April 24, 2019 - Wednesday
Grand Island, NE to Des Moines, IA

Today was a long driving day to Des Moines, IA.  We arrived in De Moines, IA around 2:00pm.  Just enough time to visit the State Capitol Building.  We did a guided tour.  Our guide, Terry has been doing tours for 30 years at the Capitol building.  We were very educated afterwards.

The Capitol building construction began in 1871.  It was dedicated in 1884 and completed in 1886.  The structure is comprised of Limestone, Granite and Sandstone.  The building’s interior is furnished with 29 types of marble as well as a variety of woods.

The Golden Dome:

Exterior: The dome has been a symbol of Iowa government and politics.  The 23-karat (not 24k), gold-covered dome rises 275 feet above the Capitol grounds.  The re-gilding began in 1998 and was completed in 1999 at a cost of approx. $482k.  This is the only Capitol building that has 5 Domes.

Interior:  Suspended across the dome is the emblem of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R).  The emblem, painted on canvas and suspended on wire, was placed there as a reminder of Iowa’s efforts to preserve the Union during the Civil War.  The painted sky with clouds was added to the interior of the dome during recent Capitol renovations. 

The Capitol building fire in 1904 burnt the North Wing where the House of Representatives resided.  Despite the damage, House members chose to convene in the chamber.  Once the legislative session ended, repairs began. 

  

The collection of dolls represents Iowa’s first spouses in the inaugural finery.  If you notice, there is a male displayed in this showcase.  This is because Iowa elected the first women (Kim Reynolds) as Governor in 2017.

The chambers of the Iowa House of Representatives and the Iowa Senate, occupy most of the second floor.  The state’s 50 senators and 100 representatives meet during the annual Legislative Session of the Iowa General Assembly, to create Iowa law.  The Legislative Session convenes on the second Monday in January of each year.  Each session lasts approx. 100 days.  While we were there the Legislative Sessions were still convening but were told they will be ending shortly.  It startled me at first when I was walking by the doors to the House chamber, when an Official made a very loud announcement “The House is Voting”!!!!.

The State Library – Law Library occupies the entire west wing of the 2^nd floor and contains over 100k volumes.  The circular staircase of iron grill work at each end of the library, leads to four tiers of law books and court decisions from each state and the federal government.  The library also houses a collection of legal periodicals; materials produced by the Iowa Legislature and antique law books.  The oldest law book was written on sheep skin and is displayed in a protective case…sorry no picture.

One of the most interesting art features of the capitol is the series of grand mosaics which is located in the grand balcony staircase back wall.  The six subjects represent the functions of government are from left to right.  Defense, Charity, The Executive, The Legislative, The Judiciary and the Education.  The mosaics were made in Venice, Italy out of tiny pieces of glass.   Frederick Dielman created the mosaics and installed them in the capitol in 1908. He was paid $10k to create this work of art.  It was the last artwork to being installed in the capitol.