Cahaba in Dallas County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Alabama's First Statehouse
Photographed By Mark Hilton, July 30, 2014
1. Alabama's First Statehouse Marker
This marker replaces an older marker.
Alabama's first statehouse stood on this lot, but no drawing by a person who actually saw it has been found. It was built in 1819 and destroyed in 1833, before the invention of photography. There are many drawings of the statehouse, but all are pure conjecture.Compare these drawings to instructions given to the builders of the capitol in 1819. Then you decide which is best.
The building to be two story, fifty-eight feet long, and forty-three feet wide; each story to be twelve feet in the clear. The interior to be divided above and below stairs by a passage fourteen feet wide, …Two chimnies and eight windows are to be provided at each end and twelve windows on each front of the building; to be commenced two feet below the surface of the earth, and to be two brick and a half thick to the first floor (which must be three feet above the surface of the earth), and from thence two brick. …The shingles are to be of cypress or heart pine.
Erected 2013 by the Alabama Historical Commission.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Buildings. A significant historical year for this entry is 1819.
Location.
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Site of Alabama's Statehouse (a few steps from this marker); Cahaba First State Capital (within shouting distance of this marker); Working on Walnut Street (within shouting distance of this marker); Welcome to Downtown Cahawba (within shouting distance of this marker); Vine Street (within shouting distance of this marker); The Mound at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Railroad Depot and Commissary (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Cahawba - circa 1500 (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Cahaba.
More about this marker. This marker replaces marker # 75909.
Also see . . . Old Cahawba, Alabama's First State Capital. (Submitted on August 3, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)
Photographed By Mark Hilton, July 30, 2014
2. Marker text on left side.
Includes QR code for more information.
Photographed By Mark Hilton, July 30, 2014
3. Right side of marker.
The Capitol Dome
Oral tradition maintains that this steeple
on a church in Lowndesboro, Alabama was
once the "dome" on Cahawba's statehouse.
Oral tradition maintains that this steeple
on a church in Lowndesboro, Alabama was
once the "dome" on Cahawba's statehouse.
Photographed By Mark Hilton, July 30, 2014
4. Middle of Marker
Top Left: Hugh Martin's Version of the Statehouse
From William H. Brantley, Jr.'s Book, Three Capitals
Top Right: Robert Mallown's Version of the Statehouse
Old Cahawba, Alabama Historical Commission
Bottom Left: Thomas Kaufmann's Version of the Statehouse
Old Cahawba, Alabama Historical Commission
Bottom Right: Anna Gale Fry's Version of the Statehouse
From Her Book Memories of Old Cahaba
From William H. Brantley, Jr.'s Book, Three Capitals
Top Right: Robert Mallown's Version of the Statehouse
Old Cahawba, Alabama Historical Commission
Bottom Left: Thomas Kaufmann's Version of the Statehouse
Old Cahawba, Alabama Historical Commission
Bottom Right: Anna Gale Fry's Version of the Statehouse
From Her Book Memories of Old Cahaba
Photographed By Mark Hilton, July 30, 2014
5. Alabama's First Statehouse Marker Area in Old Cahaba
Credits. This page was last revised on August 28, 2020. It was originally submitted on August 3, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 869 times since then and 151 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on August 3, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
