The Michigan State Capitol Building

My main reason for visiting Lansing was to get some pictures of the Capitol Building.  It has been a while since I've done so and I've been wanting to do so for a while.

 I kind of like some of the statues that are around the building.  This is dedicated to an Engineer Unit that fought in the Civil War.  They were mustered in Marshall Michigan.

 The Capitol Building itself.  This is actually the third capitol building.  The first was in Detroit when the state was founded in 1837.  When the capital was relocated to Lansing due to a fear of a Canadian unit stationed in Windsor, a wooden structure was erected.  Construction on this building was completed in 1878 and it was inagurated in 1879.

 In the middle is the statue of Austin Blair.  He was Michigan's governor during the Civil War.  He was a strong advocate of abolition.  He was also one of the leaders of banning capital punishment.  He was born in New York in 1818 and moved to Eaton Rapids in 1841.  He served as governor from 1861 until 1865.  From 1867 to 1873, he served as a State Senator but failed in his bid for US Senator because it was believed that he represented the interests of Detroit over others.  From 1881 to 1889, he served as a member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents.  He died in 1894 and is buried in Jackson, Michigan.

 Looking up at the Capitol Building.

 Another angle of the Capital Building.  The building itself is an example of Neoclassical Architecture.

 Moving away from the Capitol a bit.

 This is one of the reasons why I wanted to head to the Capitol.  I was hoping to catch some colors.

This statue is dedicated to the Michigan 1st Sharpshooters, which is another unit that fought in the
Civil War.  This unit fought in the Wilderness Campaign, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Appomattox.  They suffered 362 fatalities during the war.  Michigan was actually one of the larger contributors to the Civil War.

 A statue dedicated to the men who fought in the Spanish-American War.

 Another shot of the Capitol Building.

 A closer view of the Austin Blair statue.  It's actually kind of amazing how many progressive governors Michigan has had over the years.

 A different angle of the capitol.

 Trying to catch more color in the picture.

 A shot from across the street.

Some of the other wars that Michigan has contributed to.

I actually like our capitol building.  I'll say the same thing about this that I'll say about the US capitol, it's a shame the people in it can't live up to the building that houses them.