Grounds. It has this beautiful renaissance revival style with this massive sunset red granite. Its easy to see from any Vantage Point within downtown austin. We do have a round dome, not unlike the nations capitol. We are topped by the goddess of liberty, the beautiful statue that graces our tip top of the capitol dome. Texans are proud of the fact its taller than the national capitol. When the first capitol on Capitol Square was completed in 1853, it was small and it wasnt too popular. Officials started to make plans for a grander, more fitting State Capitol for texas. They quickly realized they couldnt afford the kind of massive structure they had in mind. So they were able to set aside over 3 million acres of land. They were able to trade that. The Texas Capitol is a great opportunity to impart the story of texas, the story of the land that it took to build the capitol. Also about the history of the state of texas, not only as a state but then, of course, that before it was a republic of texas. And to have all of the beautiful paintings that we have throughout the building and our capitol tour guides who give an opportunity to show the building to all of our visitors. We have a great opportunity to talk about the capitol and to impart all of that information to our visitors. Whether visitors walk into the capitol, whether its the South Entrance or another, they originally start to see the grandeur of the building, the architecture of the building. We have such beautiful arched spaces that it almost cries for public art that were able to show off to the public. At the south foyer we have beautiful sculptures done by a german artist working in texas. The copies of those statues are on display in statue ari hall. We have the monumental paintings, the surrender of santa anna and david crock eet. It was an important battle just six weeks after the loss of the alamo. Mexican forces numbered 1400 people. The texans only 900. Because vinces bridge had been destroyed, they were not able to receive reinforcements or to retreat. So during an afternoon siesta, texas forces attacked and were able to defeat them in less than 20 minutes. In terms of the impact of the battle, texas was able to have its independence from mexico. And, of course, we celebrate every year in texas. It is a state holiday. Inside the Senate Chamber, theres a beautiful portrait on the green drapery that shows steven f. Austin in one of the most iconic paintings of his, i think, tenure painted by an unknown artist possibly in new orleans. Other paintings in the room would include likenesses of lamar. He was instrumental in making sure the capitol remains in austin. He had spent time in austin at that point in time, it was named water l waterloo. He hoped this would be the place where the capitol of texas would remain. We have more recent paintings in the Senate Chamber including barbara jordan, london johnson, former president of the United States. The only textile in the capitol collection is the flag from the battle. It hangs behind the speaker. We only have it on display when the legislature is in session. As you can imagine, its very fridge il fragile. We try to keep it protected. We have a replica hanging in its place because the legislature will gavel in in january of 2015, we have the original on display and it is one of those, i think, iconic Texas History artifacts that all of our schoolchildren who come to the capitol to learn about Texas History to learn about capitol history and about how to be a good citizen, they have an opportunity to see these kinds of artifacts up close and personal. The capitol welcomes more than a million visitors every year. And were always so thankful to be able to show them not only the capitol itself and all of its wonderful Historic Furnishings and interiors, but we have monuments on the grounds to various causes. For example, on the south grounds we have four of our most historic monuments, texas rangers, alamo, confederate and the volunteer fireman monument. In the early 1990s, the capitol underwent a massive restoration. During the interior restoration, we were able to return ten spaces to their turn of the century appearances. One is the Supreme Courtroom. When meyers completed the capitol in 1888, we were able to house all of State Government within the walls. State government has grown exponentially since then. At this point, the Supreme Court actually offices in another adjacent building. This room really gives us an opportunity to talk a little bit about the Supreme Court and the Judicial Branch of government. We have the appeals courtroom. Between these two our capitol tour guides are able to tell the public about that branch of government and really provide a great deal of information in terms of how texas Government Works today. We are very hopeful that you all have a chance to come visit the texas÷ xu uz personally. We always love to see not only texans walk through our doors, but we see literally hundreds of thousands of people walk through our doors from not only all 50 states in the United States but really from several Foreign Countries as well. Visit us so we can tell you the story of texas, about Texas History and hopefully well be able to share our wonderful Texas Capitol with you. The capitol of california was not supposed to be in sacramento. Actually, a little farther down the road in san jose was where the first