Capitol Steps – Part 1

Ohio Capitol, Columbus (15 June 2009)

Many state houses predate the invention of the elevator, so stairs were essential to convey people to the higher floors of the building. Not all stairways were tucked away in remote corners of the structure. The open expanse of a spacious atrium directs one to a grand staircase that is often a major feature in capitol buildings. Impressive backdrops for ceremonies and photographs, they often front heroic artworks on the walls behind them.

Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City (20 June 2014)

The post’s title is also an inside reference for D.C. Beltway types as there was a terrific political satire troupe with that name. They played in Georgetown for almost 40 years before Covid shut them down. Their motto was, “We put the ‘mock’ in Democracy.”

To date, twenty-nine state houses have been presented here. Photos of grand staircases were included in the posts for the capitols of Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Montana and Utah. In 2021, I devoted an entire post to the ‘Million Dollar Staircase’ in the New York capitol.

Following are more stairways not shown previously. Another post will zoom in to get closer to the details that make these buildings such interesting subjects.

Minnesota Capitol, St. Paul (24 September 2009)

The world is like a grand staircase,

some are going up and some are going down.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Pennsylvania Capitol, Harrisburg (15 May 2008)

There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs.

Zig Ziglar (1926-2012)

Oklahoma Capitol, Oklahoma City (13 June 2008)

Life tells you to take the elevator, but love tells you to take the stairs.

David Levithan (b. 1972)

Virginia Capitol, Richmond (30 June 2008)

It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.

Vaclav Havel (1936-2011)