The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States. The building has been named a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. As the primary office building of Georgia's government, the capitol houses the offices of the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state on the second floor, chambers in which the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

, consisting of the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...

and Georgia House of Representatives, meets annually from January to April. The fourth floor houses visitors' galleries overlooking the legislative chambers and a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

located near the rotunda in which a statue of ''

Miss Freedom ''Miss Freedom'', originally named ''Goddess of Liberty'', is the statue adorning the dome of the Georgia State Capitol since 1889. Commissioned in 1888, the hollow copper statue is painted white, weighs over 1600 lbs and is over 26 feet tal ...

'' caps the dome.

History

The capitol site was occupied previously by the first

Atlanta City Hall Atlanta City Hall is the headquarters of the City of Atlanta government. It was constructed in 1930, and is located in Downtown Atlanta. It is a high-rise office tower very similar to dozens of other city halls built in the United States durin ...

. To encourage the state government to relocate the capital city to rapidly growing and

industrialized Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

Atlanta from rural Milledgeville, the city

donate A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as ...

d the site. The 1877-79 Constitutional Convention voted in 1877 to permanently move the capital to Atlanta, and in 1879 accepted the city's offer of the five-acre City Hall/County Courthouse tract, which was conveyed to the state in 1880. The first capitol in

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

no longer stands, while in Augusta and

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

the legislature met in makeshift facilities, perhaps causing (or caused by) the alternation of those two cities as capital. The legislature also met at other places, including Macon, especially during and just after the Atlanta Campaign of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, which resulted in the capture and

burning of Atlanta The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought during the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply hub of Atlanta, Uni ...

Architecture

Like many

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

capitols, the Georgia State Capitol is designed to resemble the Neoclassical architectural style of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Former Confederate general Philip Cook was a member of the commission that oversaw planning and construction of the building. The commission engaged

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Willoughby J. Edbrooke Willoughby James Edbrooke (1843–1896) was an American architect and a bureaucrat who remained faithful to a Richardsonian Romanesque style into the era of Beaux-Arts architecture in the United States, supported by commissions from conservative ...

and

Franklin Pierce Burnham Franklin Pierce Burnham (October 30, 1853 – December 16, 1909) was an American architect. He is best known for his collaborations with Willoughby J. Edbrooke, especially the 1889 Georgia State Capitol. Burnham was also named the Kenilworth Comp ...

, of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to design the building and Miles and Horne of Toledo,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

for construction. Work completed in March 1889. Sculptor George Crouch executed all the ornamental work on the building. The Capitol faces west on Washington Street. The

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

features a four-story

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

, with stone

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

, supported by six

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

columns set on large stone piers. Georgia's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

, with two figures on each side, is carved on the pediment. The Capitol's interior represents the 19th-century style of its time. It was among the earliest buildings to have elevators, centralized steam heat, and combination

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

and

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

lights. Classical

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s and oak paneling are used throughout the building. The floors of the interior are marble from Pickens County, which still produces marble today. The open central rotunda is flanked by two wings, each with a grand staircase and three-story

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

crowned by

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

windows. The Capitol building has undergone frequent

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

s to adapt to the growth and change of government. Originally constructed from

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

and covered with

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

, in a 1958 renovation the present dome was gilded with native

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

from near

Dahlonega The city of Dahlonega () is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884. Dahlonega is located at the north end of ...

Lumpkin County Lumpkin County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,488. Its county seat is Dahlonega. History This area was settled by the Cherokee, who also occupied a ...

, where the first American gold rush occurred during the 1830s. For this reason, legislative business is often referred to as what is happening "under the Gold Dome" by media across the state. The statue ''

'' has adorned the dome since the building's opening. In 1997, the House and Senate chambers were restored to their 1889 appearance with replicated decoration and color schemes. This included the demolition of damaged plaster, the reinstallation of flat plaster at the dome, columns, and walls, and a decorative painting in the House and Senate Chambers.

Georgia Capitol Museum

The museum within the Capitol, in existence since 1889, houses extensive collections representing the natural and cultural history of Georgia. Native American artifacts, animals, rocks and minerals, and fossils illustrate the diversity of the collections. Removed during restoration or renovation, most of the collection remains in storage. The portraits of governors, statues of famous Georgians, and historic flags from many wars are displayed throughout the Capitol. The portraits of all governors elected since 1850 are there, except for

Rufus Bullock Rufus Brown Bullock (March 28, 1834 – April 27, 1907) was a Republican Party politician and businessman in Georgia. During the Reconstruction Era he served as the state's governor and called for equal economic opportunity and political rights f ...

. The Georgia Capitol Museum is a

public education State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

institution housed in the Capitol building under the administration of the University of Georgia Libraries. The museum seeks to preserve and interpret the history of the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, the functions of the government, and the events that have occurred in the Capitol. To accomplish this, the museum collects, preserves, and interprets artifacts relating to the Capitol or associated with the events that have occurred there.

Liberty Plaza

In 2015, the state of Georgia unveiled a large public plaza just east of the Capitol named Liberty Plaza. After its opening, numerous monuments were relocated from other parts of the Capitol grounds to the plaza, including replicas of the

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence ...

and

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

Dimensions

* Greatest north–south: * Greatest central depth: * Second-Floor Rotunda to ceiling: * Dome diameter:

Monuments on the Capitol grounds

Georgia State Capitol dome with Gordon statue

;Governors: * Equestrian statue of John Brown Gordon (erected in 1907). *

Joseph E. Brown Joseph Emerson Brown (April 15, 1821 – November 30, 1894), often referred to as Joe Brown, was an American attorney and politician, serving as the 42nd Governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865, the only governor to serve four terms. He also se ...

(also U.S. Senator and Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court) and Elizabeth Brown (1928) * Statue of Eugene Talmadge (1949) *

Richard B. Russell Richard Brevard Russell Jr. (November 2, 1897 – January 21, 1971) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 66th Governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933 before serving in the United States Senate for almo ...

(also a U.S. Senator and in the Georgia legislature) (1975) *

Herman Talmadge Herman Eugene Talmadge (August 9, 1913 – March 21, 2002) was an American politician who served as governor of Georgia in 1947 and from 1948 to 1955 and as a U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1957 to 1981. Talmadge, a Democrat, served during a t ...

(also a U.S. Senator) (1990) * Statue of Jimmy Carter (also a U.S. president and member of the Georgia Senate) (1992) *

Statue of Ellis Arnall The Ellis Arnall statue is a public monument located on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia. Honoring Georgia Governor Ellis Arnall, the statue was sculpted by Zenos Frudakis and unveiled in 1997. History Ellis Ar ...

(also state Attorney General) (1997) ;Other persons: * Plaque and tree honoring William Ambrose Wright, a lieutenant in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, and Georgia state comptroller for fifty years, as well as insurance commissioner. Erected by the Atlanta

Ladies Memorial Association A Ladies' Memorial Association (LMA) is a type of organization for women that sprang up all over the American South in the years after the American Civil War. Typically, these were organizations by and for women, whose goal was to raise monument ...

, January 19, 1930. *

Statue of Benjamin Harvey Hill A statue of Benjamin Harvey Hill stands inside the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The monumental statue was designed by American sculptor Alexander Doyle and originally dedicated in 1886 at what is now Hardy Ivy P ...

(Confederate Senator, US Senator and US Representative). * Statue of Martin Luther King Jr. (2017) *

Drinking fountain A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and s ...

with a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

Mary Latimer McLendon Mary Latimer McLendon (June 24, 1840 – November 20, 1921) was an activist in the prohibition and women's suffrage movements in the U.S. state of Georgia. Born into the planter class in the Antebellum South, she would move to Atlanta befor ...

, a

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

and

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

activist. Erected in October 1923. ;Others: * U.S. Coast Guard Survey History Marker (1874) * Reproduction of the

(1950) *

replica (1951) * Spanish War Veterans Memorial (1967) * Flame of Freedom (

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

) (1969) * ''

Expelled Because of Color ''Expelled Because of Color'' is a bronze sculpture, tall, by John Thomas Riddle, Jr. It is located on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol, 240 State Capitol SW, Atlanta, Georgia. It was commissioned in 1976 by the Georgia Legislative Blac ...

'', a bronze statue, by John Thomas Riddle Jr., on the Capitol grounds (1978). It was commissioned in 1976 by the

Georgia Legislative Black Caucus The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus is the caucus of African-American members of the Georgia General Assembly. It was established in 1975, and is currently the largest caucus of black state legislators in the country in terms of members. History ...

, and unveiled in 1978. The statue commemorates the

Original 33 The "Original 33" were the first 33 African-American members of the Georgia General Assembly. They were elected to office in 1868, during the Reconstruction era. They were among the first African-American state legislators in the United States. ...

, the 33 African-American legislators who were expelled from the Georgia legislature in 1868. *

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Memorial (1979) * DOGNY Project Sculpture (2002): 9/11 memorial, across the street from the Capitol ;Statue removed: * Statue of Thomas E. Watson (erected in 1932, moved in 2013; Watson was a U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative, and nominee for vice president on the People's Party). In 2013, Governor

Nathan Deal John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party in 1992 a ...

ordered the statue moved across the street to Park Plaza.

Georgia's Old Capitol Museum

The Old State Capitol is at 201 East Greene Street,

Milledgeville, Georgia Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon and bordered on the east by the Oconee River. The rapid current of the river here made this an attractive location to buil ...

, and served as state capitol from 1807 until 1867. The building was severely damaged by a fire on March 24, 1941 and was rebuilt in its former design to serve as a part of

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was originally known as M ...

. The first floor of the old capitol is open as a museum.

Appearances

Some parts of filming of the premiere episode of the ninth season of the television show '' The Walking Dead'' were filmed around and within the Georgia State Capitol over a period of two days.

References

External links

Georgia State Capitol

* ttp://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/atlanta/ Atlanta, Georgia, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
Capitol Art Collection from the Georgia Archives

Historic Ground
historical marker {{Authority control Government of Georgia (U.S. state) Government buildings completed in 1889 State capitols in the United States Government buildings with domes National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state) Museums in Atlanta Buildings and structures in Atlanta History museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Government buildings in Georgia (U.S. state) Tourist attractions in Atlanta City of Atlanta-designated historic sites National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta