Creaking floors. No built-in sound system. And bye-bye flat screen TVs.
Tuesday, the Kentucky General Assembly convened inside the state's Old State Capitol Building, where lawmakers used the occasion to reflect on the effect their work will have on future generations.
It may have sounded like business as usual, but the Kentucky Senate conducted procedural work surrounded on all sides by history. Seated at 1830s reproduction desks and chairs, legislators heard from — and snapped smartphone pictures of — the state's most famous political son, Abraham Lincoln. In a brief address, the reenactor expressed surprise at the invitation.
"You didn't vote for me in 1860," the 16th U.S. president noted, to a round of laughter. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, all is forgiven."
Surprised by his emotional response to the building, Senate President Robert Stivers recounted his family's long history in the state, noting that the decisions made in the Old State Capitol halls still reverberate today.
"From everything... how we do research, what we fund, things that we won't even realize that we have impacted today, 30 years from now... after many of us will be gone from this body and maybe even from this earth, will impact people that we don't know, or may not even have been born yet," the Manchester Republican said. "It's an awesome responsbility that we have."
The 19th Century Greek Revival structure served as the center of Kentucky government between 1830 and 1910, before business shifted to the current Capitol building just over a mile down the road.
