State Education Building

I'm dedicating a whole post to the New York State Department of Education building because I took so many pictures of it. The building was completed in 1912 and was home to the New York State Museum and the State Library.

Thirty-six corinthian columns line Washington Avenue.

The museum and library moved out the building in the 1970s when the new Cultural Education Center opened on the south mall of the capitol. I remember going to the old museum on school field trips when I was a kid. The building always impressed me. Something important must go on in there, I thought.

The main entrance.

The building's thirty-six massive corinthian columns line Washington Avenue and supposedly form the longest colonnade in the United States, among the longest in the world. The historic building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

I think my first experience with revolving doors was in this building.

The state's Department of Education is still located in the building and its annex, a nine-story office building constructed next door in 1959. The colonnade faces West Capitol Park on the north. Directly opposite the Education Building is the modern Legislative Office Building on the south side of the park, a building similar in size and color but completely opposite in style.

Looking up inside the colonnade.

On the east and west sides of the park are the capitol itself and the A.E. Smith building. The four buildings make an impressive ensemble of monumental proportions, at least in my eyes. I wish I could have gone inside, but it was Saturday and the building was closed. These days, with security issues, I probably couldn't get in anyway.

Light and shadow.