Georgia's Capital Building Is Covered in Shining Local Georgia Gold!

In 1957 during a renovation of Georgia's state capital, Thomas Bradbury, the architect in charge of the renovation of the capital and Gordon Price, a Dahlonega born engineer living in Atlanta decided and proposed that the deteriorated tin covered dome of the capital be replaced by a more durable and attracting surface.

Georgia's Capital Covered in GoldPhoto byPixabay and Georgia Archives

This new proposed surface metal was gold and not just any gold, Georgia gold straight out of Lumpkin County.

In response to the state's worries about the cost of purchasing so much of the gold, Lumpkin County and Dahlonega citizens alike donated their own precious gold pieces to the state.

Within a week, twenty ounces of gold had been pledged to the state from citizens from an area 129 years earlier had been the sight of America's first gold rush and Georgia's gold rush.

Secretary of State Ben Fortson accepted to be the chairmanship of the gold dome project.

By the end of July, the project had received over forty-three ounces of gold which was the exact amount estimated to be needed to cover the capital's dome.

On August 4, 1958, a caravan with seven mule drawn covered wagons left Dahlonega with the precious gold heading towards Atlanta.

Each wagon averaged a time of about three miles per hour so it took the caravan around 3 days to reach the state capital of Atlanta.

Upon arriving, the gold was presented to then current Georgia Governor Marvin Griffin in a ceremony which took place on the steps of the capital.

The gold was then sent to Philadelphia where it would be milled into gold leafs around 1/5000th of an inch in thickness. This would be about the same thickness as a tin foil chewing gum wrapper.

The gold was first applied during the Winter months which in return the coldness did not allow the gold leafs to easily stick. By 1977, 19 years after the gold was placed on the dome nearly half of the gold was gone from the dome. Repairs were then again needed and the people of Lumpkin county stepped in again to help raise enough gold for the project.

By 1981 the gold had officially been placed onto our beautiful capital building. To this day the gold dome can still be seen shining proudly!

Georgia Encyclopedia