Maryland State House - Construction

Construction

Construction began in 1772 and was not completed until 1779 due to the ongoing American Revolutionary War. The statehouse was designed by Joseph Horatio Anderson, a noted architect of the time. The two-story building is of brick construction in the middle of State Circle. The building is designed in the popular Georgian style of the day. A small portico juts out from the center of the building and is topped by a pediment, two high arched windows frame the entrance. On both floors, large rectangular windows line the facade. A cornice is topped by another pediment and the sloping roof gives way for a central octagonal drum atop which rests a dome. The large dome is topped by a balustraded balcony, another octagonal drum and a lantern capped by a lightning rod. The rod was constructed and grounded according to the direct specifications of its inventor, Benjamin Franklin. The dome of the statehouse is depicted on the Maryland state quarter.

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Famous quotes containing the word construction:

    No real “vital” character in fiction is altogether a conscious construction of the author. On the contrary, it may be a sort of parasitic growth upon the author’s personality, developing by internal necessity as much as by external addition.
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