On Aug. 22, 1923, fire broke out at the historic state capitol building in Tuscaloosa. It was Alabama’s second statehouse but at the time of the fire, it was being used as Alabama Central Female College.

The loss of the stately building, constructed between 1826 and 1829, was a blow. Remaining in the ashes were an interior wall of the once-beautiful rotunda, some columns, and dozens of bricks.

See a photo gallery of the building and its ruins at the top of this story.

In 1926, the state considered creating a state park to preserve the ruins. An article in the Decatur Daily quoted the Montgomery Advertiser: “For the future generations, we should preserve the Old State House at Tuscaloosa as a symbol, surrounded by a park characteristic of the state.” The state park plan did not come to fruition.

For years, the ruins remained in a pile of debris, becoming overgrown with vegetation, according to a 2019 article in the Tuscaloosa News.

Some people took souvenirs in the form of column toppers and other detailing; during the Great Depression, the pile was often looted for bricks to build houses.

It wasn’t until 1988 that a group in Tuscaloosa decided to preserve the ruins. A charitable foundation was set up to preserve what was left, including “materials returned by townspeople,” according to the Tuscaloosa News article.

Today, the ruins are part of the City of Tuscaloosa’s Capitol Park, where visitors can see some of “the columns and other stone fragments in their original locations,” the article said.

The second capital

In 1825, Cahaba, sometimes spelled Cahawba, was the capital city of Alabama, having been the first designated after statehood was approved in 1819 (Huntsville served as the state’s temporary capital in 1819, where a meeting was held to vote on a constitution and a permanent location).

In Cahaba, a large capitol building with a cupola was constructed in the bustling town at the confluence of the Cahaba and Alabama rivers. Over the next five years, the town suffered frequent flooding from the rivers, damaging buildings and crops and sometimes making it difficult for Legislators to reach the city for meetings. Mosquitoes thrived in the floodwaters, posing a serious health threats at the time.

The state Legislature voted by a narrow margin in 1825 to move the state capital to Tuscaloosa, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. It would become the third site for the state capital and the site of the second capitol building. (The Alabama Territory had a capital city at St. Stephens until statehood in 1819.)

The official move to Tuscaloosa came in 1826 and plans were drawn up for a capitol building to be constructed on Childress Hill. During construction, Legislators met in various buildings around town, including Bell Tavern and a business on Broad Street, the Encyclopedia of Alabama article said.

The building was used until 1846 when Tuscaloosa became “increasingly inconvenient as a seat of government for the rapidly growing state,” according to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. “Alabama’s population gains concentrated in the state’s more eastern counties as Indian lands there opened to White settlement, prompting a clamor for a more centrally located capital.”

The building

The capitol was designed by William Nichols as his first project in his new position as the state architect of Alabama, according to a historic buildings page at the University of Alabama.

“Nichols, born in Bath, England, was extremely skilled in the Neoclassical and Greek Revival styles, and had first-hand experience with European architecture … An iconic structure in the Greek Revival and Federal styles was needed,” according to the university.

The new capitol was a combination of Greek Revival and Federal styles, a design inspired by the work of Thomas Jefferson. The building, which cost between $100,00 and $150,000 to build, was constructed atop Childress Hill with a prominent dome and cupola.

“The dome was elevated in such a way to be seen from across the Black Warrior River, which was a source of great traffic to the area,” the university said. “The structure made a statement both about Tuscaloosa’s importance and the long reach of Western government and philosophy.”

The building had three wings that met at a rotunda area located beneath the central dome.

In November 1846, Montgomery was chosen as the new capital city because of its proximity to most the most populated areas in the state and its location along the Alabama River, which would provide a mode of transportation to the new statehouse.

Tuscaloosa lost the designation as capital but it still had the capitol building. The huge building was deeded to the University of Alabama but, initially, the college had no use for it.

It wasn’t until 1857 that an opportunity arose for the site: The university’s Board of Trustees agreed to lease the facility to the Alabama Central Female College, a Baptist school for women.

An 1881 article in the Tuscaloosa Weekly Times gave glowing reviews to the college and its graduates, saying, “The main College building, which was the old Capitol, is a specimen of the most splendid architecture and not surpassed in the South, the walls being in an excellent state of preservation and six feet thick. An additional building, 60×45 feet, has been erected of solid masonry, at a cost of about $30,000. The college grounds cover about three acres with lovely shade trees and splendid places for exercise, with everything to make the young girls happy, and every incentive to influence them to study, being in the old State Capitol of Alabama.”

The fire began in the afternoon on Aug. 22, 1923, destroying the capitol and the new addition. The Birmingham News reported the next day: “Where Wednesday morning the great, red-brick structure with its glittering dome, once the very center of interest to all Alabama, reared its head from among the grove of magnificent oak trees which surrounded it, Thursday only a smouldering [sic] mass of brick and stone is left.”

The article also reported, “Not a cent of insurance was carried on the building, which was considered practically fireproof. Until comparatively few years ago, here were no fire escapes on the building…”

Fortunately, few people were inside when fire broke out. “The only occupants of the building now, since summer vacation is on, were Dr. Foster and his family, and one or two others, and some of them were away from the place when the fire started,” the article said. “Much of the furniture on the lower floors was saved and stored in nearby house and stores.”

An official cause was not determined, with some sources claiming the fire was the fault of construction worker who was soldering and some saying faulty wiring was to blame.

See additional photos in the gallery at the top of this story.