The Alabama State Capitol and Horace King

Yesterday, I went on a school trip with my son to Montgomery, the state capital of Alabama. We did many things, but one of my favorites was the Capitol. The history of the Capitol itself is quite interesting. The picture in this post is of one of the two famous floating staircases in the capitol building.

Horace King is the architect of these beautiful staircases. They are both, in my opinion, pieces of artwork. They are built into the building with no visible means of support other than the building. I came home intrigued by who Horace King was. I did a little research and discovered that Horace King was a interesting and brilliant man.

King was considered one of the most respected bridge builders of the 19th century, constructing dozens of bridges in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. He was born into slavery in South Carolina in 1807; he became a prominent bridge architect and construction manager in Alabama and Georgia before purchasing his freedom in 1846. At this time, slaves were given no respect and no rights; for King to receive such respect had to mean that his work was beyond brilliant.

Despite his enslavement, King was allowed a significant income for his work and, in 1846, used some of his earnings to purchase his freedom from his master. However, under the Alabama law of the time, a freed slave was only allowed to remain in the state for a year after manumission( the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves). Robert Jemison, who served in the Alabama State Senate at the time, arranged for the state legislature to pass a special law giving King his freedom and exempting him from the manumission law. In 1852, King used this freedom to purchase land near his former master.

In 1849, the Alabama State Capitol burned, and King was hired to construct the framework of the new capitol building, as well as design and build the double spiral entry staircases. King used his knowledge of bridge-building to cantilever the stairs' support beams so that the staircases appeared to "float", without any central support. These must be seen to be appreciated.

As the Civil War approached in 1860, King opposed secession of the Southern states and was a confirmed Unionist. After the outbreak of the war, King attempted to continue his business as an architect and builder, constructing a factory, a mill and a bridge in Columbus, Georgia. While working on the Columbus bridge, King was conscripted by Confederate authorities to build obstructions on the Apalachicola River, 200 miles (320 km) south of Columbus to prevent a naval attack on that city. After completing these obstructions, King was tasked to construct more defenses on the Alabama River.

By this time, Columbus had become a major shipbuilding city for the Confederacy, and King and his men were assigned to assist construction of naval vessels at the Columbus Iron Works and Navy Yard. In 1863-64, King built a mill that provided cladding for Confederate ironclad warships. King's crews also provided lumber and timbers for the Navy Yard, and were involved in the construction of the CSS Muscogee, a southern ironclad ship.

As the war approached its end in 1864, many of King's bridges were destroyed by Union troops, including Moore's Bridge, which King owned. Union troops under Union general James H. Wilson assaulted Columbus in April 1865, burning all of King's bridges in the city, including one he had finished less than two years earlier.

Within six months after the war's end, King and a partner had constructed a cotton warehouse in Columbus and, for the third time, rebuilt the original Godwin-King bridge. Over the next three years, King would construct three more bridges across the Chattahoochee in Columbus, a major bridge, two large factories, and the Lee County, Alabama courthouse. In 1867, King became a registrar for voters in Russell County, Alabama. Later that year, he attempted to establish a colony of freedmen in Georgia. While that plan was unsuccessful, King went on to be elected to Alabama's House of Representatives in 1868 as a Republican representing Russell County.

King left the Alabama legislature in 1872 and moved to LaGrange, Georgia. In LaGrange, King continued building bridges, and expanded his business to include other construction projects, specifically businesses and schools. By the mid-1870s, King had begun to pass on his construction activities to his five children, who formed the King Brothers Bridge Company. King's health began failing in the 1880s, and he died on May 28, 1885 in LaGrange at the age of 78.

Horace King was a brilliant and an amazing man. Blessings!