the histories of our streets

Georgia State University students map Atlanta's past

Author: Kyle McFarland

The Southeast Block

If you were to leave the Georgia State Campus going south, you pass on by the Georgia State capital before going over a bridge across I-75 and I-85. What will greet you is a concrete wasteland, filled with rusted idols dedicated to the past glories of the Olympics. While you may be tempted to quickly rush your way on further south to the rapidly gentrifying Summerhill, you may want to walk through the empty parking lots and wonder what came before.

The parking lot south of the convention center did not used to be an empty concrete scar across the Earth. Rather, its history whispers of a bevy of different inhabitants that called this empty lot home. Today we will examine the development of a forgotten block of homes, that lay between Richardson Street, Fulton Street, and Crew Street.

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The Georgia State Capital

A picture of the Georgia State Capital

Selfie of me at the capital

This is the Georgia State Capital. It is an iconic building within the Atlanta skyline, notable for its golden dome. It is here where the government of Georgia convenes to make laws for our state. The capital building is only a short hoof away from GSU, meaning it is easily accessible.

The building is walled off from a new set of fences installed recently. Likely to deter the local homeless population from entering which prompts quite a bit of bitter irony. The very people who need help the most is denied access. I have never been inside of the state capital but I am always interested to see what my government is doing and if it is doing its job correctly. Especially when it uses our money to gild the dome with gold. It better be using our money correctly.

The building itself was finished in construction in 1889 under budget in fact. It takes inspiration from a Neo-classical style that was modelled after the senate building in Washington D.C. It was designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke and Franklin P. Burnham. It was chosen to be in Atlanta after the city begged the state to move it there and offered up the city hall as a space to be built upon. As much Georgia material as possible was used in construction, with only some Indiana limestone used to supplement Georgia’s fledgling limestone industry. Everything else was used from Georgia. Finally, it was in 1959 that the dome was embroidered with the gold leaf trim from Lumpkin county and refurbished in 1981. It sits upon a five acre property with a free museum.

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