Tennessee State Capitol

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Tennessee State Capitol
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Tennessee State Capitol
Location: Capitol Hill
Nashville, Tennessee
Built/Founded: 1845
Architect: William Strickland
Architectural style(s): Greek Revival
Governing body: State of Tennessee
Added to NRHP: July 8, 1970
Designated NHL: November 11, 1971
NRHP Reference#: 70000894

The Tennessee State Capitol, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is the home of the Tennessee legislature, and the location of the governor's office. It was designed by Philadelphia architect William Strickland, who modeled it after a Greek Ionic temple. The Greek Revival building was constructed over a period of 14 years from 1845 to 1859. Strickland died 5 years before the building's completion and was entombed in its northeast wall. His son, F. W. Strickland, supervised completion of the structure. William Strickland also designed the Egyptian Revival Downtown Presbyterian Church, formerly known as First Presbyterian Church, Nashville. Samuel Morgan (1798-1880), Chairman of the State Building Commission overseeing the construction of the Tennessee State Capitol, is entombed in the southeast corner near the south entrance.

[edit] Monuments

Monuments on the Capitol grounds include statues of Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and the burial tomb of President and Mrs. James K. Polk- honoring the three Tennessee residents who served as President of the United States, the Sgt. Alvin C. York Memorial, the Tennessee Holocaust Commission Memorial, the Sam Davis Memorial at the southwest corner of the Capitol grounds, the Sen. Edward Ward Carmack Memorial located above the Motlow Tunnel near the south entrance, the Memorial to Africans during the Middle Passage at the southwest corner of Capitol grounds, and the Charles Warterfield Reliquary- a group of broken limestone columns and fragments removed and saved from the State Capitol during the mid-1950's restoration, located near the northern belvedere on Capitol Drive.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 36°09′57″N 86°47′03″W / 36.165864°N 86.784252°W / 36.165864; -86.784252

Preceded by
Independence Hall (United States)
Tallest building in the United States outside of New York City
1859—1863
60m
Succeeded by
United States Capitol
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