In downtown Austin stands one of the largest state capitol buildings in the United States. The Texas State Capitol is where lawmakers meet to make the state’s laws. The governor of Texas also has an office there.

The building was finished in 1888. Its walls are made of pinkish-red granite, a very hard kind of stone. The granite came from a hill near the town of Marble Falls, about fifty miles away. Workers cut huge blocks of stone, and trains carried them to Austin.

The Capitol has a tall, round dome on top. Many Texans like to point out that their Capitol is even taller than the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. On top of the dome stands a statue of a woman called the Goddess of Liberty. She holds a star high in one hand.

After almost one hundred years of wind, rain, and hot sun, the old statue was cracked and worn. In the 1980s, a helicopter lifted it off the dome. Later, a helicopter set a new statue in its place. The new statue is a replica of the old one. It looks just like the original, but it is made of a metal that holds up better in bad weather. The original statue is now kept inside a museum in Austin.

Today, visitors can take free tours of the Capitol. They can stand under the dome, look straight up, and see a giant star in the middle of the ceiling.