Albany’s state capitol has a $1.5 million staircase built entirely by hand: Here’s the latest

Wikimedia Commons/formulanone
Built by hand, no steel frame
Albany’s capitol sits at the top of State Street hill, and from the outside it already looks more like a European palace than a government office. Step inside and you find grand staircases, carved stone faces, and ceilings covered in paint and gold. Workers built the whole structure by hand from solid stone, with no steel frame holding it up. It took 32 years and five different architects to finish. The best part waits partway up the west staircase. Wikimedia Commons/Matt H. Wade
A palace with no steel frame inside
From the top of State Street hill, the Capitol looks down over downtown Albany. Many people who visit call it the most beautiful state capitol in the country, and its National Historic Landmark status backs that up. Crews built every wall and staircase by hand from solid stone, with no steel frame hiding behind the surface. Walk through the halls and you get carved rooms and staircases that feel closer to a European palace than a government office. Wikimedia Commons/Tyler A. McNeil
Five architects, one building, 32 years
Construction started in 1867 and did not wrap up until 1899, and five different architects took turns leading the project along the way. Each one had different ideas, so the finished building mixes Romanesque arches with French Renaissance details. By the time crews finished, the price passed $25 million, making it the most expensive government building of its era. A fire tore through the west side in 1911 and destroyed much of the State Library, but the Capitol came back. Wikimedia Commons/Navya Sriramaneni
444 steps carved by hand
The staircase’s real name is the Great Western Staircase, but everyone calls it the Million Dollar Staircase because it cost about $1.5 million to build. You climb 444 steps as it rises about 119 feet through four floors. More than 500 stone carvers, many of them brought over from Europe, spent years shaping the stone by hand. The stone stayed soft enough while they worked that carvers could add faces, animals, and flowers wherever they wanted. Flickr/w_lemay
Spot Washington, Lincoln and Douglass in stone
The original plan called for 77 famous faces carved into the staircase, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass. Not every face has a name attached, so part of the fun is guessing who the carvers meant. Once the main portraits were finished, carvers added faces of their own choosing, and some of the strangest ones do not match anyone in the history books. For more than 100 years, Douglass’s name on the wall carried just one s.

Workers finally corrected it in 2019. Flickr/Adam Jones, Ph.D. Ruth Bader Ginsburg joins the staircase
None of the original carvings on the staircase included a woman. Officials later went back and added faces of notable American women, among them Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Clara Barton. In 2023, workers carved the face of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg into the stone, and hers was the first new face added to the staircase in about 125 years. You can find her among carvings that date back to the 1800s, a modern face set into 19th-century stone. Flickr/w_lemay
All 62 counties now carved in
Along with famous faces, the staircase carries the names of New York’s counties cut into the stone. For years, two of them were missing: the Bronx and Nassau. Recent work finally added both names to the wall, completing all 62 counties represented on the staircase. You’ll find the newest carvings on the second floor, sitting right next to county names that have been there since the 1800s. It took more than a century to finish the list. Wikimedia Commons/New York Senate Photo
Gold leaf walls in the Senate
Architect Henry Hobson Richardson designed the Senate Chamber, and lawmakers first used it in 1881. The walls carry 23-karat gold leaf, and Richardson brought in Siena marble from Italy along with red granite from Scotland to build the room. Mexican onyx panels line the north and south walls, with red leather and mahogany filling in below. Look up and you’ll see a carved oak ceiling, shaped specifically to carry sound clearly across the room. Wikimedia Commons/Kenneth C. Zirkel
Step inside a six foot fireplace
Two large fireplaces sit at the back of the Senate Chamber, and each opening stands about six feet high, tall enough for you to stand inside. Workers first built them to heat the room before electricity took over. Because the chamber carries sound so well, senators could not find anywhere private to talk. They started stepping into the fireplace openings to hold quiet conversations, and the habit stuck around long after anyone needed the heat. Flickr/Bill Badzo 212.5 Millons Views
Battle murals cover the War Room
People call the Governor’s Reception Room the War Room, and once you look up, you’ll understand why. William de Leftwich Dodge painted the ceiling with murals showing battle scenes and figures from history.

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The room now works as the Governor’s Reception Room and holds historical displays you can look through. It sits on the spot where planners once wanted to build a massive dome tower, a plan that never came together. Shutterstock
Four governors who became president
Walk down the Hall of Governors and you’ll pass portraits of every person who has led New York, each one paired with facts and keepsakes from their time in office. A long timeline runs along the hall, marking important dates in the state’s history. Four of the governors pictured here went on to become President of the United States. Reporters still gather in this hallway, waiting for events to start in the nearby Red Room. Shutterstock
Landscapes that change every visit
The Hall of New York holds a rotating set of landscape paintings, dozens of them, each one showing a different corner of the state. Together they cover mountains, rivers, and open countryside from one end of New York to the other. Because the display changes over time, you can walk through on a return trip and find paintings that weren’t there before. After the gold and marble of the grander rooms, this hall gives you a quieter, more colorful stop. Wikimedia Commons/Andre Carrotflower
Book a free tour before you go
You can tour the Capitol for free, and the guided version runs about 50 to 60 minutes on weekdays. Tours usually start at 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m., and they all begin at the information desk in the State Street lobby. Along the way, guides walk you through the staircases, the chambers, the War Room, and the Hall of Governors. If you’d rather move at your own pace, you can also visit on your own during regular weekday hours and skip the group entirely. Wikimedia Commons/Shaunfrombrooklyn
Visit the Capitol in Albany, New York
If you want to see all this yourself, the New York State Capitol sits at State Street and Washington Avenue in downtown Albany, New York. Admission is free, and you can walk in on your own or join a guided tour Monday through Friday. Tours start at 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m. at the State Street lobby information desk. The Plaza Visitor Center and gift shop sit nearby at Empire State Plaza, a good stop to make before or after your tour. This article was created with AI assistance and human editing. Read more from this brand:

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