The Capitol

Arizona built its territorial capitol out of itself. Completed in 1900 to a design by Texas architect James Riley Gordon, the building rose from gray granite quarried in the Salt River Mountains, tufa from Yavapai County, and a foundation of malapais rock off Camelback, and it wore a dome sheathed in Arizona copper, the metal that ran the territory's economy. It was the first seat of government Arizona owned rather than rented, and it carried the territory through to statehood in 1912. The copper dome still catches the desert sun.

What the plaque says

The Capitol, completed in 1900 at a cost of approximately $136,000, was designed by James Riley Gordon of San Antonio, Texas, and served as the first Arizona-owned seat of government during the late territorial days and the transition to statehood in 1912. The original structure is 184 feet long and 84 feet deep. The exterior is constructed entirely of Arizona products: grey granite from the Salt River Mountains, tufa from Yavapai County, and a foundation of malapais rock from Camelback Mountain.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Phoenix — 1.3 mi
  The fifth-largest US city, built on the canals of a thousand-year-old one
• Heard Museum — 2.1 mi
  The Native Southwest, told in the first person
• Taliesin West — 18 mi
  Frank Lloyd Wright's desert masterwork, grown from the ground it stands on

More markers nearby

• Eusebio Francisco Kino — steps away
• Arizona's Pioneer Women — steps away
• Boras Headframe — 0.3 mi
• Arizona Copper Company's Locomotive #2 — 0.3 mi