Michigan is my home state, yet I'd never been inside the Capitol. I even spent 4 years of my college life 3 miles down the road. I'm ashamed! Wednesday morning I fixed that by touring this beautiful building.
After a half hour movie I took the elevator to the 4th floor and started my walk around each floor winding down to the ground floor.
Michigan's first capital was Detroit, but was relocated to Lansing in 1847. Architect Elijah E Myers of Springfield, Illinois, was chosen as architect. Myers went on to design the Colorado State Capitol in Denver and the Texas State Capitol in Austin (which I've seen but didn't know was by the same architect as my home state), the most by any architect. Myers used the central dome and wing design found in the United States Capitol.
The black and white floor tiling is Vermont marble and limestone with the exception of the first floor which is composed of 976 blocks of translucent glass. The blocks vary in size so when viewed from above they appear to form a bowl which mirrors the dome above. Though the woodwork appears to be walnut, it is actually Michigan white pine painstakingly wood-grained to resemble walnut.
Below the cast-iron dome, the ceiling displays 8 muses painted in 1886 by Tommaso Juglaris in his Boston studio. The 2nd and 3rd floors feature the Gallery of Governors with portraits of former Michigan governors.
The building was extensively restored from 1989 to 1992 and is a National Historic Landmark.
