Alabama original capital city. Stephens, in Washington county. Before Montgomery became the capital in 1846, four other places held the honor: St. To learn more, check out this Yellowhammer History Hunt video, produced by Alabama Alabama has had five capitals since it became part of the United States. The capitol was built on “Goat Hill,” a piece of property owned by Andrew Dexter and used as a goat pasture. The so-called “Lightning Route” helped spur development of several suburbs. During the territorial period, the town of St. It lies at the confluence of the Cahaba and Alabama rivers, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Selma. Founded in 1819 as the first capital of Alabama, Cahaba thrived until floods forced the state government to move to Tuscaloosa in Neither the Capitol building nor the city it resides in, however, is the first to serve as the seat of government for Alabama. Following Cahawba and Tuscaloosa, Montgomery became Alabama's permanent capitol city. [2] It was the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama until 1866. It was originally the site of Native American Apr 17, 2025 · Cahawba, Alabama In 1819, Alabama needed a capital for its brand new state, and the spot where the Cahaba River met the Alabama River looked perfect on paper. Stephens on the Tombigbee River north of Mobile as capital of the newly formed Alabama Territory. The first Montgomery capitol building, destroyed by fire in 1849. In 1722, the capital is moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1825 the capital was removed to Tuscaloosa and in 1846 it was Montgomery, located on the Alabama River, came to be the most centrally located city in the state, and in 1846, it became the fifth and current state capital. By 1820, Cahawba was Alabama’s first permanent capital city, with lawmakers meeting in a two-story statehouse built right on It features 29 ancient mounds. An artist's rendering of the first Alabama state capitol building in Cahaba, Dallas County. When the capital was moved from Cahawba in 1826 to Tuscaloosa, many of its early residents followed. After Cahaba suffered another major flood in 1865 Apr 17, 2025 · By 1820, Cahawba was Alabama’s first permanent capital city, with lawmakers meeting in a two-story statehouse built right on Capitol Square. Spurred by Alabama’s expansion, in 1846 the state legislature chose Montgomery as the new capitol city moving it from Tuscaloosa in the west-central part of the state. Jul 24, 2025 · State Capitol at Cahaba There is little that remains of the government buildings, businesses, and residences that once made up the first capital of Alabama. Andrew Dexter Jr. A frontier settlement, it became a center of the cotton kingdom, Alabama's seat of government, and the original Confederate capital. The population was 200,603 at the 2020 census. The first capitol building to be built in Montgomery was designed by Stephen Decatur Button (1813-1897), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. S. First White House of the Confederacy, 664 Washington Avenue, Montgomery AL 36130; 334-242-1861. Jul 8, 2011 · Alabama's First Capitals On March 3, 1817, Congress designated the town of St. . In 1720, the capital is moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. Alabama's capital city, Montgomery holds a history unlike that of any other American city. It is rich in history and historic sites. The city lies near the point where the Alabama River is formed by the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. Located at the confluence of the Alabama and Cahaba rivers, the town endured regular seasonal flooding. Located east of Orrville at the confluence of the Alabama and Cahaba Rivers, the town initially known as Cahawba served as the state’s first permanent capital from 1820 until 1825. There in 1818, the territorial legislature named Huntsville as the temporary seat of government and Cahawba (near present-day Selma) as the first permanent capital. It remained so When Alabama was a territory its capital was St. A focal point of both the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement, Montgomery was the original capital of the Confederacy. It was a feat of technology and innovation for the Capitol City. Located in Dallas County Aug 22, 2025 · Montgomery, capital of the state of Alabama, U. , and seat (1822) of Montgomery county, located in the central part of the state. Now a historical park, the few enduring ruins of old Cahaba greet visitors among what remains of the town's former landscape of roses, flowering vines, lilies, chinaberry trees, and gracefully flowing Spanish moss. Stephens, Huntsville, Cahawba and Tuscaloosa. Stephens (in what is now Washington County) served as the territorial capital, beginning in 1817. Cahaba, also spelled Cahawba, was the first permanent state capital of Alabama, United States, from 1820 to 1825. In 1886, Montgomery became the first city in the Western Hemisphere to electrify its entire streetcar system. The Montgomery metropolitan Mar 19, 2025 · Montgomery Alabama State Capitol Building Located in the heart of central Alabama, the city of Montgomery holds a strategic place in state, national, and international history. ; 334-242-3935) and one of the most Montgomery is the capital city of the U. The convention that framed the constitution under which it was admitted into the Union was held in Huntsville, where the first legislature met in October 1819, and the first governor was inaugurated. Cahaba, historic village, Dallas county, southwest-central Alabama, U. Cahaba became the seat of government in 1820. Mobile. (1779-1837), one of Montgomery's town founders and influential in the history of Alabama, kept a prime piece of property empty in anticipation of the capital city eventually Sep 24, 2024 · Photo courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives & History. [6] It is the third-most populous city in the state, after Huntsville and Birmingham, and the 133rd-most populous in the United States. The state bought the land from local farmers, drew up an impressive grid of streets, and started selling lots. When Alabama achieved statehood in 1819, the capital shifted to Huntsville for the first state constitutional convention, and the […] Jun 25, 2014 · View full sizeAn artist's rendering of the first Alabama state capitol building in Cahaba, Dallas County. The state legislature moved the capital to Tuscaloosa in 1826. Montgomery is actually the state's fifth capitol city. Where To Begin Since Montgomery (334-261-1100) is the site of the current State Capitol (600 Dexter Ave. Mobile, Alabama became the first capital of French Louisiana in 1702. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. state of Alabama. Cahaba was established as the first permanent capital of the state in 1820.
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