The State Capitol in Austin, Texas

I’d been to Texas a couple of times, but had never visited its capital of Austin until a few years ago. My son was at a running camp in Texas, and we traveled through the state, including its capitol building.

It was a hot, summer day, and we were happy to take an (airconditioned) break with a statehouse visit. The statehouse was built in the 1880s, although expanded significantly in later years.

Its dome is over 300 feet tall (90 m), which means it is taller than Washington, DC’s Congressional dome. DC’s Congress was actually the architect’s model for this Gilded Age structure.

We could climb up the central rotunda to see the chambers, the portraits lining the rotunda of Texas governors, including one former president (George W. Bush), and the views down.

Mnay years ago, I worked in New York’s state capitol, which I find much more architecturally impressive, so I wasn’t so impressed by its interior – with the exception of the dome, which is truly stunning. But it was still fun to visit a familiar monument.

Since it is designated in the National Register of Historic Places under the Department of the Interior, it is part of the National Park Service.

The grounds are quite extensive, with numerous memorials. We didn’t explore much, but we did walk around to get views on the dome.

Definitely worth a visit when you’re next in Texas. And did I mention that wonderful airconditioning on a hot August day? That alone made it well worth the visit!

And after that visit, we walked across Austin in that blinding heat, with stops at UT Austin and downtown, to go treat ourselves at Black’s BBQ. Absolutely fabulous. You can see my earlier post. We definitely don’t have BBQ like that back in Rome! I always make time for BBQ when passing through Texas.

Glad we could visit the Austin Capitol building during our visit.