Insider staff
When we got a sneak peek at the winners of this year’s Cappies, like most of you will do, we scanned the list to see who came out on top.
As we went down the list, a few categories stood out. One being the “Best Place to Take a Visitor.” Concord has a lot of cool stuff, so it was interesting to see that the State House earned the top spot.
But why not? It’s got a lot of history, cool statues and a golden dome that will soon be as goldeny as ever.
And then it got us thinking. When was the last time we took a walk around the place where all kinds of important New Hampshire decisions are made? The answer is most likely elementary or middle school, but long enough ago that we don’t remember what it really looks like inside and what kinds of things you can see.
So we figured why not give ourselves a little refresher. We made a quick phone call to Virginia Drew, director of the State House’s visitors’ center, to see if she could show us around. Typically, you either have to be part of a school field trip or a group of 10 or more for a guided tour, but we’re kind of a big deal around here, so Drew made an exception.
Then Drew quickly informed us that, “for a New Hampshire citizen, it should be a must.”
And don’t worry, if you don’t have nine friends who can make it for a tour and are too old to be on a school field trip, you can always take a self guided tour. There’s pamphlets to tell you what you’re looking at – and you can go at any pace you’d like.
But here’s a little look at what you’ve been missing all these years.
Starting in the Hall of Flags, there’s a lot of New Hampshire military history contained in those two glass enclosures. There’s 10 large columns in the hall, but only eight of them are real. Think you can figure out which two are not central wooden Doric columns?
You’ll quickly notice lots of paintings, like on just about every available wall space. Those are just important Granite Staters who are part of New Hampshire history.
If it’s a Wednesday, between January and June, you can take a seat in the House Gallery to watch over House sessions, and the same can be said for the Senate Chamber on Thursdays.
And that’s where we leave off. We need to leave you wanting more – so you’ll then take a tour. See what we did there?
There are pamphlets for the Hall of Flags, the self-guided tour of the State House and another for the outdoor plaza. You can even take part in a State House scavenger hunt.
The State House is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for both guided and self-guided tours. There’s also legislation that will hopefully open it up on Saturdays.
Make sure you stop in the visitors center to sign in and check out all the cool stuff in there. They always like to know where people come from.
