President
Alben Barkley
, and
Ephraim McDowell
.
The second floor contains the courtroom of the
state Supreme Court
, as well as the chambers of the justices. The state law library is nearby. The State Reception Room is also located on the second floor.
The chambers of the House of Representatives and Senate face each other on opposite ends of the third floor. Some high-level legislative offices (such as for the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate) are also located there.
The Capitol also has a partial fourth floor which houses the galleries of the House and Senate, as well as a few offices for legislative committee staffers.
In addition, there is a partially buried basement level with mostly offices for clerks and maintenance personnel. However, it also contains a small gift shop and lunch counter as well as a tunnel to the neighboring Capitol Annex building. The Annex houses General Assembly committee rooms, General Assembly members offices and a cafeteria.
People who have lain in state in the Rotunda
[
edit
]
- Rebecca Boone
, wife of Daniel Boone, 1845
- Daniel Boone
, explorer, 1845
- Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn
, United States Senator, 1918
- Augustus Owsley Stanley
, Governor, 1958
- Tom Garrett, state senator, 1979
- Col. Harland Sanders
, founder of
Kentucky Fried Chicken
, 1980
- A.B. "Happy" Chandler
, Governor and United States Senator, 1991
- Bert T. Combs
, Governor, 1991
- Thelma Stovall
, Lt. Governor, 1994
- Lawrence W. Wetherby
, Governor, 1994
- Wilson W. Wyatt
, Lt. Governor, 1996
- Vic Hellard Jr., Executive Director of the Kentucky
Legislative Research Commission
, 1996
- Mary Louise Foust
, State Auditor, 1999.
- Wendell P. Butler
, Superintendent of Public Instruction, 2000
- Robert F. Stephens
, Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, 2002
- Kenny Rapier
, State Senator, 2002
- Edward T. "Ned" Breathitt
, Governor, 2003
- Louie B. Nunn
, Governor, 2004
- William E. McAnulty Jr.
, Justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court, 2008
- Mike Haydon, Governor's Chief of Staff, 2012
- Wendell Ford
, Governor and United States Senator, 2015
- Georgia Davis Powers
, State Senator, 2016
[13]
- John Y. Brown Jr.
, Governor and business mogul, 2022
[14]
Security
[
edit
]
The Capitol used to be completely open during normal business hours, and local residents often used the marble hallways for exercise (the Frankfort equivalent of "
mall walking
"). Currently, anyone without proper state credentials must go through a
metal detector
. Security for the complex is provided by officers from the Facilities Security Branch of the
Kentucky State Police
along with specifically assigned state troopers.
See also
[
edit
]
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Kentucky State Capitol Dome seen from the US 60 lookout
-
Kentucky State Capitol seen from the Daniel Boone grave site
-
Capitol dome illuminated at night
-
Capitol Dome, seen from outside main entrance
-
Main Entrance to the Capitol
-
The rotunda
-
One of the marble staircases
-
The main corridor
-
Office of the Governor of Kentucky
-
Senate Chamber
-
House of Representatives
-
Supreme Court Chamber
-
Supreme Court Chamber
-
State Reception Room
-
Kentucky Capitol Law Library
-
-
-
A bust of Kentucky Senator
John Sherman Cooper
, located in the Kentucky State Capitol
-
Lamp - Kentucky State Capitol
-
President William H. Taft addressing crowd at Kentucky State Capitol Building Rotunda
-
The Kentucky State Capitol on September 3, 2023.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"National Register Information System"
.
National Register of Historic Places
.
National Park Service
. March 15, 2006.
- ^
a
b
c
Buchta, David L. (2010).
Kentucky's State Capitol
.
United States
: Arcadia Publishing.
ISBN
9780738585789
.
Retrieved on 2013-08-08
- ^
Kentucky State Capitol Timeline
Retrieved 2013-08-08
- ^
Kentucky State Capitol: The Commonwealth's Magnificient [
sic
] Edifice
Archived
2013-10-04 at the
Wayback Machine
Kentucky Division of Historic Properties. Retrieved 2013-08-08
- ^
Architecture of Frankfort
Archived
2013-05-08 at the
Wayback Machine
City of Frankfort. Retrieved 2013-08-08
- ^
"Stop #14 State Capitol Pediment, Statuary & Murals"
.
Frankfort Public Art
. 2012
. Retrieved
4 June
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Capitol Rotunda Statuary"
.
Historic Properties
. 2020
. Retrieved
4 June
2020
.
- ^
Novelly, Thomas (March 29, 2018).
"A plaque calling Jefferson Davis a 'patriot' was removed from his Kentucky Capitol statue"
.
The Courier-Journal
. Retrieved
4 June
2020
.
- ^
Aulbach, Lucas (June 4, 2020).
"Jefferson Davis statue needs to be removed from Kentucky Capitol, Andy Beshear says"
.
The Courier-Journal
. Retrieved
4 June
2020
.
- ^
Bailey, Phillip M.
"
'Sins of our past': After 84 years, Jefferson Davis statue removed from Kentucky Capitol"
.
The Courier-Journal
.
- ^
Brammer, Jack (22 December 2017).
"In 2018, Kentucky's Capitol will finally get a life-size statue of a woman"
.
Lexington Herald-Leader
. Retrieved
27 December
2017
.
- ^
Simonson, Aya Elamroussi, Amy (November 11, 2022).
"Kentucky unveils statue of Nettie Depp, the first woman to have a permanent large-scale monument inside the state Capitol"
.
CNN
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Gerth, Joseph (February 4, 2016).
"22 have lain in state in Kentucky's Capitol"
.
Louisville Courier-Journal
. Louisville, Kentucky
. Retrieved
February 4,
2022
.
- ^
Watkins, Morgan (November 29, 2022).
"Former Gov. John Y. Brown lies in state at Kentucky Capitol"
. Louisville Courier Journal
. Retrieved
November 29,
2022
.
External links
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