Monday, May 19, 2008

Saturday in Kentucky's State Capital of Frankfort


Bob and I went to Chili's for lunch on Saturday and it was such a pretty day, we drove down to the capital grounds to look at the flowers. The rose garden was not in full bloom and did not look as good as I have seen it in previous years. Probably, due to all the wet, cold weather we are having here.

The floral clock looked beautiful as did all the hanging baskets placed around the grounds.







From 1792 to 1830, Kentucky had two buildings serve as the capitol. Both burned down.
In 1830, a new capitol was built and was in use until 1910. A bitterly contested 1899 state governor election came to a climax when Democratic claimant William Goebel was assassinated at the capitol on his way to be inaugurated. The building was replaced due to the need for a larger building for a growing state government. Today, that capitol building is a museum.
In 1904, the Kentucky General Assembly chose Frankfort (over Lexington and Louisville) as the location for the state capital and appropriated $1 million for the construction of a permanent state capitol building, to be located in southern Frankfort.
The capitol was designed by Frank Mills Andrews, a distinguished and award-winning architect. He used the Beaux-Arts style and included many classical French interior designs. The staircases, for example, are a replicas of those that appear in the Opéra Garnier in Paris.


The basement of the capitol contains a small gift shop and an underground tunnel to the neighboring Capitol Annex building. I worked in the Capitol Annex for several years when I first started my employment in state government.










The Governor's Mansion is the current home of our Governor, Steve Beshear, and his wife, Jane.





Kentucky's Governor's Mansion is one of only a handful of executive residences in the United States to be open to the public for tours. Thousands of visitors from across the Commonwealth and around the world visit the Governor's Mansion every year. Contact the Capitol tour desk to schedule a visit soon.


I think Kentucky has a beautiful capitol building and grounds.

We walked around and took some pictures and enjoyed the warm sun for a change.

On the way home, we stopped at Sonic for ice cream. We both love ice cream and I got a hot fudge cake. Bob opted for some kind of banana and ice cream concoction. It was a very nice outing on a very nice day.










3 comments:

Clara....in TN said...

Hi Judy, I enjoyed reading about Kentucky this morning. After all it is my neighboring state. I saw on TV the other day of some news person stopping people on the street and asking them how to pronounce Louisville. You pronounce it the same way you do Illinois...without the s. Wonder why the s is there if they don't want you to pronouce it?
Later I will click on all the sites you have highlighted.
The pictures are beautiful. I loved the clock.

Leigh said...

What a gorgeous day!! I love going to the capitol!

Anne and Leigh said...

AWW we need to do this day over and include Leigh and I. I love going to the capital!

-Anne