State Capitols – Sacramento, California – Part 2 - Inside

From 1949 to 1952, a major annex was added to provide offices for California legislators and other state officials. Between 1975 and 1982, what was then the largest restoration project ever in North America transformed the capitol to its former glory. It cost $68 million. In addition to cleaning, restoring or recreating all the design elements in the building, the entire building was reinforced in place to make it more earthquake resistant…a monumental feat given that the original brick foundations and walls were replaced with reinforced concrete and steel while the building and its 220-foot dome remained in place.

California Seal in Stained Glass (17 May 2013)

Above the entrances to the legislative chambers is the state seal in stained glass. The objects depicted represent the state’s desirable features like the Pacific Ocean, the discovery of gold (“Eureka!), the strength of the Grizzly bear and the 31 stars that represent the number of states at the time. The goddess Minerva, who sprang from Jupiter’s head as a full grown adult, symbolizes the fact that California entered the union straight from Mexican possession. It was never a U.S. territory.

California Assembly Chamber, Sacramento (17 May 2013)

The Assembly’s 80 members each represent about 475,000 citizens. In the late 19th century, a German furniture maker produced 120 carved, black walnut desks for the legislature. They were modeled after German school desks and cost $13 each.

California Senate Chamber, Sacramento (17 May 2013)

The image is another of my distorted panorama views, made by pasting together 19 wide angle shots of the room. The Senate has 40 members who each represent about 931,000 citizens. Like the South Carolina capitol, this chamber follows the English tradition and provides a special chair on the dais for the king, but here that chair will always be empty. A portrait of George Washington hangs over the front of the chamber. It dates from 1854 and is the oldest object in the capitol.

Rotunda, California Capitol, Sacramento (17 May 2013)

I really like getting that centered, geometric rotunda shot at every capitol I visit. That was not possible here because that special place in the geographic center of the building is taken by (of all things on the west coast) a statue of Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella. This was the best shot I could get without crawling onto the Queen’s lap. I doubt Security would have appreciated such an effort in the name of art.

Chris, the Queen and Some Kid to Balance the Scene

(California Capitol, Sacramento, 17 May 2013)

Completed by Larkin Goldsmith Mead in 1871 from a single block of marble, the statue shows Columbus impressing the Queen with his round thing as Eunuch No. 7 looks on admiringly. While I couldn’t get that centered rotunda shot I prefer, there’s something to be said for an unbalanced view of that great space.

On the two occasions when we visited the capitol, it was a busy place, with events happening on the grounds, workers scurrying about and many visitors, including busloads of school kids…getting in the way of my attempts to photograph the place. That’s OK. These are public buildings after all, and I bristle at the attempts of some capitols to make it harder for us to get into ‘The People’s House’.

State Capitols – Sacramento, California – Part 1 - Outside

California Capitol in Sacramento (17 May 2013)

Constructed: 1860-1874

Architect: Miner Frederick Butler and Reuben Clark

State Admitted to Union: September 9, 1850 (31st)

State Population [2010]: 37,253,956 (1st)

When I resumed presenting state capitol stories, I noted that some will appear because they’re in the news. Lately, you can’t turn on the news without seeing a story about wildfires and the drought in California. Soon, I believe it will be about floods and mudslides when the El Niño rains hit. Regardless of the headlines, the state leads the nation in so many categories, starting with population and GDP. The state’s economy alone would rank 10th in the world.

The first Europeans explored California in the mid-1500’s. By the early 19th century, northern California was the southern-most reach of Russian Empire’s colonization in North America. After the Russians retreated to Alaska, the region became a province of Mexico when that colony gained independence from Spain in 1821.

Rooftop Decoration, California Capitol, Sacramento (17 May 2013)

When Mexico refused to sell us California so we could complete our Manifest Destiny dreams, we ginned up an excuse to invade and defeat the country. The Mexican War that ended in 1848 made sale negotiations easier. Since the area was already settled and the Gold Rush flooded the territory with more people, the state entered the union immediately. Capitols were located briefly in San Jose, Vallejo and Benicia before Sacramento became the permanent site in 1854. Completed in 1874, it is the oldest capitol west of the Mississippi River.

Spanish American War Hiker Statue, 

California State Capitol, Sacramento (17 May 2013) 

The capitol grounds are quite extensive, covering 10 square blocks in downtown Sacramento. The landscaping includes a trout pond, pictured above with the ‘Hiker’ statue. Foot soldiers in the Spanish American War were known as ‘hikers’. The grounds also include the Civil War Memorial Grove, created in 1867 with trees taken from southern Civil War battlefields. Only three of the trees survive to this day.

California Capitol, Sacramento (10 May 2007)

The construction of the capitol took 14 years and spanned several administrations. When the funds ran out, construction ceased and had to wait until the legislature allocated more money…not a timely factor given they met only two months every other year. This might explain why one of the principal architects, Reuben Clark broke down and died in a mental institution. When it was completed, the final bill was $2.5 million.

AH-nold The Governator (10 May 2007)

In 2007, we were driving from San Francisco to Reno for another of my futile attempts at bowling greatness on the big stage. The capitol was on the way so we stopped to visit. The following year, as the Dead Presidents Quest ended, the State Capitol Odyssey took greater shape and I needed to return and shoot the place more thoroughly. That happened in 2013 since the tournament was again in Reno. One highlight of the earlier visit was seeing Governor Schwarzenegger as he gave a brief press briefing. Apparently, everyone was told to wear gray suits that day.

The next post will highlight interior features of this fine building.

Before the Debate

I know this space has been about photographs and stories but I have been known to go off on topics that fire me up. Today’s politics certainly do that and this interminable election season just throws gasoline on that fire. Politics interests me. I appreciate government but it’s hard to like politicians. It’s a shame because public service is so important. Anyway, lacking pictures I have taken of our fine pols doing stupid things, there are always comics that say it better.

Dilbert by Scott Adams

Some personal perspective here. I used to be a card-carrying conservative, literally. When I first became eligible to vote, I registered with the Conservative Party in New York. In the 45 years since I moved away, I have been a staunch independent. I explained why in the Election Day rant last November.

At this time, the opinion polls are separating the clown bus of Republican candidates. With every gaffe and insult, The Donald adds points to his favorability rating. Doctor Ben Carson has surged to second place and former exec Carly Fiorina has moved high into the first tier. What they have in common is that none of them are life-long politicians.

Dilbert by Scott Adams

The GOP has been catering to the lowest common denominator for so long, all semblance of rational governing is off the table. Hell, all semblance of governing seems secondary. They are reaping what they have sown. We now have a primary where all the leaders are anti-establishment outsiders, none of whom have ever run (or participated in) a government.

These Republicans and their shills at Fox absolutely depend on ignorant voters to support them. They stand for things like birther nonsense and death panels and the black guy coming to take your guns away and the War on Christmas and the threat of Sharia law in America.

Tom Toles, Washington Post. Published 9/14/15

Now the ignorant are rising up, afraid of things that will not happen, gullibly believing hokum and supporting candidates that promise things they can’t deliver. The more these fools spout anti-government blather, the more the base falls in behind them. Then the chicken-bleep wanna-be’s who lack the nerve to speak the truth remain silent for fear of losing the support of the all-important base. Speaking of chickens, it looks like they are coming home to roost. Please…vote for the most conservative, God-Guns-and-Gays, shut-down-the-government candidate. It will be the best gift you could give to the Democrats. And you will have another postmortem report that again recommends you stop being the ‘party of stupid’.

Tonight’s debate will be in the Reagan Presidential Library and I bet every one of the candidates will invoke the name of Saint Ronald and what he did to elevate conservative government. Of course they won’t mention that he raised taxes, expanded government, called for amnesty for immigrants who have put down roots here, accepted gay people and compromised with Democrats (Gasp!) to get things done. They just depend on the base to forget all that. Can’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau

It amazes me that being against government is so popular. Why do we vote for people who don’t like government to run the government? What do we expect them to do when they’re in power? Like that picture that was in the news recently…a homeowner dressed in an anti-tax, anti-government t-shirt was thanking the fire fighters who saved his home. Sure, pal. You don’t believe in government except when you need help to put out a fire or a cop or an ambulance or a road or a sewer or water to drink.

Really?

I do not relish another four years of inept Democrat leadership but (at this time) choosing between anyone in the clown bus and whoever they run against is no contest.

Finally, I had to look it up. Among Webster’s definitions of ‘BASE’ – having little honor, courage or decency; mean; ignoble; contemptible; degrading; inferior in quality. They don’t call it ‘the base’ for nothing.

Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis

The World Trade Center Memorial

Another anniversary. Another visit to the scene of an atrocity.

The attack fourteen years ago today was this generation’s Pearl Harbor. Most of us still know where we were and what we were doing when it happened. As a native New Yorker who worked for a few years in lower Manhattan, I remember when the Twin Towers were built. That was the concluding image and recollection in my ten-year anniversary post in 2011.

Last year, the event was remembered with images from the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. Another stunning memorial is now in the place of the World Trade Center.

New Freedom Tower Under Construction (4 October 2009)

Other buildings have gone up around the site. The Twin Towers were not the only buildings that fell that day. It took quite a few years to reverently clean the site and prepare it for what came next. The negotiations between the developers, many governments and the victims’ families delayed progress further. This image, taken eight years later, shows the new tower’s steel finally rising above ground.

In 2012, we were in the Big Apple to celebrate Becky’s birthday and noodle around Manhattan. The Memorial had opened a few months earlier after the tenth anniversary commemoration. The museum was far from complete at that time and didn’t open until May 2014. The overwhelming physical features on the site are two enormous pools.

South Tower Fountain, 

World Trade Center Memorial (23 March 2012)

The water installations are huge and outline the actual footprints of the Towers. They are now the largest man-made waterfalls on the continent. After the water cascades down the black walls to the pool, it disappears through an even darker central opening. One can’t see the bottom of that space. It’s like the flow of water and the lives it represents are lost in that dark abyss. Not very uplifting and heaven-like but gravity can limit one’s opportunity for design expression.

Names as Far as the Eye Can See (23 March 2012)

The names of the nearly 3000 victims are actually cut through the bronze parapets around both pools. This allows the viewer to see the water through the letters. This must look spectacular at night when the fountains are illuminated.

In the background is the pavilion and entrance to the National September 11 Memorial Museum. The museum itself is deep underground, in that vast, multi-story space that New York City has carved out of the bedrock since the 19th century for utilities and transportation.

Cascade, 9/11 Memorial (23 March 2012)

This is a big space. Even more so in the tight confines of lower Manhattan where skyscrapers rise on narrow, colonial-era streets. Sometimes, the ‘less-is-more’ rule works and a nice image can result from zooming in on just a portion of the scene.

It was an early spring day. The many new trees around the area had yet to leaf out and construction activity was still evident in all directions. But this was Ground Zero. Visitors and residents have made this area a priority and it’s hard to imagine our collective interest ever fading.