The Real Blades of Glory

Detail, World War II Memorial, West Capitol Campus


The bronze blades that form this part of the memorial feature ghostlike images of servicemen, which are actually formed using the etched names of Washington State’s war casualties.






Source: Department of General Administration

What am I?

Detail, Old Capitol Building, Olympia

I'm thinking it's a stylized gryphon, but I'm open to suggestion.

A Bastion of Learning

Old State Capitol Building, Olympia

The Old Capitol started life as a courthouse in 1892 and became the official Capitol in 1906 when the county commissioners decided it was too expensive. Following construction of the current Capitol in the 1920s, it became a state office building and is now home to Washington's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
I particularly wanted to "blog" this because it bears some striking similarities to the museum and former city hall recently featured on WichitaKsDailyPhoto. A little googling revealed that both buildings share a style known as Richardson Romanesque, which was named for the architect Henry Hobson Richardson. These two buildings each seem to have had other architects, but were completed at almost exactly the same time.

Like the Wichita building, the Old Capitol once had a clock tower, but it was destroyed by a fire in 1928 and never replaced. The state undertook a considerable renovation in 1983 and the interior is lovely.

Stories to tell

General Administration Building and Chief William Shelton’s story pole, West Capitol Campus

The mid-century style GA Building (1956) is scheduled for demolition in 2010 to make way for a new Heritage Center that will house the Secretary of State, the State Archives, and visitor facilities. The painted story pole was begun by Chief Shelton of the Snohomish Tribe and finished by other tribal carvers after his death. It was dedicated in 1940. This is not, strictly speaking, a totem pole:

A totem pole symbolizes a family’s history through the depiction of certain animals and their cultural legends. A story pole, on the other hand, puts its emphasis on teaching children community responsibility and cultural attitudes through the depictions of these same animal characters. Story poles are most often carved from the interior pillars of ceremonial longhouses. Therefore, this free-standing pole provides a rare look at carvings typically seen only within sacred structures of the Snohomish and other Salish tribes. The story pole features 21 beautifully carved figures, each teaching a certain life lesson.

--General Administration Website

Corinthian order

Pediment and upper portico of the Legislative Building, West Capitol Campus

The acanthus leave on the columns seemed to relate to the foliage in the foreground.

The other Washington

Washington State Legislative Building, seen from the Sunken Garden, West Capitol Campus

Built in 1928 at a cost of $6.7 million, the Legislative Building is comprised of more than 173 million pounds of stone, brick, concrete and steel. It is the fourth tallest masonry dome in the world, rising 287 feet high. At the time, many viewed the building and its furnishings as a "Monument to Extravagance."

Cuspidors costing $47.50 apiece? Outrageous. Or so it seemed in 1928 when silk handkerchiefs sold for a mere 65 cents and women’s girdles could be had for $1.25. Yet Washington had agreed to pay that inflated price for the ornate spittoons to be strategically located around its new state capitol building. No one objected to the spittoons themselves -- every well-equipped office had them at a time when many men, including state legislators, chewed tobacco. It was the price that was shocking.

--HistoryLink.org

The dome shifted about an inch during the Nisqually earthquake in February 2001, which along with other damage, required the building to be closed for repair for three years. During that time, the state legislature met in temporary structures and other nearby buildings. Lobbyists were sometimes reduced to operating out of tents.

Another bright posie

Old fashioned rose in the Sunken Garden, West Capitol Campus

I was playing with the selective focus capabilities of my new camera. Do you like this effect? What about the colors?

Every day's a celebration

Tivoli Fountain, West Capitol Campus

This replica of a Roman-style fountain located in Tivoli Park, Copenhagen, Denmark was dedicated in 1953. It features an outer ring of 540 jets which create an umbrella of water, and inside of this are two rings of vertical spray jets rising out of large, tulip-shaped copper tubs. In the center of the fountain is its most striking feature, a central spout that shoots water approximately 25 feet into the air. All of the sprays alternately rise and fall together, creating five different artistic water displays while circulating 600 gallons of water a minute.

The fountain operates between April 1 and October 30 each year.

Prop me up!

Elderly tree on the West Capitol Campus

At least a couple of the older trees on the campus have one or more posts supporting their ancient, heavy lower branches. At it's age, this tree has certainly survived many storms and I like to think it has witnessed a never ending parade of events -- leisurely strolls, political rallies and demonstrations, office worker lunches, whispered conversations, posing for photographers.

In the background, you can just make out a winding river of 4,000 metal wheat stalks that are part of the state's World War II Memorial. I'll post at least one more photo of that memorial sometime in the next few days.

A Veteran of the "Forgotten War"

Detail of the Korean War Memorial, East Capitol Campus

This is one of several war memorials on the East and West Campuses. The memorial was not placed on the campus and dedicated until 1993. Roughly 122,000 Washington soldiers served in Korea, now often referred to as "the forgotten war"—532 of these troops were killed. The Highway-Licenses Building is in the background.

Happy Cosmos

Cosmos in the Sunken Garden, West Capitol Campus

Nike spreads her wings

Winged Victory monument

This 1938 monument on the West Capitol Campus, which honors those who served in the First World War, dominates the view of the campus from Capitol Way.

Peek-a-boo dome

Capitol Building

I expect that this blog will feature quite a few more pictures of the Capitol dome. It dominates the town and is, after all, pretty doggone photogenic.