Tennessee State Capitol
The Tennessee State Capitol in
Nashville serves as the home of the
office of the state governor and
legislature. Construction of the
building unbelievably took 14 years
to finish, started in 1845 and
finished in 1859. Architect
William Strickland of Philadelphia
fashioned the building in a Greek
Revival style, after an Ionic
Temple. Architect Strickland
unfortunately died before the
completion of the building and F.W.
Strickland, his son, took over the
supervision of the structure’s
construction and completed it
in 1859.
The capitol grounds feature statues
of great American presidents such as
Andrew Johnson, and Andrew Jackson
and the tomb of James K. Polk. All
three former U.S. presidents were
residents of Tennessee in the early
years of their career. Alvin York, a
Medal of Honor awardee and a hero
soldier during the
World War I, is also given
tribute with a statue.
Remnants from the former
Tennessee State Prison can also be
found here in broken fragments and
columns of limestone. Tennessee
State Capitol was formally listed at
the National Register of Historic
Places on the 8th of July in 1970
and made it to the list of the
National Historic Landmark on the
11th of November in 1971. |
