Self-Guided Tour of the State House
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MAINE STATE HOUSE HALL OF FLAGS Next is a portrait of Margaret Chase United States Senate from 1980 to SELF-GUIDED TOUR From the Welcome Center, turn right Smith, who has the distinction of being 1995, and served as Senate Majority and continue on to the main corridor the first woman to have been elected to Leader from 1990 to 1995. of the building, then turn either right both houses of Congress. She was also or left to take the stairs or elevator to the first woman to have her name From 1996 to 2000, Senator Mitchell the second floor and the Hall of Flags. placed in nomination for President by served as chairman of the peace The flags displayed here are replicas one of the two major political parties. negotiations in Northern Ireland. of the original flags which are now This happened at the 1964 Republican Under his leadership the governments stored at the Maine State Museum, Convention in San Francisco. of Northern Ireland and the United WELCOME CENTER adjacent to the State House. Kingdom were able to arrive at the After entering the State House from the On the other side of the double doors is historic Good Friday Agreement that public west entrance, visit the These flags were used by military a portrait of Edmund S. Muskie, brought peace to Northern Ireland after Welcome Center to the right of the regiments from Maine that fought in Governor of Maine from 1955 to 1959, many decades of strife referred to there security kiosk. On the wall to the left the Civil War, the Spanish-American U.S. Senator from 1959 to 1980, as “The Troubles.” of the door to the Welcome Center is a War, World War I, World War II, and Secretary of State from 1980 to 1981, drawing of the original State House. the Korean Conflict. There is also a and Vice Presidential candidate in 1968. Senator Mitchell also founded and POW/MIA flag, recognizing those remains active with the Mitchell HISTORY taken prisoner or missing in action Also on the east wall, to the extreme Institute, which supports Maine students Maine’s first capital was the city of during the Vietnam War. Behind the left, is a portrait of James G. Blaine, the seeking a college education by annually Portland. That, however, was a grand staircase in the west wing is the Republican candidate for President in awarding scholarships to a senior from temporary arrangement, in part because Governor’s office. 1884. In 1862 he purchased as a gift every public high school in Maine. Portland was considered too far south. for his wife the mansion that is today On February 24, 1827, Governor While in the Hall of Flags, take a few known as the Blaine House, the official In the center of the Hall of Flags is a Enoch Lincoln signed the proclamation minutes to view the portraits of some residence of the Governor of Maine. bust of Percival Proctor Baxter, the naming Augusta as the new capital. of Maine’s most prominent people. On Blaine’s daughter, Harriet Blaine Governor of Maine from 1921 to 1925. The capital was moved to Augusta the south wall is a portrait of Maine’s Beale, donated it to the state in 1919. Over a 30-year period, he purchased upon completion of the State House, first Governor, William King, who the land for what is now Baxter State which had its cornerstone laid on July served from 1820 to 1821. On the north wall, just to the left of the Park. Before leaving the Hall of Flags, 4, 1829, and was completed by late north entrance to the Hall of Flags, is a be sure to view the plaques honoring 1831. A rear section was added in Turning next to the east wall, on the portrait of Senator George J. Mitchell. Maine’s soldiers, as well as the Battle 1890 and the building was substantially extreme right you will find a portrait of Prior to being appointed to the U.S. Field Cross Memorial to the soldiers expanded in 1909-1910. The State Thomas Brackett Reed, Speaker of the Senate in 1980 by Governor Joseph E. from Maine who gave their lives House was built using Maine granite U.S. House of Representatives from Brennan to complete Senator Muskie's fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The quarried in the neighboring town of 1889 to 1891 and from 1895 to 1899. term, Senator Mitchell was a U.S. next stop on your self-guided tour will Hallowell and hauled to the site by District Court Judge. He served in the be on the third floor. teams of oxen. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Park. In the wooded area at the end of contains the Offices of the Secretary of of Sir William Pepperell of Kittery, who Upon reaching the third floor, proceed the park is a mausoleum in which the the Senate and the President of the was Commander in Chief at the siege of to the House of Representatives body of Governor Enoch Lincoln is Senate. There are several interesting Fort Louisbourg in 1745, and was active Chamber at the end of the north wing. interred. Walk to the extreme left of portraits displayed in the Senate in raising troops for the French and You will pass the Office of the Clerk the porch and you will be able to view Chamber. The portrait of President Indian Wars. of the House on the left and the Office the Blaine House, which is the white Abraham Lincoln by Albion Harris of the Speaker of the House on the building with black shutters across the Bicknell is one of only three that he did UNDERGROUND CONNECTOR right. Maine has 151 representative street. Upon re-entering the building, of the President standing; all Bicknell's Finally, before leaving the State House districts, and is currently the only state notice the portraits in and around the other portraits of the President showed complex, visit the connector between in the nation to have Native American rotunda. These are portraits of Maine’s him sitting. Bicknell was originally the State House and the Cross State representation in the House of most recent governors. from Turner, Maine, and later settled in Office Building across the plaza. The Representatives. The Penobscot Malden, Massachusetts. connector is accessible through the Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, and WEST WING west entrance just beyond the security the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians Toward the rear of the building is the On the rear wall of the Senate Chamber kiosk. There you will find magnificent each have one Representative. west wing. As you enter the west is a portrait of Hannibal Hamlin, a animal dioramas set in each of Maine’s wing, notice the black limestone strip Congressman and U.S. Senator from four very distinct seasons. The In the front corners of the House that runs across the floor. A close Maine who served as Vice President of dioramas were created by Klir Beck in chamber there are two voting boards; inspection of this strip will reveal 500- the United States during President 1957, and the display also includes members push a button on their desks, million-year-old fossils. In fact, these Lincoln’s first term. To his right is pictures of Mr. Beck working on the and the boards light up to display the fossils can be found in most of the Joshua Chamberlain, Civil War hero, dioramas. The granite walls of the votes. Members also have a button to black limestone strips throughout the Governor of Maine, and President of tunnel were carved by Evan W. Haynes let the Speaker know when they'd like second, third, and fourth floors of the Bowdoin College. To Chamberlain’s of North Yarmouth. Notice the to speak. Video cameras are State House. At the head of the grand right is a portrait of Sir William Phips, inscriptions. They are in five different positioned around the chamber to staircase leading from the second to the who was the first Colonial Governor of languages: English, French, Penobscot, stream the House sessions to the web. third floor is a portrait of George Massachusetts, which then included the Passamaquoddy and Abenaki. Washington, painted in 1836 by territory that later became Maine. ROTUNDA Thomas Truman Spear. Doors on Produced and Distributed by In the the center of the building you either side of the portrait lead to the The portrait to the right of the rear doors Robert B. Hunt will see the rotunda. The dome is Legislative Council Chamber. To the of the Senate Chamber is of Henry Clerk of the House viewable from this point. Weather left is a magnificent fireplace once used Knox, the country’s first Secretary of War under George Washington. After Guided tours may be scheduled through permitting, step out onto the front to heat this part of the building. the Maine State Museum veranda and enjoy the view. The eight the Revolutionary War, Knox settled in (207) 287-2301 columns on the veranda are solid MAINE STATE SENATE Thomaston, Maine. To his right is a granite and weigh 20,000 pounds each. Next, proceed to the Senate Chamber at painting of an area in Maine known as For more information, visit The park across the street is Capitol the end of the south wing, which also Big Wilson/Little Wilson Stream. http://house.maine.gov Finally, to the extreme right is a portrait .