Albany: 1905

I remember going on a class trip, maybe when I was in 5th grade, to the State Capitol. That would have been around 1959. (Fort Hunter Elementary School, in Guilderland.) I recall the beauty of this staircase, Lo! these many years later.

The Great Western Staircase cost over a million (1897) dollars to build and took over 14 years to complete.

http://63.118.56.3/sws/aboutsenate/f1_gwstaircase.html

What more is there to say?

If it was in Florida, they'd have filled it with water.

As many times as I've been in or through Albany I never bothered to block out that awful flying-saucer thing and go visit the "boring" old buildings. "Height of workmanship" below is dead on the money. And money is what it's all about, isn't it? We now build on the cheap and call it "progress." And, what's really amazing: we the people buy it! To be fair to Albany, though, the old D&H Railroad-Canal headquarters down the hill is worth the trip.

The mops are a nice touch, but not quite up to the job.

This is a marvelously complex and interesting stair! Not a square foot of the overall space is left untouched! Wonderful! Thanks. I hope there is a matching stair at the other end of the space, behind the photographer.

So that's what "ornate detail" means!

That's some incredible workmanship.

This staircase is magnificent, and the photo captures the scale of the room well. The glass above was painted over during WWII to prevent Axis bombers from seeing the lights of the capitol from the air. It was recently restored to what you see above, and the stairway has been meticulously cleaned and brought back to its former glory.

http://www.nearchitecture.com/buildings/ny/the_great_western_staircase.h...

It sure seems like there's a head poking out of every corner in this photo.

This photo represents the epitome of American workmanship, craftsmanship, and pride, which I believe will never be equaled again. Today's attitude is 'you can't see it from my house'. Amazing. In more ways than one.

Minus the spittoon.