Million Dollar Staircase
143 State St
Albany, NY
A grand sandstone staircase carved by hand with hundreds of faces and figures, hidden inside one of the most extravagant capitol buildings ever raised in America.
The Million Dollar Staircase is the showpiece of the New York State Capitol in Albany, a soaring grand stairway carved from red sandstone and covered with an astonishing crowd of faces, figures, birds, and beasts. Stone carvers spent years chiseling the details by hand, and the nickname comes from the enormous sum the staircase alone was said to cost, a fortune in its day.
The staircase is only one wonder of a building that took more than thirty years and vast expense to complete, passing through several architects and styles before it was finished in the 1890s. Among the carved faces are famous statesmen and thinkers, along with portraits of ordinary Albany residents and even the carvers themselves, tucked into the stone for anyone patient enough to look.
What Guests Love
- The hundreds of carved faces, animals, and figures worked into the stone
- Hunting for the famous faces of statesmen, writers, and ordinary people
- The sheer craftsmanship of a staircase carved entirely by hand
- A grand capitol that took decades and a fortune to build
Worth Knowing
- The capitol offers guided tours that take in the staircase and the building
- It is a working government building, so hours follow the state's schedule
- The carving is high and detailed, so a good look upward rewards the visit
- Pair it with the Empire State Plaza and the New York State Museum next door
Details
Albany, NY
Learn about Million Dollar Staircase
Building a capitol on the Hudson
Albany stands on land that was long a crossroads of the Mohican and the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nations, at the meeting of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, and it became one of the oldest continuous European settlements in the country as a Dutch trading post. It has served as New York's capital since the late eighteenth century.
The current capitol was begun in 1867 and took more than three decades to finish, passing through a succession of architects who changed its style as they went. The result is a massive, richly detailed building whose cost and long construction became legendary, with the Million Dollar Staircase the crown of its interior.
Carving the great staircase
The staircase was carved from soft red sandstone that allowed fine, deep detail, and teams of skilled stonecutters, many of them immigrant craftsmen, spent years working the faces and figures by hand. The result is a dense tapestry of portraits, animals, foliage, and ornament climbing the walls and arches.
Among the carved heads are famous Americans, from statesmen to writers, but the carvers were also allowed to include portraits of ordinary people they knew, and even likenesses of themselves. Finding the famous faces, and the hidden ones, is part of the pleasure of standing at the foot of the stairs and looking up.
The capitol and the plaza
The capitol crowns a hill above the Hudson, and just beyond it stretches the Empire State Plaza, a sweeping mid-twentieth-century complex of marble government towers, reflecting pools, and modern art. Together they make one of the most striking government precincts in the country.
The plaza also holds the New York State Museum and the curved performance hall known as The Egg, so a visit to the staircase folds easily into a fuller day. From the plaza's edges, the views reach out over Albany and the river valley below.
Season by season
Because the staircase is indoors, it welcomes visitors in every season, and the capitol's tours run through the year on the state's schedule. Spring and fall are pleasant times to combine it with a walk around the plaza and downtown Albany.
Summer brings the warmest weather for exploring the plaza's outdoor spaces and art, while winter turns the marble expanse stark and quiet. Whatever the season outside, the carved sandstone of the staircase looks much the same, warm and richly detailed under the interior light.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Albany
Empire State Plaza
At the capitol
A sweeping government complex of marble towers, reflecting pools, and modern art just south of the capitol.
New York State Museum
About a quarter mile south
A large free museum of the state's natural history, culture, and history at the plaza's southern end.
The Egg
At the plaza
A curved, egg-shaped performing arts center that is one of the plaza's signature modern landmarks.