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Million Dollar Staircase, New York State Capitol, Albany, New York, circa 1910

Subject
Interiors
Card type
Printed photo
Date
c. 1915 (White Border)
Front of Million Dollar Staircase, New York State Capitol, Albany, New York, circa 1910, c. 1915 printed photo postcard
Front
Back of Million Dollar Staircase, New York State Capitol, Albany, New York, circa 1910, c. 1915 printed photo postcard
Back

About this postcard

The card pictures the great carved sandstone staircase inside the New York State Capitol in Albany, with its clustered columns, foliate capitals, balustraded galleries and arched skylights. Known as the "Million Dollar Staircase" (more properly the Great Western Staircase), it was built in the 1880s-90s to designs associated with the Richardsonian Romanesque capitol and is celebrated for the hundreds of carved faces and figures worked into its stone by skilled immigrant stonecutters. The nickname came from its reputed cost.

Postcard Details

Message

No message detected

PublisherChas. W. Hughes
MILLION DOLLAR STAIRCASE, STATE CAPITOL, ALBANY, N. Y. --- STAR QUALITY / MADE IN U.S.A. / FOR WRITING MESSAGES / A-53554 / POST CARD / C.T. AMERICAN ART / PLACE STAMP HERE / DOMESTIC ONE CENT / FOREIGN TWO CENTS / THIS SPACE FOR ADDRESS ONLY. / PUBLISHED BY CHAS. W. HUGHES, MECHANICVILLE, N. Y.
Addressed to

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Postcard record

PublisherChas. W. Hughes
ConditionVery good
Place depictedNew York State Capitol, NY
Place depictedAlbany, NY, NY
PublisherChas. W. Hughes, Mechanicville, NY
NotesWhite border; black-and-white halftone reproduction of a photograph; slight edge wear. No postmark. Divided-back 'POST CARD' with 'THIS SPACE FOR ADDRESS ONLY.' and 'FOR WRITING MESSAGES' panels; blue-green imprint, white border on front, grainy halftone texture. Unused, no writing; light soiling and a pencil '2¢' at top right.

Cite this card

Million Dollar Staircase, New York State Capitol, Albany, New York, circa 1910, postcard, c. 1915. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/million-dollar-staircase-new-york-state-capitol-albany-new-y. Accessed October 24, 2026.