Uh oh...
It appears that you're using a severely outdated version of Safari on Windows. Many features won't work correctly, and functionality can't be guaranteed. Please try viewing this website in Edge, Mozilla, Chrome, or another modern browser. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused!
Read More about this safari issue.
The resplendent Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock was built in 1915 and remains a visual masterpiece to this day. The 287,000-square-foot home of the Arkansas General Assembly contains many stunning features such as gorgeous limestone that was quarried in Batesville, a domed cupola topped by a large ball finial that’s covered in 24-karat gold leaf, and a 4,000-pound chandelier measuring 12-feet in diameter and 18-feet tall that hangs in the main rotunda.
Perhaps one of the more impressive features of this magnificent building is the bank of six 10-foot-tall bronze doors located on the eastern side of the rotunda, that used to serve as the main entrance. These gargantuan doors are four-inches thick and provide a look and feel that are complementary to a building that serves as the seat of the Arkansas state government.
These doors were originally purchased from Tiffany & Co. of New York in 1910 for $10,000, and they are valued at over $250,000 today!
To keep the unfinished bronze in a constant state of shine, the doors are polished every week by hand, inside and out. In fact, on the day we visited to take photographs, there was a gentleman there, hard at work, detailing these spectacular doors.
The doors used to serve as the main entrance, but the events of 9/11 changed things at the Arkansas Capitol Building, as they did across the nation. Now, visitors enter through the ground-level tunnel doors past security stations operated by the State Capitol Police.
If you’ve never seen the Arkansas Capitol Building in person, I heartily recommend that you visit to take in its glorious features for yourself. To schedule a guided tour of the Capitol, call the Visitor Services Specialist at 501-682-5080. Free tours of the Capitol Building are offered on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Walk-in visitors who request personally-guided tours will be scheduled for the next available guided tour. You don’t need a full tour, however, to see those wonderful bronze doors from the outside!
Like this story? Read more from Bryan Fiveash
2
Music Roots Keeps Mountain View’s Folk Heritage Alive
If you visit Mountain View, Arkansas, you will likely find live music...
1
The Paragould Meteorite
In the early morning hours of February 17, 1930, witnesses in Missouri,...
1
Mack’s Fish House in Heber Springs
When I visited Arkansas for the first time in 2004, we dined on catfish...
Join the Conversation
Leave a Comment
3 responses to “Bronze Doors at the Arkansas State Capitol”
Leave a Reply
Leave a ReplyWe do the work.
You check your email.
Sign up for our weekly e-news.
Get stories sent straight to your inbox!
[…] Arkansas Rose Society). To view gardens filled with more than 1,000 roses, visit the grounds of our state capitol (and be sure not to miss the interior chandeliers crafted by Tiffany’s of New […]
[…] am a sucker for a restaurant with a good view, and you will not find a better vantage point of our capitol building in Little Rock than peering out one of Rock City Kitchen’s expansive windows. The fast-casual […]
[…] Central Arkansas grads and brides often look to our State Capitol as a portrait backdrop. The marble stairs, bronze doors, and North Garden are all spaces to capture […]