The Arkansas State Capitol, often called the Capitol Building, is the home of the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 10 ...

, and the seat of the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

state government that sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the Capitol Mall in

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

History

In 1899, the St. Louis architect

George R. Mann George Richard Mann (July 12, 1856 – March 20, 1939) was an American architect, trained at MIT, whose designs included the Arkansas State Capitol. He was the leading architect in Arkansas from 1900 until 1930, and his designs were among the fi ...

visited the governor of Arkansas Daniel W. Jones, and presented his drawings of his winning competition design from 1896 for the

Montana State Capitol The Montana State Capitol is the state capitol of the U.S. state of Montana that houses the Montana State Legislature which is located in the state capital of Helena at 1301 East Sixth Avenue. The building was constructed between 1896 and 1902 w ...

, which had not yet been built in their state capital of

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * H ...

. They were hung on the walls of the old Capitol to generate interest in a new building. The drawings' attractiveness eased the passage of the appropriation bills for the new building, and also drew attention to the architect. In 1899, Mann was selected as architect by a seven-member commission that included future governor George W. Donaghey. Donaghey opposed Mann's selection and advocated a national design competition, but the majority of the commission voted for Mann. After Donaghey was elected governor in 1908, he forced Mann off the project and selected Cass Gilbert to finish the Capitol. Construction took 16 years, from 1899 to 1915. The Capitol was built on the site of the state penitentiary and prisoners helped construct the building. They lived in a dormitory that was left on the Capitol grounds while construction was taking place. The Capitol foundations were aligned incorrectly by their original builder, future Governor George Donaghey. He centered the building on the centerline of Fifth Street (now Capitol Avenue), but he aligned the building north–south using the still-standing penitentiary walls as a guide without recognizing that Fifth Street was not aligned east–west; like other "east-west" downtown Little Rock streets, it runs parallel to the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United ...

at a slight angle off true east–west. Therefore, the structure is in a north–south manner from end-to-end, which does not fit the grid street pattern of Little Rock's downtown. This also led to a slight S-curve in the formal entrance walkway between the foot of Capitol Avenue and the front steps of the Capitol.

In popular culture

Because of its monumental dome, the State Capitol has served as a filming location to stand in for the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

in Washington, D.C. * Aired in February 1986, the NBC miniseries ''Under Siege'', directed by Roger Young (director), depicted the bombing of the nation's capitol building. There was controversy within the state after pyrotechnics left surface stains on the dome that remained for several years. * In 1990, the Arkansas Capitol grounds were featured extensively in external and internal photography for the action film '' Stone Cold'' starring Brian Bosworth. *In 1999, Capitol interiors were used in the filming of ''Daddy and Them'', a comedy-drama written and directed by Arkansas native Billy Bob Thornton. It stars Thornton,

Laura Dern Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. Born to actor Bruce Dern and act ...

, Andy Griffith,

Diane Ladd Diane Ladd is an American actress. She has appeared in over 120 film and television roles. For the 1974 film ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'', she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy A ...

, Kelly Preston, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Affleck, Walton Goggins, and country singer/songwriter John Prine. It is also the final on-screen performance of Jim Varney. * ''God's Not Dead 2'' (2016), a faith-based dramas directed by Harold Cronk and starring

Melissa Joan Hart Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18, 1976) is an American actress, producer, and director. She had starring roles as the title characters in the sitcoms '' Clarissa Explains It All'' (1991–1994), ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (1996–2003), and '' ...

, Jesse Metcalfe, David A. R. White,

Hayley Orrantia Sarah Hayley Orrantia (born February 21, 1994) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Erica Goldberg on the ABC comedy series '' The Goldbergs''. She was a member of Lakoda Rayne, a country pop girl group ...

and Sadie Robertson.. Its sequel '' God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness'' (2018) also filmed on the Capitol grounds. It stars David A. R. White, John Corbett,

Shane Harper Shane Steven Harper (born February 14, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He is known for playing Spencer on '' Good Luck Charlie'' as well as Josh Wheaton in the independent Christian film '' God's Not Dead''. His self-titled ...

, Benjamin Onyango,

Ted McGinley Ted Martin McGinley (born May 30, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television sitcom '' Married... with Children'' and as Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom ''Hope & Faith''. He was a late regular ...

, Jennifer Taylor,

Tatum O'Neal Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is the youngest person ever to win an Academy Award, winning at age 10 for her performance as Addie Loggins in '' Paper Moon'' (1973) opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal. S ...

, Shwayze and

Cissy Houston Emily "Cissy" Houston ( ''née'' Drinkard; born September 30, 1933) is an American soul and gospel singer. After a successful career singing backup for such artists as Roy Hamilton, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, Houston embar ...

Architecture

The exterior of the Capitol is made of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

, which was quarried in Batesville, Arkansas.Stone Used in the Construction of the Arkansas State Capitol Building
retrieved 2012 Though it was initially stipulated a total cost for the envisioned capitol would not to exceed $1 million, total construction cost eventually was $2.2 million (or $320 million in 2014 dollars). The front entrance doors are made of bronze, which are 10 feet (3 metres) tall, four inches (10 cm) thick and were purchased from

Tiffany & Company Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, wat ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

for $10,000. The cupola/dome is covered in 24 karat gold leaf. The government was formerly located in the Old State House. The structure also used Yule marble.

Monuments and memorials

The Arkansas State Capitol grounds has multiple monuments and memorials representing various parts of the state's past and present. They include the Arkansas Fallen Firefighters Memorial, Arkansas Medal of Honor Memorial, Bauxite and Granite Boulders, Confederate Soldiers Monument, Confederate War Prisoners Memorial, Law Enforcement Officers Memorial,

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independen ...

replica, "

Little Rock Nine The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering ...

" Civil Rights Memorial, Memorial Fountain, Monument to Confederate Women, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the controversial

Ten Commandments Monument Ten Commandments Monument may refer to: North America * Ten Commandments Monument (Austin, Texas) * Ten Commandments Monument (Little Rock, Arkansas) * Ten Commandments Monument (Oklahoma City) * Ten Commandments Memorial, Phoenix, Arizona, locate ...

. Montana state capitol 2.jpg, The winning competition design was from 1896 for the planned

by George R. Mann, became the model for the Arkansas State Capitol. Arkansas State Capitol Building.jpg, The entrance to the State Capitol Arkansas State Capitol Dome Interior.jpg, Interior view of the Arkansas State Capitol Dome looking up from the Rotunda. Monument to Confederate Women.jpg, Monument to Confederate Women May 1, 1913 The statue was designed by J. Otto Schweizer. The monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

References

External links

*
Arkansas State Capitol
at the ''

Encyclopedia of Arkansas The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas'' is a web-based encyclopedia of the U.S. state of Arkansas, described by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as "a free, authoritative source of information abo ...

'' * {{Authority control 1900 establishments in Arkansas Government buildings completed in 1915 Government buildings in Little Rock, Arkansas Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Government buildings with domes Government of Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Little Rock, Arkansas Neoclassical architecture in Little Rock, Arkansas State capitols in the United States Terminating vistas in the United States Tourist attractions in Little Rock, Arkansas