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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!
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[…] 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 […]
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