Tennessee State Capitol

About this property

The Tennessee State Capitol, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Tennessee. It serves as the home of both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly–the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Tennessee Senate–and contains the governor's office. It was designed by architect William Strickland of Philadelphia, who considered it his greatest achievement. The statehouse was built between 1845 and 1859 by skilled artisans and convict and slave labor. It is one of Nashville's most prominent examples of Greek Revival architecture, and is one of the oldest working statehouses in the United States, having been used continuously since 1853. It was constructed predominantly of limestone quarried nearby, and was one of the first buildings in the United States to use iron as a structural element. One of 11 state capitols that does not have a dome, it was the tallest building in the Southeastern United States when completed. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and named a National Historic Landmark in 1971. The Tennessee State Capitol has a basement and first floor that consists primarily of office space, with the original Tennessee Supreme Court chamber in the latter. The second and principal floor contains the house and senate chambers and a room that originally housed the Tennessee State Library and Archives. The tower consists of a pedestal topped by a circular cupola modeled on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. During the American Civil War, the building served as a camp for Union troops, a hospital, and a lookout. The capitol grounds were landscaped from 1871 to 1877. The building was extensively restored in the 1950s, when much of the exterior limestone was replaced with Indiana limestone. Additional interior renovations restored parts of the building to its mid-19th century appearance. The Tennessee State Capitol is located atop a prominent hill on the highest point in downtown Nashville. It is adorned by numerous monuments, memorials, and pieces of artwork, and the surrounding grounds are extensively landscaped with green spaces and a terraced east garden. Strickland, who died before the capitol was completed; and Samuel Morgan, who oversaw the commission that supervised construction; are entombed within the building's walls. The tombs of James K. Polk, the 11th President of the United States; and his wife Sarah Childress Polk are on the grounds. The Tennessee Supreme Court Building and original state library building are adjacent to the west side of the building, and additional state office buildings surround the capitol on the east, south, and west. Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, considered an extension of the grounds, is directly north of the building.

Location

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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