Raleigh, North Carolina
How do you build a building to run a state government that you know is going to be too small? I often wonder this about North Carolina’s Capitol building, especially when compared to the Capitol buildings we have visited around the country. North Carolina stopped using its capital building in the 1960s when it opened up the legislative building a couple of blocks away. The original Capitol building now serves as a historic site in North Carolina. Part of North Carolina’s problem is that the colony was abused by strong royal governors; therefore, the people in the state did not want a strong state government. Another problem was that North Carolina decided to rebuild the Capitol on the same footprint as the one lost in a 1831 fire. The North Carolina Capitol Building has not been greatly altered since 1840. When Raleigh became the state capital, the city was kind of a backwater. When the new Capitol Building was built in 1840, Raleigh had a population of only 2,244. Wake County was a rural backwater, and most of the county was either farmland or covered in Oak-Hickory Forest. No one anticipated that the city would house over half a million people today.
Besides the original exterior, many monuments around the outside are dedicated to soldiers from different wars in which North Carolina citizens have served. The capital lawn is also home to a statue that includes the three men with North Carolina ties who served as US President: Andrew Jackson, who was born on the North and South Carolina line in Warsaw, James K. Polk, who was born in modern-day Mecklenburg County, and Andrew Johnson, who was born just a few blocks from the capital building in Raleigh. All three of these men actually moved to Tennessee before they began their rise in politics, so it is rather ironic that their statue faces east, while all three looked west for their political fortunes.
I remember my first visit to the Capitol building. I was in Mrs. Lawson’s fourth-grade class, and because North Carolina history was taught in fourth grade, school trips from around the state would come to Raleigh for the day. My grandfather was with me because he served as a chaperone that day. To highlight how much travel has changed in my lifetime, my grandfather warned me against taking too many photos that might not turn out, since processing film was expensive. I was only in the fourth grade, and there was no way to know whether the photos I took would turn out until the film was developed and sent back to me. I remember my photo of the statue of Jackson, Polk, and Johnson turned out very well.
North Carolina, except for a few brief years when I lived in Virginia, has always been my home, and this building, as imperfect and small as it is, has always been my State Capitol. The building was rebuilt too small in 1840, and because of that, the capital serves more as a monument to what the state government should be than its actual function. I’ve been to political events in the capital. When I was in college, I sometimes drove downtown just to walk around the capital.
On my most recent visit, there was a display encouraging people to sign a book of condolences for the recently deceased former governor, James B. Hunt. Governor Hunt had passed away just a couple of weeks prior to my visit, be had served four terms as the governor of the state. I was fortunate enough to meet Governor Hunt a couple of times, and I can honestly say I’ve never met anyone who loved North Carolina as much as he did. I wrote a condolence in the book, but I’ll keep those words between the family and me.
If you visit the North Carolina Capitol, you can find parking on the street; I found a meter spot on Salisbury Street on the west side of the building. It is free to visit the State Capitol, but you will have to go through security, so check to make sure you are not carrying any contraband. There are bathroom facilities, but they are limited. In about 30 minutes to an hour, you can tour most of the building.
The state motto of North Carolina is Esse quam videri, Latin for “to be rather than to seem,” words first attributed to Cicero, but perfectly define North Carolina’s Capitol Building. The building is small and imperfect, but it serves instead as a state historical site. The Capitol also serves as the offices for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The Legislative Building is more modern and provides better service for North Carolina’s State Government. Our Capitol Building does not pretend to be something that it is not, a fitting tribute to the Old North State.
I wanted to end this note about the North Carolina State Capitol Building by sharing something that Jim Hunt wrote to me. Governor Hunt sent me the letter when I was just an eighth-grade student who happened to represent North Carolina in a national contest. Governor Hunt did not have to send me the letter, and I’m glad I stumbled across it when I learned of his death. His words mean more to me now than when I was a 14-year old kid so long ago.
