The Reliquary

The Reliquary. . , The columns you see here may look like they belong in Ancient Greece, but they were part of the original Tennessee State Capitol building. During the mid-1800s, when the Capitol was being constructed, many architects wanted to replicate the styles of Greece. Because Nashville is the capital city of Tennessee, this was no exception; Nashville wanted to be seen as a hub for education, economics, and sophisticated society., The Capitol project required lots of labor, as workers were clearing the land for the building, gathering materials, and hand-carving ornate designs. Three distinct groups that contributed to the Capitol's construction, read about them to the right., Enslaved Individuals , Individuals who were enslaved were rented out by their enslavers to clear the land that the Capitol building sits on. Not only did the enslaved individuals haul the debris from the cleared land away, but they also carried the stone materials up Capitol Hill for the building's construction. The enslaved individuals likely would not have received any financial compensation for their work, as the enslavers would have profited from the skilled labor., Immigrants , Immigrants worked to style and decorate the Capitol building. German immigrants, who lived north of the park in what is now known as Germantown, created ornate frescos along the ceiling of the Capitol. Irish and Scots Irish immigrants hand-dressed and polished the stones that would be used to build the Capitol., Imprisoned Individuals , Individuals who were imprisoned worked at the Samuel Watkins quarry along what is now Charlotte Avenue, less than a mile from the park, to obtain the stone used for the Capitol. The building was made of stone as a method for longevity and fireproofing, so this was an important aspect of building the Capitol. The imprisoned individuals were housed at the State Penitentiary, north of Nashville.