The STATE CAPITOL, S. Monroe St. between W. Pensacola and W. St. Augustine Sts., stands on a block-square terraced knoll overlooking the business district. The native growth of live oaks has been supplemented by magnolias, cabbage palms, bamboos, and oleanders. At the time the site was chosen as the seat of government no town existed, and the legislative council met here for the first time on November 8, 1824, in a crude log cabin set in a forest clearing.
In 1826 the cornerstone of a more durable building was laid, a wing of which was completed at a cost of $12,000, but work on the structure was suspended because of litigation between the Territory and the contractor. In March 1839 the Congress of the United States appropriated $20,000 to 'erect a suitable State house or public building for the use of the territorial legislature, for the offices of the secretary of the Territory and for keeping the public archives.' In January 1840, C.G. English, commissioner of the city of Tallahassee, reported to the legislature that he had effected a contract for the new capitol, and the building, though unfinished, was occupied by the legislature and executive officers in January 1841. It was completed in 1845, the year Florida was admitted to statehood, and remained without changes until additions were made in 1902. This was the only Southern capitol that did not fall into the hands of Northern troops during the War between the States.
In 1922 east and west wings were added, and the interior was redesigned. The spacious lobby and corridors, the marble stairs, the porticos and wide steps, as well as the house and senate chambers were designed by H.J. Klutho. The west portico was omitted to make room for the house chamber. In 1935 a north wing was added, to provide larger quarters for the house chamber. Leo Elliott was the architect.
As seen today, the building is greatly changed from the embryonic capitol of 1840. The general style of the edifice follows the Italian Renaissance mode, a symmetrical cross-shaped building with central portico, projecting end pavilions, and a massive central dome surrounded by a classical lantern or cupola. The main entrance through the east portico is reached by a flight of granite steps, flanked on each side by massive abutments. The pedimented portico is supported by six modified Doric columns with simple caps and shafts. In the pediment is the seal of the State of Florida, in stucco relief.
The building is planned with two principal stories above a raised basement or ground story. The outer walls, crowned with a heavy classic cornice and balustraded parapet, are finished in buff painted stucco. The large central dome is raised on a square rusticated base and drum. The drum, pierced with triple windows, is adorned with Ionic columns, corner niches containing classic urns, and topped with a balustrade similar to that of the main structure. The design of the cupola, with its delicate arcading and bell-shaped dome, suggests a more direct reference to the Georgian Colonial mode than the rest of the exterior detail.
The west entrance, approached by a broad twin flight of steps, is accented by a slightly projecting pedimented portico supported by four coupled Doric columns.
The interior is designed in a simple classic style, with two central corridors running from the east and west entrances, and from the north to the south end of the building, intersecting under the dome. The floor of the corridors and a high wainscot on the walls are finished in polished marble. On the second floor is the STATE LIBRARY (open 8:30-1 Mon.-Fri., 8:30-9:30, 12-1, and 4-5 Sat.). and other State offices. On the first floor are the governor's suite and offices of his cabinet.
The senate and house chambers are on the second floor. In the house chamber is a copy of a full-length Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington by Emmaline Buchholz, set in a pedimented wall screen behind the speaker's rostrum.
In the southeast corner of the grounds a granite block marks the site of the log cabin in which the first session of the legislative council was held in November 1824. Near by is a 10-foot gray granite obelisk erected to the memory of Captain John Parkhill, killed at Palm Hammock in 1857 while leading his company against the Seminole Indians. In the northeast corner of the grounds is a 10-foot white marble Confederate monument topped with a granite urn.
Today, the old Florida State Capitol building houses the executive and legislative offices and the chambers of the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives. It also houses the Florida Legislative Research Center & Museum. Construction of a new Capitol Complex took place in the 1970s, during which time the old capitol building was threatened with demolition, but was thankfully saved through a citizens’ action.