The Georgia State Capitol
The Georgia State Capitol is a National Historic Landmark that is located in Atlanta, Georgia. The Capitol was built more than a century ago a few decades after the Civil War ended. The construction of this enormous building initiated in 1884 and ended in 1889. After doing some research, I found that this building was constructed primarily with Georgia’s own marble, wood, iron, steel, and completed with a limestone exterior. Of course those materials are beautiful and fancy, but it is the Capitol’s gold dome that make this National Historic Landmark distinguishable. The colors on the Georgia State Capitol depict history and power.
Gordon Statue outside of The Georgia State Capitol
The capitol is exactly 127 years old. Since its creation, signs and statues were placed. There are weathered statues along with scraped paint signs. Some of the statues are of important people in the history of the state of Georgia and other statues are of important events in the state of Georgia. Most of these statues are painted in a bronze or brownish color. However, much of that color is now grayish due to the wearing over the years. The signs that are made out of metal have a grayish metal color with signs of rust on the letters. Gold and black are the colors that decorate the wooden signs. The golden paint completely came off of the letters and in parts of the sign, only the cracks and scraped paint remain after all of these years.
“To The Memory of William Ambrose Wright” Sign
“EXPELLED BECAUSE OF COLOR” Sign
Arnall statue outside of The Georgia State Capitol
Weathered picture on the side of a Statue outside of the Georgia State Capitol
The capitol is 127 years old and there have been remodeling done to the inside as well as the outside. The most common remodeling done, as far as I was able to see on the outside, was the repainting of the signs around the capitol. All of the signs that were repainted around the Georgia State Capitol are painted in black and gold. The color black symbolizes a formal presentation and the color gold symbolizes an important, powerful presentation. I am not sure of the exact dates in which the signs were placed, but judging by the aging of the wood, the signs have been there quite a while. These signs have important history on then and therefore, should be kept in good shape.
“The Siege of Atlanta” sign outside of the Georgia State Capitol
Gold has been loved by humanity since its discovery. This beautiful mineral shines brightly and catches the attention of anyone. Over time, gold has become more accessible to citizens. However, in earlier times, gold was only accessible to powerful rich people. Whenever someone is seen with gold, people think that they are rich because of the high value that gold has. Gold has been a universal symbol for power since its discovery. The golden dome on top of the Capitol is widely know for its beautiful shinning color. Its larger section is the one the can be viewed from any angle. However, the smaller section that is on the top can only be viewed from certain angles.
The Georgia State Capitol
The Georgia State Capitol is home to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of State’s offices. There are also chambers of the State Senate, State House of Representatives along with offices for both the State Senate & House of Representatives. It is a symbolic building that has its place of importance among government, architecture, and National Historic Landmarks of the United States. A building with this importance always sticks out and what better way to make something stick out than its colors. The colors on the Georgia State Capitol enforce the National Historic Landmark’s importance and authority in the state of Georgia.
All of the photographs used in this article were taken by Alexis M. Buenrostro