Last Friday, about two dozen State House reporters and members of the governor?s press office gathered like a bunch of kids on a field trip for a tour of the 219-year-old wooden dome over their heads, the defining feature of the oldest U.S. statehouse in continuous use. Michael Enright, Gov. Martin O?Malley?s chief of staff, led the tour because he had one of the keys, another O?Malley aide said. On the long flight of winding wooden stairs on the way to the top, many people have written or carved their initials over the decades. Some of Gov. Robert Ehrlich?s staff and campaign officials inscribed their names less than a week before he left office. Designed by architect Joseph Clark, the dome features a 28-foot wrought iron lightning rod, designed on the recommendations of Mr. Lightning himself, Benjamin Franklin. It is the largest Franklin lightning rod installed during his lifetime, and is grounded to an aquifer beneath the capitol.
State House Dome facts:
» Construction begun: 1785 (six years after State House completed)
» Weight: 160 tons
» Material: Cypress from Cypress Swamp, Somerset County, Md.
» Height, floor to weather vane: 179 feet
» Possible model: Dome on free-standing tower in Karlsruhe, Germany
» Unusual feature: Five-foot cypress “acorn,” at top covered with copper, then sheet lead. At the time, “sound as an acorn” meant without a flaw, or free from imperfection.
Source: Maryland State House Home Page, www.msa.md.gov
