Georgia State Capital

The Georgia State Capitol, completed in 1889, is a landmark in the history of 19th-century American architecture. In style, form, and plan, it is a perfect expression and symbol of the idea of a Capitol building for the "Capital of the New South," as Atlanta was called after Reconstruction. Reminiscent of the U.S. Capitol Building, it directly expressed Atlanta's new nationalism when city leaders were rebuilding the destroyed Confederate railroad center in a new image. Atlanta became the temporary location of the State capital in 1868, and when this became permanent in 1877, the city offered the State five acres on which to erect a capitol building. It took several years of legislative appropriations and bids before construction began in 1884. At the cost of nearly one million dollars, the architectural firm of Edbrooke and Burnham of Chicago designed the Neo-Classical style building.