The North Carolina State Capitol

📖 The Scoop

The North Carolina State Capitol is among the most architecturally sophisticated American buildings constructed in the first half of the nineteenth century. As completed, this Greek Revival building was of a scale and refinement previously unknown in the state. The Commissioners charged with the design of the new Capitol had grand visions for the new structure. They determined to construct a monument that "will vie with the finest specimens of European architecture" and designed it "with the principles of Architecture...and rules of Architectural taste." The Capitol's design is primarily the work of three architects: William Nichols, Alexander Jackson Davis and David Paton. While each architect significantly contributed to the completed building, architectural historians agree that the design is primarily the work of Alexander Jackson Davis, then with the firm of Town and Davis. Each succeeding architect, however, effected a higher degree of architectural refinement and detail, a situation which rarely occurs in the design and construction of major civic monuments. As completed, the building exceeded expectations. The opening of the new Capitol coincided with the completion of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad and was met with great celebration. The Capitol has consistently been praised by visitors to Raleigh since its completion. The late Jane Davies was the principal biographer of Alexander Jackson Davis. She has stated that the Capitol at Raleigh and New York City's Customs House are Davis's masterworks. More recently an officer of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art toured the building and noted that no building of this architectural sophistication existed in Washington, D.C., at its completion in 1840. The majestic North Carolina State Capitol stands today as intended: "one of the finest specimens extant of classic taste in America." The North Carolina State Capitol Foundation invites you to explore the scholarship of John Sanders and the artistry of photographer and North Carolina native John Hall in celebration of this impressive National Landmark.

Genre: Architecture / General (fancy, right?)