Des Moines, Iowa capitol

Iowa

Admission to the Union Sequence in Admission Sequence in Capitols I Have Visited
December 28, 1846 29th admitted 17th visited

Photographed February 24, 2012.

The cornerstone of the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines was laid in 1873, and over the ensuing decade-plus of construction it took $2,873,294.59, to complete it. The building’s crowning achievement is its 23-karat gold leaf dome, which tops out at 275 feet above the ground. The statehouse visitors guide says the layers of gold leafing on the dome are “so thin that 250,000 sheets pressed together would measure only one inch thick.”

This image shows the view of downtown Des Moines from the steps of the state capitol. A sculpture of President Abraham Lincoln and his youngest son, Tad, is out of view on the right.

Photographed February 24, 2012.
Photographed February 24, 2012.

The interior domes are often the most appealing features of capitol buildings for me, and that was once again the case in Iowa. The banner stretched across it bears the Grand Army of the Republican emblem and represents Iowans’ efforts to preserve the Union during the Civil War.

The model in this display case is of the USS Iowa, a World War II era battleship sponsored by Second Lady Ilo Wallace. Just a few hours before, my father and I tracked down the grave plot belonging to Mrs. Wallace and her husband, the 33rd vice president.

Photographed February 24, 2012.

Sources Consulted and Further Reading

Legislative Services Agency. Iowa State Capitol Visitor Guide. Ames, IA: Heuss Printing, 2016. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/IF/793559.pdf.

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