Texas State Capitol
Supersized
It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the Texas Capitol is the largest state capitol in the nation – second only the National Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Big, bold and thoroughly “Texas,” this massive Renaissance Revival-style building is made of “sunset red” granite quarried in nearby Marble Falls and topped with an aluminum replica of The Goddess of Liberty – the original is now at the Bob Bullock History Museum and her star is at the Capitol Visitors Center.
Today, the capitol sparkles inside and out. Elisabet Ney’s sculptures of Texas leaders Stephen Austin, Sam Houston, and Miriam “Ma“ Ferguson, Texas’ first woman governor, grace the lobby.
In the rotunda you’ll find a terrazzo mosaic of the seals of the six countries whose flags have flown over the state inlaid in the floor and outside the building is surrounded by 22 acres of shady, park-like grounds, with monuments, statues and sculpture, each with a story detailed in a brochure available at the Visitors Center.