Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1854-01-12
The State Capitol of Tennessee.

= The site for this building is, pc
haps, the most beautiful in IL
world.
Imagine hill within the cent?
of city, rising in every directio
to the height of 1877 feet above th
level Of the Cumberland river q
Nashville + four feet of its crest bein
removed and leaving a plateau {
solid limestone for the cons structio
Of the building.
You look down upon the city be
meath your feet, and The prospect be
yond is bounded on all sides by
far dis tant Amphitheatre of noun
tain IA nges.
Rome, from her seven hills, the
Athenia an Acropolis, nor the Cape al
Col llonRa, affords so splendid a sight
for an Ode cum.
In plan and elevation, the design
and whole character of the arc hitec-
ture is essen italy Grecian, cons1 1sting
Of q Doric basement, supporting Ig on
its four fronts, porticos of the Ionic
order, taken from the example dfthe
Erectheum at Athens
/ ln the ce entre Of the building 3, ri
ses 4 Tower above the roof, to- the
height of Sp feet, the superstruf fture
of which is after the order Of the
Coragic Mo hument at Lysicrat$s at
Athens.
The. whole structure is compos ed Of
foscillated limestone, hewn and CHS
elled from quarries in the neigRbor-
hood Of Nashville, the blocks of
stone weighing from six to ten tons
The various chambers, halls and
porticos, arched throughout. The
rafters Of the roof are Of wrought
iron, having a span Of the whole
widt b Of the building, being SUPPORT
ed by the interior walls at the n orth
end, and BY the columns Of the
southern division of the building,
the whole covered by thick sheets of
of copper. In plan the basement is
intersected by longitudinal and trans
verse halls of wide dimensions, I'd
the right and left of which large and
commodious rooms are to be apprO-
priated to the use of Governor, Su-
preme Court, Secreta ry Of State,
Federal Court, &C., &c.
The crypt, or cellar story, in part,
is to be used as a depository of
arms.
From the great cen ntral hall, you
approach the principal story by al
double fligh / of stairs, which leads to
the cham bSr of the Senate and
Hous Sc of Representatives, to the Ii /
brary, and to the other,rocms in con-
nection Herewith.
I be co Inmittee rooms Of. the
Hous Sc are disposed on the same
floor, to the right and left, com u
nicating immediately with it and the
lobbies; ovfr these rooms the CALLER
les are placed
Flanking the public hall, private
stairways are constructed, leading
from the cr ypt to the various sto-
riss ~ and to the roof
"a geometrical stairway leads from
the level Of the roof to the top Of
the tower; where you land upon an
arched platform which is intended
for an obs ervatory. The tower is
built up from the foundation of solid
stone, cont aiming four inches in the
basement and eight in the prin-
cipal STORY \, with spacious halls
leading to the right and left. The
prin cipal stairway, which is twenty
feet in wild dth, leads from the centre
of the bui ldiDg to the Hall Of Rep
resentativ4s, Senate Chamber, and
Library.
The Hall of Representatives con-
tainB sixteen fluted columns of the
Roman Ionic order, two feet eight
inches in diameter, and twenty one
feet ten Inches in height, from the
level Of the galleries over the com
mittee rodm The shafts Of those
columns are all in one piece A
chief beauty and c onvenienc in the
design Of the principal ste qry, so much
superior to the plan Of the capitol
at Washington, is, that the commit
tes rooms are on t be sam me plan with,
and surrounding t be Hall of Repre-
sentatives; the dimensions Of this
room are 100 feet BY To- height Of
ceiling from floor, IL feet.
The form Of the House of Repre-
sentatiyes consists of semi circular