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This amazing double-spiral staircase was designed and built by Horace King, a former slave who was renowned in the south as a master bridge builder

Flanked by separate House and Senate buildings built in the late 1950's and guarded from the rear by the Orwellian Executive Tower completed in 1974, lies Arizona's territorial capitol, now a museum.

Though its construction was plagued by controversy and shady dealings common to the life political, the Arkansas Capitol is a masterpiece of early 20th century public buildings.

Started in 1860 and completed in 1874, the Italian Renaissance style of the California Capitol graces the city of Sacramento

Glittering brass, carefully polished by an attentive staff, fills the interior of this beautiful and historic capitol.

One of only two capitols built in the Gothic style, the Connecticut capitol stands tall in Hartford.

Delaware's capitol houses is built in the Georgian Revival style and was completed in 1933, near where the original State House sits (1792).

Dominating the Tallahassee skyline, this 1970's International Style office tower is the newest State Capitol in the United States

Its cupola crowned by Miss Liberty holding high the lamp of truth, Georgia's 1889 gold-domed capitol is hidden in a thicket of 20th century office buildings in the midst of Atlanta's tangled highway system.

Designed by its architect, John E. Tourtellotte, to be "flooded with light" the Idaho capitol offers visitors an airiness unusual in public buildings of classical design.

Illinois has the tallest of the domed state capitols, at 361 feet. Begun in 1867, it took 20 years to complete.

Built in a mixture of the Italian Renaissance Revival and NeoGreco styles, the Indiana capitol was completed in 1888.

The only capitol building with 5 domes, Iowa's capitol stands tall above the Des Moines River and the city's downtown.

Started in 1866 and completed in 1903, the French Renaissance Revival Kansas capitol was built on a pay-as-you-go basis. It is the second tallest of the domed capitols.

Construction of the new Beaux Arts Kentucky capitol (the 1830 capitol still stands in city center by the Kentucky River) took from 1905 to 1910. The pediment art over the front portico is by noted American sculptor Charles Henry Niehaus and is the finest of all the state capitols.

Designed and built in about two years, Louisiana's Art Deco Skyscraper stands by the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge. Planned by Governor Huey Long to show his state's progressivism, it is the tallest of state capitols at 450 feet.

Core parts of Maine's attractive capitol date to the original 1832 building, but the exterior Beaux Arts look is from the extensive 1909 to 1911 building remodeling and expansion.

The oldest of all 50 capitol buildings, the original part of Maryland's state house was completed in the Georgian style in 1779. It is the only capitol building with a wooden dome.

The original part of the Massachusetts state house was completed in 1798, with a copper dome sheathed by none other than Paul Revere. The current capitol is a complex of buildings fronted by the rebuilt original.

Photographs of the Michigan state capitol in Lansing, by photographer Edward Crim

Designed by renowned American architect Cass Gilbert, Minnesota's capitol in St. Paul helped him rise to national acclaim. The gilded quadriga above the entry portico represents earth, wind, fire and water, lead by civilization and directed by prosperity.

I was so proud of myself when I learned how to spell Mississippi! What satisfaction there is in accomplishment! And this fine piece of architecture is no exception to that rule.

Believe it or not, there is a statue of Gwyneth Paltrow in front of the Missouri state capitol. At least it looks like her. There is also a statue of Thomas Jefferson.

Nestled on a gentle slope in Helena, the Montana capitol not only houses the state legislature, but also some of the finest western paintings in the whole USA. Of particular interest is the huge Charles Russell painting in the House of Representatives.

No-one sets out to build the second tallest anything, and when the imposing Nebraska state capitol was planned and built, it was the tallest of state capitols and possibly the most magnificent. Huey Long of Louisiana built a taller capitol the year Nebraska finished theirs.

Nevada's legislature, like North Carolina's, doesn't meet in its state capitol anymore, but rather in a separate and much less architecturally significant Legislative building nearby. Considering the small size of the capitol, this should not surprise us.

The first session of the New Hampshire legislature was held in this same building in 1819, and has continued since that time, making New Hampshire's capitol the oldest capitol where the legislature still meets in their original chambers. Live free or die!

New Jersey's capitol complex sits on the foundation of the original capitol of 1792 and consists of 8 different buildings of varying dates and styles.

New Mexico's capitol has the distinction of not only being the only round capitol, but also being built at the highest altitude above sea level. The capitol houses the state government (of course) but is also an art museum, featuring artists from the state.

New York's magnificent and slightly spooky gothic pile of a capitol was started in the same year the United States purchased Alaska from Russia, but cost much, much more ($25 million vs $7 million for Alaska). Construction lasted from 1867 to 1899, and, as rumor would have it, only stopped because Teddy Roosevelt, governor at the time, was tired of the noise.

North Carolina's Greek Revival capitol opened in 1840 and housed its legislature and governor for over 120 years. In 1963, the North Carolina General Assembly moved into the newly constructed State Legislative Building and now, the capitol houses only the Governor and his staff.

North Dakota's previous capitol burned in December of 1930, forcing the state to build a new one during the Great Depression. The Art Deco replacement for the building lost to fire is the tallest habitable building in North Dakota and one of only 4 skyscraper capitols in the country.

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright said of the original 1861 portion of the Ohio capitol “The most honest of state capitols, sincere and forthright.”

The Oklahoma capitol, as originally built in 1917, did not have a dome, though the plans called for one, cost being the deciding factor in its omission. For many years the ceiling of the rotunda featured a trompe-l'oeil painting of a dome interior, but this was replaced by the real thing in 2002.

The first Oregon capitol, a classical style building with a dome, opened for business in 1876, though it wasn't completed until 1893. On the evening of April 25, 1935, however, the building was destroyed by fire, and today's very different capitol was quickly planned, designed and built, dedication of the building coming just three years later.

One of America's most grand and beautiful capitol buildings, Pennsylvania's cost over 12 million dollars to build and furnish, a fabulous and controversial sum in 1905.

Although Rhode Island is the smallest state in area, it possesses a grand capitol situated on attractive grounds and boasting what is alleged to be the fourth largest self-supporting dome in the world! Its strong showing in the capitol market, in spite of the state's diminutive size, seems providential indeed.

Although construction of South Carolina's capitol started in 1855, it wasn't completed until 1907, mostly due to a war and the invading army that destroyed the old building and shelled the new one. There are 6 bronze stars on the exterior of the current building to mark where general Sherman's cannon fire hit This capitol is also unique in having a dome but no rotunda.

South Dakota's early twentieth century Renaissance Revival capitol keeps up appearances with its barrel vaulted grand stair ceiling, colorful floor mosaics and playful pendative paintings in the rotunda. Rumor has it that Montana's capitol in Helena was built using the same architectural plans.

Perched on a hill above the capital of country music sits the capitol of the volunteer state. One of the few antebellum capitols left in the south, Tennessee's managed to survive the war with only one known bullet hole.

The city of Austin, perched on the other Colorado river, hosts the 1888 red granite capitol building with its cast iron and sheet metal dome. The grounds and building underwent extensive renovation and expansion in the 1990s.

This is the place, on a hillside overlooking the capital city of the Beehive state, where Utah built its capitol. This is a building that has to be viewed from the inside to be fully appreciated for its handsome appointments and spaciousness.

America's smallest state capital city features an attractive early 19th century capitol building built to last from native Vermont granite, topped with a golden dome and a home-made statue of Ceres, goddess of agriculture, that bears a strong resemblance to Popeye's nemesis, Alice the Goon.

Designed by Thomas Jefferson, the Virginia capitol, the second oldest in the nation, was started during the American Revolution and finished shortly thereafter.

Sitting in an active seismic zone, the Washington state capitol was badly shaken by an earthquake in 2001, requiring a $120 million repair and retrofitting project to protect it from future quakes.

Situated on the north bank of the Kanawha river in a narrow valley surrounded by mountains, the West Virginia state capitol, architect Cass Gilbert's last great government monument, was completed in 1932.

Cruciform in shape and elegantly situated in the center of the capital city on an isthmus between two lakes, Wisconsin's capitol is magnificent both inside and out.

Begun in 1886 and completed in 1917, the Wyoming capitol building underwent a recent renovation.