City: Atlanta, GA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (404) 656-2844

Description: The Georgia Legislature first met in Atlanta in 1868, but the $1 million needed for construction of the capitol was not provided until 1883. Work got under way in October of 1884; when it was completed, the state treasury had spent all but $118.43. The building was dedicated on July 4, 1889. The Chicago architectural firm of Edbrooke and Burnham designed the capitol, which was built of Indiana oolitic limestone by Miles and Horne of Toledo, Ohio. Georgia marble, judged impractically expensive for the exterior, was used for the floors, walls, and steps. The open rotunda peaks at a height of more than 237 feet. The building’s classical design pays homage to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, as if to avow post–Civil War Georgia’s fealty to the Union. Outside, atop the dome, stands a 15-foot-tall, 2,000-pound, Greek-inspired statue of a female figure holding a torch in one hand and a sword in the other: It commemorates Georgia’s war dead. During a 1956 renovation program, 43 ounces of native gold, donated by the people of Dahlonega and Lumpkin County, site of America’s first major gold rush in 1828, were applied to the dome’s exterior. Another application of gold in 1981 restored the dome’s brilliance. The capitol was named a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Another extensive renovation was completed in 2001, with the interior walls repainted and retrimmed to their original appearance. Both legislative chambers were remodeled to the original look as well, including reopening the outside windows that had been boarded over since the 1970s. Inside and out, the capitol’s memorials and mementos tell Georgia’s diverse history. Statues of famous segregationists share the grounds with the touching modern sculpture Expelled Because of Their Color, commissioned in 1976 by the General Assembly’s black legislative caucus. It is “dedicated to the memory of the 33 black state legislators who were elected, yet expelled from the Georgia House because of their color in 1868” and is on the northeast side of the grounds. The Georgia State Museum of Science and Industry on the first and fourth floors showcases Georgia’s wildlife and minerals; other features include Native American artifacts and battle flags flown by Georgia regiments in various wars. The capitol is open daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free guided tours are offered year-round, Monday through Friday, four times a day. The tour times change when the legislature is in session. The tour desk is on the main floor in the West Wing just outside the governor’s office. The capitol is also open on weekends, but no tours are given. Call for more information or to arrange a group tour or tour for hearing- or sight-impaired persons.