State Capitols – Juneau, Alaska – Part 2

I don’t mean to be disparaging when I say the Juneau capitol is small and ‘ordinary.’ It contains all the offices and functions of a state...a state with less than half the number of residents in the Bronx, one of five boroughs in the City of New York in the State of New York.

Since I’ve seen them all, I know that many state houses were built during golden ages when classic designs and exotic materials were used. The current Alaska capitol, built when the territory’s population was 60,000, was a straight-forward affair, meant to accommodate the necessary governing bodies...almost thirty years before statehood was achieved.

Public School # 83

Bronx, New York (31 October 2006)

Speaking of the Bronx, scroll back to Part 1 and observe the striking resemblance the Juneau capitol has to my elementary school, one block from home. Built at the same time, it appears government buildings had a certain prescribed appearance.

Back to Juneau. While I lingered outside, Beck went inside and informed the two, armed security guards of my quest that was about to end. When I entered the lobby, they applauded the latest Complete Capitol Collector. Fun. No frisking or running my stuff through a machine. Have to love these low-key, friendlier states.

Front Page of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

Among the photographs and personages that line

the walls, there are a number of newspaper front

pages that proclaimed Alaska’s statehood in 1959.

While we were in the empty Senate chamber, Beck asked one of the pages, “What is the one special thing a serious capitol collector has to see in this building?” He said we had to go to the fifth floor Senate Finance Committee room and see Uhtred Permanentfundsen, Defender of the Permanent Fund.

Entry to the Senate Finance Committee Room

Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

When Alaska was a territory, it was divided into four judicial districts. This room was once the Superior Court of Territorial District One. The restored room has retained the lighting and benches from that period.

Senate Finance Committee Room

Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

There, beneath a striking painting of a polar bear, is the carved head of a Viking-like character.

Uhtred Permanentfundsen,

Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

The state’s Permanent Fund is the annual payout every citizen in Alaska gets from oil and gas royalties. In recent years, that amounted to $3000 for every person who has resided in the state for a full year. One can appreciate the desire to keep that gravy train going...and the political death sentence it represents for anyone who thinks they have a better use for the money. Hence, this character keeps his steely gaze cast on everyone conducting Finance Committee business.
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One embarks on a quest with the endpoint in mind. The State House Odyssey began in 2008 when the Dead Presidents Quest ended. I had to find another subject to pursue as I trekked to Kansas and Texas to find the last two presidents’ graves. However bland the Grand Finale was, it still marks the date for all perpetuity. From this day forward, May 16 will be a holiday and everyone at Images and More will have the day off.

It has been a most rewarding experience appreciating the architecture and learning the history of fine public spaces...each one special in its own way. I consider myself lucky to have reached this point and I look forward to presenting the rest of our nation’s fine state houses in future posts.