Did you know ...

• Position: THEN & NOW - New York State Capitol - Brief article

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Hundreds of stonecutters spent more than a dozen years, starting in 1883, to build the grand staircase near the western entrance of the New York State Capitol in Albany. It's known as the Million Dollar Staircase because it was supposed to cost $1 million, although it exceeded that. The sandstone walls supporting the staircase feature scores of carvings, which, according to legend, include the likenesses of some stonecutters' friends and family, along with the more famous...