The Alabama State Capitol, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the First Confederate Capitol, is the state capitol building for Alabama. Located on Capitol Hill, originally Goat Hill, in Montgomery, it was declared a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960. Unlike most other state capitols, the Alabama Legislature does not meet there, but at the Alabama State House. The Capitol has the governor's office and otherwise functions as a museum.
Alabama has had five political capitals and four purpose-built capitol buildings during its history since it was designated as a territory of the United States. The first was the territorial capital in St. Stephens in 1817; the state organizing convention was held in Huntsville in 1819, and the first permanent capital was designated in 1820 as Cahaba. The legislature moved the capital to Tuscaloosa in 1826, where it was housed in a new three-story building. The 1826 State House in Tuscaloosa was later used as Alabama Central Female College. After it burned in 1923, the ruins were retained within Capitol Park.
Finally, in 1846, the state legislature moved the capital to Montgomery. The new capitol building in Montgomery, which was located where the current building stands, burned after two years. The current building was completed in 1851, and additional wings were added over the course of the following 140 years. These changes followed population growth in the state from natural growth and immigration as many European-American settlers arrived, who were often slave-holders. Large parts of the state were subsequently developed for cotton cultivation.
The current capitol building temporarily served as the Confederate Capitol while Montgomery served as the first political capital of the Confederate States of America in 1861, before Richmond, Virginia was designated as the capital. Delegates meeting as the Montgomery Convention in the Senate Chamber drew up the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States on February 4, 1861. The convention also adopted the Permanent Constitution here on March 11, 1861.
Description
Architecturally, the building is Greek Revival in style with some Beaux-Arts influences. The central core of the building and the east wing to the structure's rear, is three stories built over a below-grade basement. The north and south wings are two-stories over a raised basement. The current front facade is approximately wide and tall from ground level to the top of the lantern on the dome.
History
First Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery
thumb|left|The first Montgomery capitol building, destroyed by fire in 1849.
The first capitol building to be built in Montgomery was designed by Stephen Decatur Button (1813-1897), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Andrew Dexter Jr. (1779-1837), one of Montgomery's town founders and influential in the history of Alabama, kept a prime piece of property empty in anticipation of the capital city eventually being moved to Montgomery from Tuscaloosa. This property, atop what was then known as Goat Hill due to its use as a pasture, was chosen as the site for the new state capitol structure. Construction began in 1846, with the new completed building presented to the state on December 6, 1847.
Button's designed building was stuccoed brick, with two full stories set over a rusticated raised basement. A two-story monumental portico with six Composite columns, topped by a broad pediment, was centered on the middle five bays of the front elevation. A central dome, in diameter, sat directly on a supporting ring at the main roof level behind the portico. The small dome was crowned with an elaborate Cupola lantern on top patterned after the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. This first capitol building unfortunately burned on December 14, 1849, little more than two years after its completion.
The flag continued to be flown over the State Capitol for almost 30 more years. Several African American legislators and members of the state chapter of the NAACP were arrested in 1988 after attempting to remove the flag. In 1991 the flag was removed during renovations to the dome, and its return was barred by a 1993 state court decision. It ruled that an 1895 state statute allows only the national and state flags to be flown over the capitol building.
The building served as home to the Alabama Legislature until 1985, when it moved to the new Alabama State House. Officially, this move was temporary, since the Alabama Constitution requires that the Legislature meet in the capitol. In 1984, a constitutional amendment was passed that allowed the Legislature to move to another building if the capitol were to be renovated. The renovation started in 1985 and was completed in 1992 by the architecture group Holmes and Holmes. When the capitol was reopened, the Governor of Alabama and numerous other state offices moved back into the building, but the legislature remained at the State House.
On May 7, 2009, the legislature reconvened in the capitol building for the first time since September 20, 1985, due to flooding in the State House. This required some adapting, as the capitol did not have desks in the House chamber, and those in the Senate chamber were 1861 replicas. Neither chamber has a computerized voting system. The capitol building's heating and air conditioning is supplied from the State House. Because the electricity had been turned off in the State House due to the flooding, there was no air conditioning in the capitol.
The building
The exterior
thumb|upright=0.75|Pictured view of the historic original West Front portico with steps, and dome with top cupola of 1850-1851 of the Alabama State Capitol, in the [[state capital city of Montgomery, Alabama, with a portion visible of the 1906 south wing (at right), Built of Greek Revival style of architecture, designed by Barachias Holt, - (color photo taken April 2009).]]
The original core of the 1850-1851 building, as well as the subsequent additions of 1885, 1906, 1912, and extensive 1985-1992 renovations project, is essentially Greek Revival architecture in style. The original 1850-1851 three-story core of the building features bays delineated by Doric pilasters and a monumental three-story hexastyle portico utilizing the Composite order. The original core of the building is , with an original central rear judiciary wing measuring . The first extension to the rear added another . Each side-wing is . Due to his renown in Alabama and surrounding states as a bridge builder, the Alabama Legislature passed a special law that exempted him from the state's manumission laws, which normally required that any freed slaves leave the state within one year of gaining their freedom. During the post-war Reconstruction Era he later was elected and served two terms in the Alabama House of Representatives, in the building that he had helped to design and build two decades before. From there, hallways leading to offices branch off into the north and south wings. The next major room on the ground floor is the old Supreme Court Chamber, part of the original capitol plan. Located in the east (rear) wing, it is the only portion of the wing dating back to 1851. It is a large rectangular room, one story high, with a concave entry wall and two robust Ionic columns visually dividing the space near the center of the room. Later east wing expansions continue on eastward from this room. The dome interior is decorated with eight painted murals by Roderick MacKenzie, a Scottish-born artist who relocated from the British Isles / United Kingdom to the American South and Alabama. The murals illustrate MacKenzie's artistic interpretation of the history of Alabama as he read and learned about it. They were executed on canvas, painted from 1926 to 1930 at his Mobile studio and then shipped to Montgomery by railroad for installation in July 1930.
thumb|left|The restored House Chamber in 2016.
Both legislative chambers date to the original 1851 construction. Both of them are rectangular in shape and extend upward through the third floor, with a mezzanine gallery on that level. The galleries in both chambers are supported by Corinthian columns. Those in the old Senate Chamber are gilded, while those in the old House of Representatives Chamber are simply painted. The old Senate Chamber is the smaller of the two legislative chambers, with a mezzanine in a circular pattern stretching around all four sides of the room, broken only above lectern platform. The old House Chamber is larger, with a curvilinear mezzanine on three walls that merges into each side wall before reaching the lectern platform wall. The grounds of Capitol Hill were surrounded by a cast iron fence from the 19th century into the first decades of the 20th. It was later removed and reused to enclose the Old Augusta Cemetery on Wares Ferry Road. The grounds still contain many trees and scrubs from the Olmsted design, in addition to numerous monuments. These statues are protected by the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act. A delegation from the protestors attempted to see Governor George Wallace to give him a petition that asked for an end to racial discrimination in Alabama. The governor had sent word that he would see the delegation, but they were denied entry to the capitol grounds twice and told no one would be let through. State police surrounded the capitol and prevented the marchers' delegation entry to the grounds. Martin Luther King Jr. then gave an impassioned speech at the base of the steps:
The steps have seen protests by LGBT groups and immigration groups in recent years as well. The annual Vigil for Victims of Hate and Violence, sponsored by Equality Alabama, took place on the capitol steps on February 20, 2011, to heighten awareness of the lack of hate crime legislation to protect LGBT people in the state. Hundreds of protesters converged at the steps on December 17, 2011, to protest the passage of Alabama's strict new immigration law, Alabama HB 56.
Confederate Memorial Monument
Avenue of Flags
The Avenue of Flags is another major feature of the Alabama State Capitol grounds. It is a grouping of the flags of the U.S. states, with a native stone from each state, engraved with its name, set at the base of each flagpole. The flagpoles are arranged in a semi-circle between the Ionic portico of the capitol building's south wing and Washington Avenue. It was completed during the term of Governor Albert Brewer, being officially dedicated on April 6, 1968.
Tourism
The areas that are open for tourists are the entry stairhall, the old Governor's Office, the old State Supreme Court, the old Supreme Court Library, the rotunda, the old House of Representatives, and the old Senate Chamber. Its buildings and grounds are maintained by the Alabama Historical Commission.