Arizona State Capitol Museum Pt 2

 March 22, 2017

The first territorial capitol of Arizona was Fort Whipple, an army post near Prescott. The capitol was later moved to Prescott. In 1867 the territorial capitol was moved to Tucson. In 1877, the capitol moved back to Prescott. Phoenix became Arizona's permanent capitol city in 1889 and, in that year, the construction of the Phoenix state capitol building began. Completed in 1900, the cost of the building was about $136,000.

The Arizona State Capitol Building was dedicated on February 25, 1901. It was designated a museum in 1977.

The Arizona State Capitol Museum was the actual state capitol building when Arizona became the 48th state of the United States in 1912. The Governor's Office was located here until the mid-70s. Although the rooms of the Arizona State Capitol Museum are no longer used for state business, the Governor's Office, other departments and the Senate and House of Representatives are in adjacent buildings.

Copy Of The Liberty Bell

 When we arrived at the museum there was a nice luncheon on the grounds.  We weren't invited but did receive some cookies and a couple bottles of water from the servers at the luncheon.  Next to that group was a tent set up to sign organ donors.  There were a number of pictures on poles with organ transplant patients who owe their lives to organ donors, as well as some of the donor's photos on poles.   The white tents were from the luncheon and the blue tent was for the sign up of organ donors.

 There were two large pieces of petrified wood near the entrance to the museum.  I assume they came from the Petrified Forest in Arizona. 

 There is a scene on the Arizona Great Seal that portrays Arizona's landscape, climate, and industry. A miner stands in the hills with his pick axe and shovel. In the distance, a brilliant sun rises over the hills. And below, a fertile irrigated field springs to life.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches

On the 4th floor of the Arizona State Capitol Museum you can look down into the original House Chamber from the gallery.  Did you spot the spittoon?

There is a small courtroom that looks like the original one used for many years.  Judge Larry Clark is swearing in Gerry Clark to make sure she is telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Yes, I know the judge is dressed very casual but there wasn't any air conditioning in his court.

Sandra Day O'Connor was from Arizona and was sworn in as the first female US Supreme Court justice in 1981.

I ran into a distant relative of mine at the state capitol building. Zachary Taylor was an American president born on November 24, 1784, near Barboursville, Virginia. Known as a national war hero for his battles in the Mexican War, Taylor was elected as the 12th president of the United States in 1849. He led the nation during its debates on slavery and Southern secession. After serving only 16 months in office, Taylor died from cholera morbus on July 9, 1850.  

There is a room dedicated to relics from the USS Arizona that was sunk in Pearl Harbor during the sneak Japanese attack on December 7, 1941.  The silverware was donated to the USS Arizona by it's citizens in 1919.

More silver service that was on the USS Arizona.

There is a very nice scale model of the USS Arizona on display along with pictures and pieces of the Arizona in a separate room.

There were many other artifacts in the museum but we were running out of time and it was time to leave.  I have a number of other photos but don't want to overload you with them.

We enjoyed the museum and thought it was time well spent there.  It wasn't fancy, but it gave us a glimpse of what it looked like when it was in use.

We wanted to beat the terrible Phoenix rush hour traffic and left early enough to avoid the worst of it.  It was a long day, but we enjoyed it.