Colombus, OH

The Buckeye State has built itself a very interesting statehouse¹, marrying a typical rectangular Greek Revival building with an atypical cylindrical cupola. Its design, was based on a composite of three designs, that was then redesigned by a fourth architect . . . and from the exterior it shows.    

Inside though is a different (and better) story. The first floor that originally housed the coal-fired furnace is now a museum with the Map Room at its center. The Map Room has a mosaic tile floor that is a map of Ohio that consists of 88 tiles, one for each county. The balance of the first floor contains the Ohio Statehouse Museum Education Center and a gift shop. The entire floor is well laid out and a very good use of space. 

The floor above contains the rotunda that contains both the Required and the Unique:

The Required:

1. The Dome: Although on the outside there is a cylindrical cupola, on the inside it is the traditional dome that most state capitols possess. According to our guide (and my research), Ohio is the only state capitol that has this arrangement.

2. Bust of Lincoln: Even though Lincoln has only a tenuous connection to Ohio (see below), there is a modest bust of him in the rotunda. I think this has to do with the fact that every politician wants to have a connection to the Great Emancipator if only to hope some of his luster rubs off on them.

3. The Flag: On one of the walls (opposite the Vicksburg sculpture - see below) is the historic flag that flew above the statehouse when the funeral train carrying the body of President Abraham Lincoln arrived on April 29, 1865. Besides the patriotism that is of course displayed by displaying this flag, it also reinforces the tenuous connection the building has to Lincoln (see above).

The Unique:

1. The Floor: Although the design directly beneath the dome is rather ordinary, the surrounding floor is anything but. The hexagon tiles are arranged in such a way that they swirl in different directions creating patterns in the floor that are both mesmerizing and jarring. 

2. The Walls: Most capitols clog their walls with art that usually includes banal portraits of every governor, senate, and house leader. Not this one as Ohio has chosen quality of quantity, with hanging a huge canvas depicting The Battle of Lake Erie by William Henry Powell². It was so well received that the U.S. Congress requested that Powell paint him a larger copy which hangs in the U.S. Capitol. This one though smaller is still quite striking.

3. A relief sculpture of the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, to the three victorious Ohioan generals: Grant, McPherson, and Sherman.  

4. The fourth wall of the rotunda is left bare as if to say "less is more," in essence a pre-Lincoln mic drop. 

5. The rotunda walls are salmon.          

The Ohio Statehouse grounds contain a number of statues . . . but not too many as to clog it all up. Those of note are:

1. Christopher Colombus: The base is made of pink granite that is too large and too pink. I can't speak to the pinkness, but the size of the base may have something to do with making access to the statue difficult for vandals. Either way, you may want to visit it before it is removed or replaced.

2. The Spirit of '98: I had previously blogged about two sculptures called The Hiker. One of which is the most casted sculpture ever publically displayed. They were both sculpted to honor veterans who served in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and the Boxer Rebellion, with at least 72 castings displayed throughout the U.S. Well, I guess Ohio didn't want to buy one of these duplicates to honor its veterans, so it commissioned its own.  

3. The William McKinley Monument: It is prominently located directly in front of the main entrance to the statehouse and when I saw it was a bit of a headscratcher. I mean I get it that he was President, but is that really the best that a state that gave us Grant, Sharman, and Taft can do? Well, I think this can be explained by the fact it was erected in 1902 immediately after McKinley was assassinated in 1901. And once erected, that's pretty much it.

4. These Are My Jewels: This a monument that features life-size bronze statues of seven famous Ohioans, which could also make for an educational game of "Who am I?"

If your 1:00 pm Monday tour of the Ohio Statehouse helps you work up an appetite, you may want to stop by Aracri Pizzeria on Gay. Mainly because the Bud Light bottles are icy cold. 

The $10.99 for two slices "special" seemed a little pricey to me³, but since it was a Monday and most of the nearby restaurants were closed, I didn't have much of a choice.

I was a little wary in that a 3/4 empty plastic bottle of Kamchatka vodka was front and center in an ill-stocked liquor cabinet. And my concerns weren't allayed by the slices of crispy reheated pizza.

On the plus side, photos of Sophia Loren are prominently mounted throughout the brick-walled interior, including the below that was forwarded to me by my wife who realized I had not seen it (the . . . best . . . wife . . . ever!).        

Endnotes:

¹ Ohio calls the building that houses their General Assembly, the Ohio Statehouse. Other states call the building that houses their General Assembly, the State Capitol.   

² For those of you that are not a fan of the War of 1812, the painting The Battle of Lake Eire, depicts Commodore Olver Hazard Perry transferring his flag to the USS Niagara. Still don't know him? Well, he's the guy who said "We have met the enemy and they are ours." 

³ I mean $5.50 a slice? I can buy a whole #$%*&^g pie for only $8.00 in New York City!!