AUGUSTA (Day 2 - part 3)

The south wing houses the Senate.

The room is somewhat smaller since there are only 35 members.

The state seal again ... The blue and gold of the carpet represent stars in the sky.

Lincoln ... Hamlin

This portrait of Lincoln by Albion Harris Bicknell (1837 - 1915, best known for his portraits and historical subjects) is one of only three he did that show the president standing. All his others show the man sitting.

Hannibal Hamlin (1809 - 1891) was a US Senator from Maine who served as Lincoln's first Vice President. He also briefly served as Governor of Maine in 1857. He retired in Bangor where he collapsed and fell unconscious while playing cards at the age of 81. He died a few hours later.

Knox ... Chandler

General Henry Knox (1750 - 1806) was the country's first Secretary of War under George Washington. I find this portrait, done by Gilbert Stuart in 1806, has an interesting use of empty space. Stuart painted over 1,000 people, including the six first presidents.

John Chandler (1762 - 1841) was the first President of the Maine Senate, having already served in the Massachusetts Senate. He was self educated and had enlisted in the Continental Army at the age of 15. He was captured twice by the British.

Chamberlain ... Neptune

Joshua L. Chamberlain (1828 0 1914) commanded at Gettysburg and received the Medal of Honor. He was Governor of Maine from 1867 - 71.

John Neptune (1767 - 1865) was Lieutenant Governor and Secondary Chief of the Penobscot Nation. Beginning in 1823, he served as an early representative. The portrait was painted on wood and has been cased in glass to preserve it.

We headed outside onto the portico.

The 8 columns are made of solid granite weighing 20,000 pounds each.They were so heavy that they had to be rolled in.

The original building and extended wings on both sides

We were told that the door once used to be self locking. During a late session, some of the members accidentally got locked outside here. Even though the door can now be latched open, there is also a doorbell just in case.

The fourth floor...

From here, one can look down as well as up another three stories at the domed ceiling.

Our tour ended and Crystal left us to do her next tour. We could walk down at our leisure.

We then drove downtown. Augusta was a super small town, with a population of only 19,000 or so. We walked down Water Street in search of a place to eat. Informative signs told us of the city's history.

The large Masonic Temple was built in 1894 for $40,000.

The English first explored the area in 1607. In 1625, settlers of Plymouth Colony chose the east shore of the Kennebec for a trading post which became known as Cushnoc, the native name for the area. The post was abandoned and in 1754 Fort Western was built. As more settlers arrived, the new village was incorporated as Hallowell in 1771. In 1797, the town separated to also form Harrington. In 1797, Harrington changed its name to Augusta in honor of Pamela Augusta Dearborn (1775 - 1799), the daughter of the American Revolution General Henry Dearborn.

The Olde Federal Building (with its nickname of Augusta's Castle) was the former federal government building, Built from 1886 - 1890 in Romanesque Revival architecture using Hallowell granite, it was used as a courthouse and post office until the 1960s when a new larger federal building was built. It was then repurposed into a bank, restaurant and office.

The streets were empty.

The street then and now. This building was constructed in 1880 to house the E. C. Allen Publishing Company. Mr. Allen then built a larger building across the street (demolished in 1987) that was connected by an underground tunnel.

In honor of Joseph Baker (1812 - 1883) and his son Orville Dewey Baker (1847 - 1908) who served as the 24th attorney general of Maine.

It was getting to be lunchtime so we popped into Otto's on the River.

Sean had the lobster stew while I had a veggie and chickpea sandwich.

Afterwards we walked down to the Kennebec River where we got a view of our next destination... Old Fort Western.

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