Missouri State Capitol — Attraction in Jefferson City

Reserved a tour for 940am. Arrived and was told to wait for our guide. At 942 a school group of 30 3rd graders joined us and the guide showed up soon thereafter. At that point we finally went down to the museum portion. The guide spent 5 minutes talking about the state seal then told us that since it was so busy, we wouldn’t be seeing much on our tour. He even stated that the coolest part of the building the house lounge was off limits. Why even mention that, it just made us more disappointed. We were shown 3 pieces of artwork, then he brought us to the house gallery because he said the rotunda was too busy. When we got to the Gallery he was surprised that they were about to start session. He spoke to a gentleman who said to come back in 5 minutes so he brought us back down to the rotunda told us to look up then back up those steps to the gallery. At that point he said thanks and have a good day at the capital. According to the website tours are supposed to be 45 minutes. He spent maybe 20 minutes and didn’t really show us anything of note. We watched them open the house session for a few minutes then went back to the tour desk to see if there was anything we should have been shown. Our guide was manning the desk and said that nope, tours during time are very limited and we were lucky to have seen what we saw. The senate was locked and not accessible, nothing with the governors office either. We have been to 20 state capitals in our country and this by far was the most disappointing and an absolute waste of our time. We spent just over an hour and a half in the building and hardly saw a thing or learned anything. The Show me state should be ashamed of the way they treat guests and I feel bad for the students experience as well. I would give you all a big F...

Ask most Americans "What is the capital of Missouri?" and they won't know. It is definitely one of the lesser known capitals as it's not a large city like Saint Louis or Kansas City. It's Jefferson City and it is smack dab in the center of the state with the Capitol building on a bluff that overlooks the Missouri River. This is my 46th Capitol to visit, leaving just Honolulu, Juneau, Salem and Olympia on my quest.

This fabulous and impressive building was completed in 1917 and because of the placement, you can't miss it from anywhere outside the city. The Baroque-styled structure is loosely modeled after the famous Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Atop the dome is a statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture.

The grounds are completely open as is the interior. Murals, a grand staircase, giant statues of Lewis and Clark and on good days, you can climb the stairs to a viewing platform in the cupola.

There is lots of parking nearby, some of it metered and some of it not. There are open walkways all the way around the building, making for great photo opportunities from everywhere. Don't miss...

Visited this state capital building on a Wednesday. Learned a lesson; do not visit these types of facilities on a Wednesday! Several school tours are usually booked on this day. It is very important personally for me to see educational institutions introducing our future generation into civics and history. That being said, we grabbed a tour of the building which lasted about 20 minutes, then we spent time touring the museums and grounds. This is the fifth capital building that we have visited in the US. it is rich in history and the complements of the museums gave it an extra touch. I would like to add a sidebar; If you are using GPS to travel here do not use the alternative suggested route (Lewis and Clark trail/loop) that says it will "save you five minutes." This route is not for the faint of heart or people with a wild...