State Capitols – Juneau, Alaska – Part 1

Alaska Capitol in Juneau (16 May 2023)

Constructed: 1929-1931

Architect: James A. Wetmore

State Admitted to Union: January 3,1959 (49th)

State Population (2020): 733,391 (48th)

At the northwest corner of the North American continent, our forty-ninth state stands apart from the lower forty-eight. How big is Alaska? If you superimposed the state onto a map of the lower 48, the Aleutian Islands would extent to the California coast. Southeast Alaska, where we are, would be in Georgia. You can fit all of California, Texas, Montana and Idaho inside Alaska...and still have room for all but 4.5 square miles of Delaware.

Juneau, Alaska (16 May 2023)

On the other hand, Alaska’s population is at the opposite end of the scale. Only Vermont and Wyoming have fewer people. More than half of the state’s population reside in the Anchorage metro region.

Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

‘50 by 76?’

My traveling companion and editor once had a quest of her own...to visit all 50 states before she turned 50. That mission was accomplished on our first Inside Passage cruise when she set foot in Juneau in 2002, her 49th year. Since the Inside Passage will always be our favorite big boat cruise and since Juneau was the last state house on the list and can be reached only by water (or air), we booked another run up the Pacific coast. The only set criterion for the trip was that the ship stop in Juneau on a weekday during business hours.

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. My last fears about the capitol being closed for Salmon Appreciation Day or Sarah Palin’s birthday were unfounded and we waltzed into a friendly, open public building...free to wander about and appreciate the space.

Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

While some capitol visits are more involved because there are extensive grounds with monuments, memorials, tributes and displays, this one occupies a city block...period. No grounds here.

Preserved Cornerstone, Alaska Capitol,

Juneau (16 May 2023)

Next to the Liberty Bell is the preserved original cornerstone for the building. I’m guessing when they made improvements for earthquake resistance in 2012, the cornerstone was saved. Curious about why Andrew Mellon and the Treasury Department got top billing, I found that the Department’s Capital Projects Fund pays for this kind of construction. As the territorial capitol, the building also housed the offices of many federal agencies that operated in the area. Once you become a state, you have to assume the responsibilities and the feds need to find their own office space.

Lobby, Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

The walls of the modest main entrance lobby are lined with an Alaska-quarried marble. The moldings at the ceiling are Alaska images – igloo, conifer tree, whale and miners’ tools. Straight ahead and behind me are clay relief murals that depict the fishing and hunting that is so prevalent in the state. The bust in the glass case on the left commemorates Elizabeth Peratrovich, a Tlingit woman who fought for civil rights in the 1940’s. It was a time when businesses could put up signs that said “No animals or Indians allowed.”

This was one of the rare times I’ve visited a state house when the legislature was still in session. Fortunately, the senators and representatives were on a break. The chambers were open and empty.

Alaska House of Representatives Chamber,

Juneau Capitol (16 May 2023)

The House has forty members who are elected to two-year terms. Alaska may have the coziest legislative chambers...certainly the ones with the lowest ceilings and tight surrounding walls. No room for statuary and memorials here. What they call the ‘gallery’ has two rows of seats in the back of the room.

 

Alaska Senate Chamber,

Juneau Capitol (16 May 2023)

The Senate has 20 members who are elected to four-year terms.

Alaska Capitol (16 May 2023)

The wide corridors showcase mementos of Alaska history, especially from the territorial period. Newspaper front pages that announced statehood in 1959 are also framed on the walls.

I’m not complaining, but with all the state houses I have seen, this modest, unpretentious government building was a bit of an anticlimactic end to the quest. Like the end of the Dead Presidents Quest, where LBJ’s grave was simple and off limits to visitors, the Alaska capitol lacks all grandeur...like a big county government building in one of our larger states.

That said, there is actually more to say about this final state house visit in Part 2.