Capitol Area Historic District

Centered on Union Square, the Capitol Area district was laid out in 1792 on 400 of the 1,000 acres bought from Colonel Joel Lane, with William Christmas as surveyor. Its grid is interrupted by a six-acre center square and four smaller squares, with axial avenues that terminate at the Capitol. The granite Greek Revival State Capitol was completed in 1840 under the supervision of David Paton, following designs by Town and Davis. Christ Church, a granite Gothic Revival building completed in 1852 to designs by Richard Upjohn, stands at one corner of the square. The First Baptist Church, built in 1859 by William Percival, is another Gothic Revival church on the opposite side. The district also includes Haywood Hall, begun about 1792, and the White-Holman House, along with a bank building of the early 1800s. Together these buildings document the city's early growth and the expansion of state government.