Friday, May 28, 2010

Up River to Jefferson City

Jefferson City was chosen early as the capital of Missouri, with the first capitol building being completed in 1826.


The present capitol building was completed in 1917. It is the third one built, the first two having been destroyed by fire. It sits atop a hill and is visible for miles around.


The inside is just magnificent.


Apparently after the latest capitol was built, there was $1 million left over, so artists were hired to paint pictures of early Missouri life.


The bottom floor contains a museum of Missouri history.


And there are statues throughout the building of famous people from the state. This is Betty Grable.


Next to the capitol is the Governor's Mansion. It was built in 1871 at a cost of $75,000.


This very selective Mourning Dove certainly has the best home for her family, right on the governor's front porch.


We lined up for a tour. Uh-oh! It was Fourth-graders tour day.


The tours were conducted by docents in old-time dresses. This screen was used by women as a shield from the heat of the fireplace so that their waxy makeup wouldn't melt.


The tour was of the first floor. The governor and his family live on the upper two floors.


The walls of the first floor are covered with painted portraits of all the Missouri First Ladies.


The most striking interior feature is the free-standing Grand Stairway carved out of walnut.


And don't forget to look up - the ceilings are elaborately painted and trimmed with real 23-carat goldleaf.


After our tour, we went to Clark's Hill, where Lewis and Clark stayed June 1-2, 1804. Clark climbed the 100-foot hill and found Indian burial mounds.


Then we all went back to town and had a very nutritious lunch.

9 comments:

  1. I want that kind of lunch...

    ReplyDelete
  2. The pictures are great and now I am going out for lunch.

    Dan (Bubbadan)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loved the pictures, especially the last one! Yum! Why oh why can't the US hire financial genuses who have 1 million dollars left over in a budget????

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very interesting .. been to Jeff City several times but never on the Mansion tour .. thanks for the pics. Looks like lunch was great! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great photos. The capitol looks a lot like ours. Except Harrisburg never has any money, let alone any leftover money.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I want a lunch like that lol Loved the pictures, what a beautiful place! Stay safe and thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. what a beautiful mansion!!! I often wondered what those screens were used for!!
    So Lewis n Clark stayed there on their trip...so cool!! That ice cream looks superb!! Where are you guys gonna be tomorrow--Wednesday?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Dixxe, We're up in Iowa for a week or so. Had to leave the Lewis and Clark trail temporarily.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The older I get, them more I enjoy history. American History...

    ReplyDelete

I love comments!