About this event
Here's an opportunity to visit the Missouri State Capitol building in Jefferson City on a guided tour with other Porsche Club members. We will depart from Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, just south of Columbia, lower parking lot, Devils Ice Box parking. (address: 5901 S. HWY 163, Columbia, MO 65203) Meet at 10:40 am for a 11:00 am departure. We’ll drive the back roads through Sapp, then on to Ashland. From there, we will drive south on US 63 to Sweet Smoke BBQ at 3530 Country Club Drive in Jefferson City.
After a noon lunch, we will drive as a group to the Missouri State Capitol building for a 2:00 pm guided tour. We need to be there 10 min. early so we need to leave the restaurant on time. Parking along Capitol Ave is recommended with plenty of spots normally available on the river side of the building.
Meeting spot for the tour: the front steps of the Capitol building (opposite side of the river)
REGISTER SOON AS THERE IS A MAXIMUM OF 30 PARTICIPANTS FOR THE TOUR. REGISTRANTS BEYOND 30 WILL BE WAITLISTED IN CASE THERE ARE CANCELLATIONS.
Capitol description:
Completed in 1918, the Missouri Capitol building covers nearly three acres and is a symmetrical building of the Roman renaissance style, surmounted by a dome of unusual beauty. It stands upon 285 concrete piers which extend to solid rock at depths from 20 to 50 feet. It is 437 feet long by 200 feet wide through the wings. The exterior is of Carthage, Missouri limestone marble, as are the floors of all the corridors, the rotundas and the treads of the stairways. There are 134 columns in the building - one-fourth of the stone used in the entire structure.
The grand stairway is one of the capitol's outstanding features. It is 30 feet wide and extends from the front portico to the third floor. It is more than 65 feet from the wall on one side of the stairway to the wall on the other side. At the entrance is a mammoth bronze front door, 13 feet by 18 feet.
Atop the lantern of the capitol dome, 260 feet above the ground, is a classic bronze figure of Ceres, goddess of grain, chosen to symbolize the state's great agricultural heritage.
Inside the building, the view of the dome from the first-floor rotunda is magnificent. A huge bronze chandelier, weighing 9,000 pounds, hangs from the dome's eye, 171 feet above. The paintings of Frank Brangwyn on the eye, panels and pendentive of the dome are clearly visible from the ground floor.
Artwork throughout the building dramatically depicts scenes of Missouri's history, countryside and people. Especially famous are murals by artist Thomas Hart Benton in the House Lounge. The Missouri State Museum on the ground floor is another popular feature.