Arkansas State Capitol - Travel Photos by Galen R Frysinger, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

State House

Arkansas state flag

Great Seal of the State of Arkansas

Arkansas State Capitol

The historic Arkansas State Capitol serves as the seat of our government. Construction took 16 years -- from 1899-1915. 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 exterior of the Capitol is limestone, which was quarried in Batesville, Arkansas. Total construction cost was $2.2 million and today’s value of the building is $320 million. The front entrance doors are made of bronze. They are 10 feet tall, four inches thick and were purchased from Tiffany’s in New York for $10,000. The cupola is covered in 24 karat gold leaf.

the dome

in the Rotunda

From the first floor to the top of the interior dome is 160 feet. The chandelier is 12 feet in diameter and solid brass. The interior is constructed of marble from three states. The marble on the floors and walls came from Vermont. The columns around the third floor are Colorado marble, and the grand staircases are Alabama marble. The Capitol has approximately 287,000 square feet; 440-feet long on the first floor and 190-feet wide. It has four floors and a basement.

Old Supreme Court Chamber

At the south end of the second floor is the Old Supreme Court Chamber, which was the meeting place for the Arkansas Supreme Court until 1958. An increasing volume of business forced the transfer of the Court to a new Justice Building constructed on the southwest corner of the grounds. The old chamber is currently used for committee meetings, lectures and seminars. In 2001, restoration was completed which returned the room to its original appearance. The room is a historic classical style with Doric order columns and entablature friezes. The painted, paneled wainscot was refinished. New muslin, replacing the removed muslin, was applied to the repaired plaster walls. Decorative painting was re-created on the walls and ceiling, including twenty-four carat gold striping at each wall panel. The light fixtures, justices bench, justices chairs and rails are all original. Tables, chairs and carpet are replicated from period photographs. Draperies are of the period.

Senate Chamber

Located at the south end of the third floor, the Senate Chamber serves as a meeting room for the state’s 35 senators. Each senator represents about 65,000 people and is elected to a four-year term. The Lieutenant Governor serves as President of the Senate and sits behind the marble desk at the front of the room. The General Assembly meets for regular sessions in odd-numbered years beginning on the second Monday of January for at least 60 days. The 1911 session was the first to meet in the partially finished Capitol. The stained glass in the dome is original; however, the gold curtains separating each panel of glass were added for acoustical and decorative purposes.

House Chamber

Speaker of the House

At the north end of the third floor is the House Chamber. Arkansas has 100 representatives, elected to two-year terms, representing about 23,000 people each. The Speaker of the House, elected by the representatives, sits in the chair by the United States flag in the front of the room. The parliamentarian sits beside the Speaker. The House is equipped with an electronic voting system. On each desk is a panel of buttons; red for a "no" vote, green for a "yes" vote and yellow for a "present" vote. The vote is displayed on large boards at the front of the chamber. The stained glass dome in the House is original to the room.

Text from Arkansas State Website