Kentucky State Capitol Ornament

     Kentucky’s majestic State Capitol building is certainly the most recognizable architectural symbol in the Commonwealth.  The building, in its idyllic setting, nestled between two scenic bluffs along the Kentucky River in Frankfort has been noted by many architectural historians as one of the most beautiful state capitol sites in the United States.  In 1904, Frank Mills Andrews submitted a stunning Beaux-Arts design that was chosen by the Board of State Capitol Commissioners partially for its striking terra cotta dome inspired by the Hotel des Invalides in France.

     As equally striking as the exterior is the interior, with floors and corridors of Tennessee and Vermont marble, and wainscoting and pilasters covered in Georgia marble.  The nave or Great Hall as it is referred to today, is exquisitely designed, being generous in extent and span and showcases thirty-six magnificent monolithic columns of Vermont granite supporting a massive marble cornice.  The columns 26 feet tall, weigh ten tons each, and at the time of construction cost $1,968.00 per column. 

     The lunettes on each end of the Great Hall are adorned with colorful oil paintings completed in 1906 by Gilbert White, a much sought after mural artist whose works also decorate the state capitols of Oklahoma and Utah as well as the Agricultural Building in Washington D.C.  White received payment of $10,000 for the commission which presents two of the most important events in the early evolution of Kentucky.  The west lunette, which is the subject of our 2008 commemorative ornament, is entitled the “Treaty of Sycamore Shoals”, a scene which depicts the purchase of Cherokee land that later became Kentucky in 1792.  The painting interprets the moment of the transaction with the Overhill tribe of the Cherokee Indians, led by Chief Ocon-os-to-to, or “Dragging Canoe”, standing to the left facing Daniel Boone, who is standing to the right.  Boone is reported to have accomplished the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals as an agent for the Transylvania Land Company for 10,000 pounds.

     Daniel Boone’s historical significance to the state of Kentucky spans a period of 30 years, from his first expedition in 1769 at the age of 35, to his leaving Kentucky for Missouri in 1799.  Though Boone led many voyages to and through the Kentucky wilderness, none would prove to be as important as the first, when he traversed through the V-shaped gap in the Cumberland Mountains also known as the Wilderness Road.  The scene is represented in the east lunette of the Kentucky State Capitol and was the subject of our 2006 Capitol commemorative ornament.  The trail would for several decades and more than 200,000 settlers become the most important route of access into the state not only for future Kentuckians but anyone migrating westward, as the fertile gap was the easiest passage through the Appalachian hills.  Boone died in 1820 and was originally buried beside his wife in Missouri only to be returned to the Bluegrass a quarter century later.  Today, both Daniel Boone and his wife are laid to rest in the Frankfort cemetery on a high bluff overlooking the Kentucky River and the heart of its capital city.