December 6, 1847

The Alabama Legislature met in the capital of Montgomery for the first time in a newly constructed Greek Revival capitol atop Goat Hill. Built at the cost of $75,000, the stuccoed-brick building was designed by Stephen Decatur Button and featured a rusticated raised basement, a two-story monumental portico topped by a broad pediment, and a large central dome measuring 40 feet in diameter. Two years later, however, a fire burned the building down to its masonry foundation. A new building, constructed on the same spot and completed in 1851, continues to serve as the capitol today.

Read more at Library of Congress.

Capital grounds, flag dedication, Montgomery, April 11, 1918. (Richards Film Service, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Confederate meeting at the capitol in Montgomery, Feb. 4, 1861. (Harper’s Weekly, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Capital grounds, flag dedication, Montgomery, April 11, 1918. (Richards Film Service, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Dexter Ave. and Capitol Bldg. from Court Square and Montgomery St., Montgomery, c. 1929. (Keystone View Company, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Historic Capitol Hill, Montgomery, c. 1906. (Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Alabama state capitol, Montgomery, c. 1904. (Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Capitol building, Montgomery, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.