“Which was the seat of State Government from 1803 to 1865.”
In May, 1803, Georgia’s General Assembly appointed a commission to designate the site for Georgia’s fourth capital, specifying that it should be on the Oconee River. The site selected was named Milledgeville in honor of Governor John Milledge. 3,240 acres of land were allotted for the new capital. Lots were sold in the city with the proceeds used to build the capitol. The legislature moved into the building in 1807 although the finishing touches would take until 1811. Later, two additional wings were added. The Gothic revival brick building, was built as a parallelogram, with walls four feet thick. The capitol served as the seat of Georgia's government throughout the Civil War (1861-65), though it was evacuated when Union General William T. Sherman captured the city in November, 1864. Sherman spared the capitol from burning,. Following the war, the capital was moved to Atlanta and the Milledgeville capitol building served as Baldwin County's courthouse for several years. In 1879 it was became the Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College, later known as Georgia Military College.
