Hawaii State Capitol building, downtown Honolulu

Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii — The Hawaii State Capitol building (415 S. Beretania Street), housing the Hawaii State Legislature, is nestled at center-left among the high-rise buildings of downtown Honolulu. Farther out, at the entrance to Honolulu Harbor, is Sand Island.

As author Sarah Vowell describes in her colorful history of Hawaii, Unfamiliar Fishes, Honolulu was only a dusty plain when Hiram Bingham and his company of missionaries first climbed Punchbowl Crater for this view in 1820.

Completed in 1969, the Hawaii State Capitol is situated immediately east of Iolani Palace, which it replaced as Hawaii’s official statehouse.