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State Capitols
A Never-ending Hobby . . .

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Hawaii —

Observation Terrace, Volcano Crater "Dome"

Hawaii State Capitol
image courtesy of the State of Hawaii

Volcano Crater "Dome"
While you would never guess it when looking at the capitol from the street, the building is designed to look like Punchbowl, a volcano on Oahu that is in sight from the capitol. The roof especially carries out the likeness. It gently rises toward the center where the "crater" is, which is open to the courtyard below.

 

Observation Terrace
For a state that enjoys so much ideal weather, a simple balcony-style observation deck just isn't enough. The terrace, complete with large potted plants all around, encircles the perimeter of the building on the top floor.

Open Dome
the open roof
from the courtyard below

image courtesy of Laura Freundlich

 
More on Hawaii:
Telling Them Apart, Surprisingly Different Designs
Hawaii Postcard & Image Gallery
Capital & Capitol History
Old & New Capitol Timeline

 
 

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New York — Ornate Design, Historic Terra Cotta

Historic Roof
Several architects were involved with the design of the New York capitol during its construction. The resulting mix of styles found in the building is topped by a wonderfully unique roof, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson in the Victorian-modified Romanesque style.

The complex roof consists of eight different roofing materials, including liquid-applied membranes, slate, copper, clay tile, and granite. Of those, the most decorative part of Richardson's roof is the terra cotta tile covering the four corner towers and ornamenting ridges and hips between them. The resulting roof is so important to the state, the major roof renovation started in April 2000 was required to preserve the historic appearance of the building, especially in regard to the monumental terra cotta ornamentation.

A major goal of the renovation was to correct the leakage problem the building has suffered from the beginning. This pre-completion water problem increased constantly through the decades, because not only did the original attachment methods used for the terra cotta tiles prevent their removal as they wore and broke, but also the method used for so long to repair them in place was ineffective.

West facade, New York capitol
image courtesy of wadester16
through Creative Commons

West facade detail
Detail from image above

The Tower That Isn't
Each of the three architectural teams who worked on this capitol presented their own plan for a central, domed tower to rise over the current courtyard. The massive building experienced problems due to its size and weight, so no tower was ever built.

Terra Cotta Tile Restoration
The terra cotta ornaments along the ridges, hips, and finials of the capitol consist of about 274 different shaped tiles, and all the visible new pieces were reproduced to exactly match the color, texture, and geometry of the existing pieces. Some of the old tiles were so badly damaged that model builders had to carefully assemble a jigsaw puzzle of shards and pieces before they could construct their models.

Interior view skylight

Skylight
This interior domed laylight over the Great Western Staircase and the 3,000-square-foot skylight over it were also part of the roof restoration project. Though minimally visible from the outside, these lights have an obvious, dramatic visibility from the interior.

image courtesy of
Edward Crim photographer,
the State Capitols project

 
More on New York:
Telling Them Apart, Surprisingly Different Designs
New York Postcard & Image Gallery
Capital & Capitol History
Old & New Capitol Timeline

 
 

What's On Top, One of a Kind Toppers

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North Carolina — Dome, Honeysuckle

North Carolina capitol entrance
image courtesy of OZinOH

Dome
The current North Carolina state capitol building was completed in 1840. The octagonal tower at its center carries a shallow, copper-sheathed dome with no drums or cupola. Many of our state capitols have the tall domes with large and multiple drums which became popular around 1860 when the National Capitol's present dome was under construction.

North Carolina capitol dome
image courtesy of
Rooftop Systems Engineers, PC

honeysuckle detail
detail from image
above, right

Honeysuckle
On top of the dome is decorative ring, or anthemion crown, inspired by the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, commonly called the Lanthorn of Demosthenes or Lantern of Diogenes. The Tennessee capitol has ornamentation of the same design. North Carolina's is still one-of-a-kind though, since the effect is quite different.

 
More on North Carolina:
Telling Them Apart, Prominent Decorations
North Carolina Postcard & Image Gallery
Capital & Capitol History
Old & New Capitol Timeline

 
 

statecapitols.tigerleaf.com
What's On Top, One of a Kind Toppers

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Ohio —

Drum, Cupola, Conical Roof

Ohio statehouse front entrance
image courtesy of rossaroni
through Creative Commons

The Hidden Cupola
From the ground, both the construction below the main drum and the cupola are difficult to see. The aerial view at right shows the cupola is covered with a skylight. The limited height of the cupola and the conical shape of the roof can be seen at lower right. The closeup below shows the finial on top of the cupola and the trim around its edge.

Cupola trim and finial
image courtesy of
Edward Crim photographer,
the State Capitols project

 

Greek Revival Design
While nearly everyone would expect this statehouse to have a dome when they first see it, the drum and cupola with a conical roof represent the Greek Revival design better than a dome would. The Tholos at Delphi, a round temple to Athena with a conical roof, is presumed to be the inspiration for this crowning feature.

While more than one plan was submitted including a dome, the Greek Revival plan remained, partially because it was less expensive to build.

Aerial view of Ohio statehouse cupola
image courtesy of fusionpanda

Statehouse cupola and conical roof
image courtesy of
Edward Crim photographer,
the State Capitols project

 
More on Ohio:
Telling Them Apart, Hidden Letters
Ohio Postcard & Image Gallery
Capital & Capitol History
Old & New Capitol Timeline

 

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Page Last Updated: May-04-2017

For complete image credits and information sources, see Credits & Sources.

Site Author: Valerie Mockaitis     ©2005-2017 Valerie Mockaitis

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