Tag: Boise

Boise, ID – April 23, 2026

I was a poli sci major at UConn for my undergraduate degree and spent time working as a legislative aide at the State Capitol in Hartford, in additional to running two political campaigns. I eventually went to law school and spent the majority of my career working in local government. I’m understandably a bit of a government nerd, so it should come as no surprise that I decided one of the many fun things I could do with this job was to tour all 50 State Capitols. Previously I had toured the Capitols in Hartford, Connecticut (obviously) and Annapolis, Maryland (also obviously). Only 48 to go!

Number three was Boise, Idaho where I had a 15 hour layover. We arrived at the hotel around 3:00 which gave me just enough time to walk over and check it out. They weren’t offering guided tours, but there was an interesting exhibit in the lower level about the history of Idaho and it’s Capitol, and I was able to walk around on the different floors. Unfortunately, the legislative chambers were locked up, but I’m sure I’ll have another layover there in the future and I can try again.

Construction began on the Capitol in 1905, fifteen years after Idaho became a state, and it was completed in 1920.

As you can tell, it was a beautiful day. My dad would have called it “Chamber of Commerce weather.”

Four types of marble were used in the construction: red from Georgia, gray from Alaska, green from Vermont, and black from Italy.
This statue of Washington, covered in gold leaf, was carved in 1869 out of white pine, Idaho’s state tree. The artist, Charles Ostner, spent four years carving it by candlelight after working during the day as a miner.

Obligatory dome pictures:

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