FIRST -- Capital city of Alabama, Union Station, Montgomery AL
N 32° 22.835 W 086° 18.828
16S E 564546 N 3582828
This sign of history at the Montgomery Visitor Center in Union Station discusses the various capital cities of AL, thr first of which was Cahaba AL.
Waymark Code: WMWFV4
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 08/29/2017
Views: 0
This sign of history is located in a small area at the east end of the passenger area of Montgomery Union Station, now the Montgomery Visitor Center.
The sign reads as follows:
"STATE CAPITOL
Alabama’s first capital was Cahaba, but in 1826, the state moved the seat of government to Tuscaloosa. After the Indian removal in the 1830s, the boundaries of the state moved eastward, bringing in new counties which rapidly filled with settlers. At the same time, the Black Belt, a rich band of land stretching across the state’s midriff, was becoming the center of the wealthy and powerful cotton culture. With changing demographic and geographic centers, the need for a new and more centrally located seat of government was evident.
In 1845, a statewide referendum passed enabling the legislature to consider a new capital. Montgomery offered a site for the capitol building, and raise 75,000 to pay for construction, and in January 1846 Montgomery became the seat of government for Alabama.
The site of the new capitol was a rolling hill, where goats had grazed. Andrew Dexter gave it to the town with the stipulation that when Montgomery became the capital, the city would deed the land to the state. The city complied and competition began for an architect. Steven D. Burton one and designed in Greek revival building with six large Corinthian columns. The new capitol was ready for the legislature to meet on December 6, 1846.
Disaster and Rebuilding
In the early afternoon December 14, 1849, fire broke out in the attic above the House chamber. The legislators rushed from the building sating whatever records in public documents they could. Sadly, the library on the third floor with its maps and books was a total loss.
Amid the ashes of the Capitol, talk of moving once more began, but the state appropriated funds to begin reconstruction. Horace King, a freed slaved famous for his carpentry and bridge building, built the beautiful freestanding cantilevered staircases. This capitol has had four major additions: the east wing in 1885 and a new Eastern façade in 1992; the south wing in 1905; the north wing in 1911.
This historic building was host Alabama secession convention and then the Confederate Congress. On its portico, Jefferson Davis took the oath of office as president of the Confederacy, and Martin Luther King Jr. addressed his followers at the culmination of the Selma to Montgomery March."
FIRST - Classification Variable: Place or Location
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1819
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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