The Capitol

A shot of the curved sidewalk at the formal entryway to the Arkansas State Capitol in downtown Little Rock. Why is the sidewalk here curved, you may be asking? Well it's because way back in the early 1900s, someone made a mistake. One of the architects of the capitol (George Donaghey, who was also governor at one point) laid the capitol foundation out so that it followed a north-south axis. He also designed it so the dome sat squarely in line with the middle of Capitol Avenue. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that the Little Rock street grid didn't line up east-west. They were at an angle because the streets were aligned with the Arkansas River. When the error was discovered, they couldn't tear down the building or re-do the city streets, so we have a crooked entryway that connects the building to the street.