Arizona’s nonworking capitol has rich history
Arizona’s state capitol is the only one in the country where no government business is ever transacted.
Don’t get excited: Arizona’s politicians mange plenty of mischief from newer (and nondescript) buildings elsewhere in Phoenix.
But the official, and lovely, capitol building, built as the territorial capitol at the turn of the 20th century, now serves just as a museum. A few other official state capitols have been “retired” to museum status, but as far as I can tell, even those do ceremonial duty on occasion.
Arizona’s is a beautiful example of neoclassical architecture, but it may have been put up on the cheap.
The state’s stingy territorial legislature rejected the first plan, by a Dallas architect, as being too grandiose. (Mississippi rejected the same architect’s capitol plans for being too plain.)
A stripped-down version was planned, featuring a simple copper dome to celebrate Arizona’s coppermining industry. But the mining barons were also stingy, and they rejected the state’s request to provide free copper. Instead, when the capitol was built, the dome was coated with copper-colored paint.
The mining companies came through in 1975, though, when the capitol was being completely refurbished for use as a museum. Now the gleaming dome is genuine copper, treated to keep the rich, orangish-brown color of the new metal and avoid tarnishing.
The dome has an Ohio connection. The 16-foot statue of the Goddess of Liberty on top was manufactured in the Buckeye State for $150. (At the time of restoration, Liberty was discovered to have suffered at least one gunshot wound over the years.)
Inside, a large tile mosaic on the floor beneath the dome
depicts the Great Seal of the State of Arizona. The mosaic, too, was designed by an Ohioan, who, unfortunately, must have been unfamiliar with the state seal. The cow that usually grazes at the bottom right is missing.
The museum is a great place to learn about Arizona history, with exhibits on state government from early territorial days, where visitors will learn about another Ohio connection.
In 1911, President William Howard Taft, an Ohioan, vetoed the first attempt at Arizona statehood because the proposed state constitution gave residents the right to recall judges, something that Taft (who would later become chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court) vehemently opposed.
So Arizona voters approved a new constitution without the provision, and then immediately reinserted it after statehood was granted on Feb. 14, 1912.