Getting to know Georgia : a guide for exploring Georgia's history and government

Getting to Know
Ge rgia
A Guide for Exploring Georgia's History and Government

Capitol Tour Reservations Phone: 404/656-2844 E-mail: sostour@sos.state.ga.us

Cathy Cox Secretary of State
214 State Capitol Atlanta, GA 30334 Phone: 404/656-2881 Fax: 404/656-0513 Website: www.sos.state.ga.us E-mail: sosweb@sos.state.ga.us

Getting to Know
Ge rgia
A Guide for Exploring Georgia's History and Government
Published by the Office of Secretary of State Cathy Cox
Information in this guide updated June 2003

A Message from Secretary of State Cathy Cox
As Georgia's Secretary of State, I would like to commend you for your dedication and commitment to educating the future citizens of our great state. To assist you in this endeavor, the Office of Secretary of State sponsors a variety of history and government related academic programs for Georgia educators. Our Capitol Education Center, Capitol Museum and Archives and History Division offer a wealth of resources that can be easily integrated into your classroom activities.
This booklet, Getting to Know Georgia, outlines the educational programs our agency sponsors and includes informative guides on Georgia history, our state's government and current elected officials. You will also find instructions for planning a field trip to the State Capitol to truly make history come alive for your students as they pass through the halls where Georgia's governors have worked and important laws have been passed. If you are unable to schedule a trip to Atlanta, this booklet also details how to take your class on an interactive online tour of the Capitol. I hope this information will be a valuable resource for planning your annual curriculum, and I encourage you to contact my office if you have any questions or need additional information.
Sincerely,
Cathy Cox

PART 1 PART 2
PART 3 PART 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA AND ITS CAPITAL CITIES

1

HISTORY OF ATLANTA

5

STATE GOVERNMENT

GEORGIA GOVERNMENT

10

FINDING ELECTED OFFICIALS

12

VOTER REGISTRATION/STATEWIDE ELECTION INFORMATION

12

LEGISLATIVE SEARCH INFORMATION

12

GEORGIA STUDENT PAGE PROGRAM

12

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW

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CHARTS
HOW A BILL IS PASSED IN THE GEORGIA LEGISLATURE CHART GEORGIA ELECTORATE CHART

STATE WEB SITES, SYMBOLS AND FACTS

GEORGIA WEB SITES

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STATE SYMBOLS

16

STATE SONG

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GEORGIA FAST FACTS

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TIMELINE AND MAP
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS TIMELINE GEORGIA COUNTIES MAP

TOURING THE CAPITOL

FIELD TRIP GUIDE FOR TEACHERS

22

THE GEORGIA CAPITOL MUSEUM AND HALL OF VALOR

26

CAPITOL GROUNDS

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DIRECTIONS TO CAPITOL EDUCATION CENTER

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MAP
CAPITOL AREA MAP

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Historical Information

The History of Georgia and Its Capital Cities
SAVANNAH
On June 9, 1732, King George II signed the charter granting General James Edward Oglethorpe and a group of trustees permission to establish a thirteenth British colony to be named in honor of the King. The motives for the grant were to aid worthy poor in England, to strengthen the colonies, increase imperial trade and navigation, and to provide a buffer for Carolina against Spanish Florida. Even though the King had granted the charter for the colony, Oglethorpe wanted to get the consent of the Indians inhabiting the area. There had been an agreement with them that no more colonies would be located below the Carolina border.
In February 1733, James Edward Oglethorpe landed at Yamacraw Bluff - a site he considered perfect for his new colony. The only Indian tribe living within fifty miles of the new colony was a group of about 100 Yamacraw Indians. Tomochichi, the chief of the Yamacraws, greeted Oglethorpe with kindness because the Indians were pleased with the prospect of more settlers. Mary Musgrove, the daughter of an Indian woman and white trader, was hired as Oglethorpe's interpreter. On February 12, 1733, James Oglethorpe brought 114 settlers to Yamacraw Bluff, later known as Savannah, to establish the thirteenth and last British colony. Savannah became the center of colonial government in Georgia.
In 1752, nine years after Oglethorpe left Georgia for the last time, the trustees relinquished the charter, and Georgia became a royal colony. A governor appointed by King George II arrived in Savannah in 1754. Under royal government, provisions were made for a General Assembly, consisting of an elected lower house, called the House of Commons, and the Governor's Council, composed of twelve men appointed by the King and called the Upper House of the Assembly. The House of Commons first met in January 1755 with 19 representatives elected by landowners of 50 or more acres within the colony.
Savannah grew slowly until after the departure of the Spanish from Florida in 1763. By the start of the Revolution, Georgia had about 35,000 people with Savannah's population at approximately 2,500. During the last part of the colonial period, Savannah's export business increased considerably, reflecting an increase in farming, lumbering and Indian trade.
When Georgia's independence from British rule was declared in January of 1776, an Executive Council was elected. The revolutionary state government made Savannah its capital and the legislature met there in 1777 and 1778. During the Revolutionary War, the capture of Savannah caused the revolutionary government to retreat to Augusta in 1778. Upon the fall of Augusta in 1779, the government was temporarily located at Heard's Fort in Wilkes County from February 1780 to July 1781. Government officials returned to Augusta in 1782, only to move back to Savannah, which had been evacuated by the British. Between 1783 and 1785, the Georgia Assembly rotated between Savannah and Augusta, and the governor divided his official residence between the two cities.
During the Revolutionary War, many Georgians still felt loyalty to England. Therefore, the war was fought not only between American and British forces, but also between citizens who became revolutionaries, the Whigs, and those still swearing allegiance to the king, the Tories.
In 1786, Augusta, located in the rapidly expanding upcountry, became the new capital. Though the removal of the capital from Savannah diminished its political importance, its significance as a
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port and trade center increased. Rice, naval stores, and lumber continued to be major exports, and a new item emerged in Georgia's economy: cotton.
AUGUSTA
The 1783 session of the Georgia legislature passed an act moving the capital to Augusta because it was nearer the center of population. On February 22, 1785, the General Assembly held its last meeting in Savannah and Augusta officially became the second capital of Georgia. Oglethorpe founded Augusta in 1735 and named it after the Princess of Wales, wife of Prince Frederick. It soon became a bustling fort and trading post.
During Augusta's decade as state capital several historic events occurred. In 1785, lawmakers created the nation's first state chartered institution of higher learning - the University of Georgia. In 1788, Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution. In 1791, the nation's new president, George Washington, visited Augusta.
The state's worst political scandal, the Yazoo Land Fraud, took place in Augusta in 1795. At that time Georgia stretched westward to the Mississippi River. Land companies bribed members of the General Assembly to pass a law that allowed the companies to buy 35 million acres of Georgia's western lands extending to the Yazoo River. This land, which today encompasses Mississippi and Alabama, was sold for less than two cents per acre. The companies then made large profits by selling the land to the public.
LOUISVILLE
The third capital was named Louisville in honor of King Louis XVI of France in appreciation for French aid during the American Revolution. The first permanent Capitol to be built in Georgia was completed in Louisville in 1796. There are no existing drawings of the building, but it is known that it was a two-story red brick structure. It was later used as a public arsenal and county courthouse before it was destroyed.
An important piece of legislation that was passed during the years that Louisville was the state capital was the Rescinding Act of 1796, which repealed the law authorizing the Yazoo land sale. The legislature also directed that the Yazoo Act be publicly burned on the statehouse grounds and that all copies of the legislation be destroyed.
During the 1799 session the present Great Seal of the State of Georgia was adopted by the General Assembly in Louisville. Governor James Jackson placed an advertisement in the "Louisville Gazette" which invited artists to submit designs for a seal. He offered a prize of $30.00 for the winning design. Daniel Sturgis, the state surveyor, won the contest with his design.
The desire for land, and later gold, created a swift expansion beyond the old frontier, carrying with it increased trade along the rivers and migration of people along new roads into the wilderness. The primary basis for this new growth and economic expansion was the production of cotton through a slave labor system.
Two historic events, one precipitating the other, realized major changes in Georgia in the early 19th Century. In 1828 America's first gold rush occurred in the mountainous country around Dahlonega and caused rapid movement to that area. The craving for gold in extreme north Georgia brought about the removal of the Indians on the tragic "Trail of Tears" in 1838, an exodus that finalized Indian property ownership in the state.
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Georgia's political activity in the early 1800s was characterized by an unstable two-party system in which the contending groups took different shapes as the issues and personalities changed. Often personalities were more important than philosophy in determining political allegiances. Beneath this surface of changing political activity, Georgia, along with other Southern states, was becoming increasingly rigid in her insistence on the importance of states' rights and about the protection of economic and social systems from any outside interference.
MILLEDGEVILLE
Because of continued westward expansion, the Georgia legislature passed an act in 1804 to move the capital nearer to the geographic center of the state. The fourth capital was named Milledgeville in honor of John Milledge, a former governor of Georgia (1802-06), US senator (180609), and donor of the land for the University of Georgia. Situated on the fall line of the Oconee River, Milledgeville was chosen because of its central location and ample springs. Milledgeville remained the capital of Georgia for 61 years.
A brick Gothic style Capitol was erected at a cost of $80,000. The General Assembly met for the first time in the building in 1807. Twice the building was partially destroyed by fire. Restored in 1943, the exterior of the present building is a replica of the original. Today, the old Capitol is part of Georgia Military College. In 1825 General Lafayette, who had come from France to aid the United Sates during the Revolutionary War, visited Milledgeville where he was honored with elaborate ceremonies. The Mansion, the first official residence for the governor and his family, was built in Milledgeville in 1838.
In 1860 the national debate over the extension of slavery into new territories reached a crescendo. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, a special state convention voted on January 19, 1861, to secede from the Union. Secession is considered to be the most important legislation passed at Milledgeville. Only a few months later Georgia formally joined the Confederate States of America.
Sherman occupied the capital during his March to the Sea. The legislature adjourned and later reconvened in Macon in 1865. At the end of the war the legislature was allowed to reconvene at the Capitol in Milledgeville. During the war, the Great Seal of Georgia was hidden by secretary of state Nathan Barnett under his home. The Federals ordered an artist to make an identical seal. However he put the soldier's sword in the left hand instead of the right. This makes it possible for historians to recognize state papers stamped during that period.
During the war years, Georgia lost nearly 125,000 men and boys in battle as well as much of the state's material wealth. The rebuilding of the state afterwards was a slow and painful process. There were political conflicts between the newly enfranchised black citizens who, for the first time, were allowed to hold seats in the legislature, and the pre-war social structure, which sought to minimize the changes it had to accept in its traditional way of life. Georgia's economy was also crippled because of its heavy dependence on cotton production at a time when world market prices were at historically low levels. By the mid 1870s, the federal government abandoned its efforts to force reconstruction programs upon Georgia. The Democratic Party became solidly entrenched as the dominant political force in the state.
More Georgians became interested in efforts to diversify the state's economic base. Spokesmen such as Henry Grady, editor of The Atlanta Constitution, began talking about a "New South." Grady's vision was enticing to many Georgians, but its realization required years of additional effort.
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ATLANTA
In 1837, a small settlement arose at the construction sight for the southern end of the Western and Atlantic Rail lines. Due to its location, the residents of the town called it "Terminus." In 1843, it was renamed Marthasville in honor of former Governor Wilson Lumpkin's daughter. In 1845 the chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad suggested the name Atlanta - from Atlantic in the W and A's railroad name.
Atlanta was considered by the General Assembly as a new capital sight as early as 1847. A new Constitutional Convention meeting in Atlanta in 1867 agreed to submit to the voters in a special election a permanent change of address for the capital to Atlanta. After weeks of competition between the proposed new capital and the previous one, Atlanta was chosen by an almost 2-1 margin. On July 4, 1868, the Georgia legislature met in Atlanta for the first time, convening in the combined City Hall and Fulton County Courthouse. When those accommodations proved too crowded, the Kimball Opera House was rented and later purchased by the council for use as a capitol.
Because of a shortage of funds, money for construction of a new building was not provided until 1883 when $1,000,000 was appropriated. The Capitol was under construction for five years beginning October 24, 1884. The building opened on July 4, 1889 with $118.43 left over from the original appropriation. Edbrooke and Burnham designed the building in Classic Renaissance style. Georgia marble, wood, iron and brick were used on the interior portions of the building and in the late 1950s Georgia gold was placed on the Capitol dome.
ATLANTA A SYMBOL OF THE NEW SOUTH
Atlanta, began as a transportation center, has gained recognition also as a commercial, financial, and cultural center for the southeast. New industries developed in Georgia and others moved from outside into the state.
Along with economic changes have come many more social and political changes. As a result of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., black voters, who after the Reconstruction era were excluded from effective participation in state politics, have assumed an active role in the political life of the state.
In January 1977, Georgia sent its first president to the White House - Jimmy Carter of Plains, a former Georgia governor. Profiting from the strong leadership of the past two decades, Atlanta has become an international city.
Atlanta hosted the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996. The games were the largest in history, featuring nearly 11,000 competitors.
Today Atlanta is known as a convention center and many large corporations are headquartered here including Coca-Cola, Cable News Network and Delta Airlines. With its continued social, political and economic growth, Atlanta truly has become a symbol of the New South.
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History of Atlanta
Atlanta is a young city, even by American standards. New Orleans, Charleston, Cincinnati and Chattanooga were all thriving cities before Atlanta was even a settlement. Atlanta is a bright, brash, aggressive town, tempered by fire, its rough edges smoothed by time and a dash of Southern charm. Despite its relative youth, Atlanta has a proud and unique heritage, a past well worth preserving.
From the beginning, Atlanta was in the South but not of the South. Founded as a rail terminus, ante-bellum Atlanta was a small, rough-and-ready railroad crossing. Its manners and mores were more like the frontier towns of the Old West than the mint julep-and-magnolia cities of the Old South. Transportation was, and still is, the catalyst for Atlanta's growth and economic vitality. From the beginning Atlanta attracted men and women of vision--opportunists who had the foresight to provide the facilities that would make Atlanta the most important city in the Southeast.
Over 150 years ago, the land that is now Atlanta belonged to the Creek and Cherokee Indians. The United States was well into the War of 1812 when the first white settlement, Fort Peachtree, was established on the banks of the Chattahoochee River near the Cherokee village of Standing Peachtree. The Creek Nation ceded their lands to the State of Georgia in 1825. The Cherokees lived with their white neighbors until 1835 when the leaders of the Cherokee nation agreed to leave their lands and move west under the Treaty of New Echota. At that time, Georgia officially took possession of Cherokee lands, an act that led to the infamous Trail of Tears.
Early settlers in the Atlanta area were farmers and craftsmen from Virginia, the Carolinas, and the mountains of North Georgia. They obtained their land by lottery disbursement and were, for the most part, deeply religious, hard-working, small landholders. They owned few slaves and lived in harmony with their Indian neighbors. They established churches and schools, traveled to Decatur for "store-bought" goods, and marketed their cotton in Macon, 100 miles south.
They were as close to a yeoman (small farmers/craftsmen) society as possible in the ante-bellum South. A few of their pre-Civil War homes, churches, cemeteries and mills still exist in the Metropolitan Atlanta area. Atlanta's inception was a combination of geography and necessity, spawned by the steam engine. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build a state railroad to provide a trade route from the Georgia coast to the Midwest. The sparsely settled Georgia Piedmont was chosen as the terminal for a railroad that was to run "from some point on the Tennessee line near the Tennessee River, commencing ... near Rossville ... to a point on the southeastern bank of the Chattahoochee River" accessible to branch railroads. The new railroad was to be called the Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia.
An experienced army engineer, Colonel Stephen Harriman Long, was selected to choose the most practical route for the new rail line. After thoroughly surveying half-a-dozen routes, Long found it necessary to choose a site eight miles south of the river where connecting ridges and Indian trails converged. He drove a stake into the red clay near what is now Five Points in Downtown Atlanta. The "zero milepost" today is marked by a plaque not far from that very spot in Underground Atlanta. The site staked out by Colonel Long proved to be perfect, the climate ideal. Atlanta is situated on the Piedmont Plateau at an elevation of 1,050 feet, yet there are no natural barriers such as mountains or large bodies of water to impede the city's growth.
In the fourteen short years between the time Colonel Long drove his marker into the ground and the start of the Civil War, Atlanta grew like the boom towns of the West. Instead of mining, Atlanta struck gold in the rail lines.
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The little settlement of railroad workers, aptly named Terminus, soon attracted merchants and craftsmen, salesmen, land speculators and opportunists. Banks, warehouses, sawmills, a fledgling textile industry and ironworks soon followed. The city was re-named Marthasville in honor of Governor Lumpkin's daughter. A few years later, prominent citizens decided that Marthasville was too long and too bucolic a name for such a progressive city, and the name was changed to Atlanta.
Residential patterns were forming. Mechanicsville grew up around the railyards; a substantial merchant-residential community, West End, was established near White Hall Tavern. Residential avenues of affluent citizens began to form as luxurious homes were built on lower Peachtree, Whitehall, Marietta, Broad and Washington Streets.
But pre-war Atlanta was far from a quiet business community. To quote Atlanta historian Franklin Garrett: "While the number of good, moral citizens was increasing...the town was characterized as tough. It grew distinctively a railroad center (with) the vices common to rough frontier settlements. Drinking, resorts, gambling dives and brothels were run wide open... and the sporting element were insolent in their defiance of public order." There were more saloons than churches; more bawdy houses than banks.
THE WAR YEARS
Atlanta had already attained a position of regional importance when the Civil War erupted. The city had four rail lines, a population of some 10,000 persons, 3,800 homes, iron foundries, mills, warehouses, carriage and wheelwright shops, tanneries, banks, and various small manufacturing and retail shops. It became the supply and shipping center of the Confederacy. Atlanta had all the facilities that made it necessary for Sherman to take the city and destroy it.
General William Tecumseh Sherman began his drive to Atlanta from Chattanooga in July 1864. After a series of bloody battles and a month long siege of the city, Atlanta surrendered on September 2. The city was in flames, but not entirely due to Union shells. Retreating Confederate troops blew up 81 boxcars of explosives, creating the blaze made famous in the spectacular fire scene in the film "Gone With The Wind." Sherman ordered the city evacuated, and all buildings of possible use to the confederacy destroyed. When Sherman began his march to the sea, only 400 structures were left standing. Atlanta was a ghost town of rubble and ashes.
The city was still smoldering when Atlantans returned and started rebuilding. The spirit that made Atlanta the hub of Southeastern commerce, the confidence in Atlanta's future, was stronger than ever. Five years after the holocaust, Atlanta was rebuilt and had more than doubled its pre-war population.
POST -WAR GROWTH
Since the Battle of Atlanta had effectively wiped out most of the city's ante-bellum architecture, Atlanta was rebuilt in the various Victorian styles popular in that era. Ironically, of the few fine white-columned mansions in downtown Atlanta left intact by the war, two were demolished shortly thereafter to be replaced by city and state buildings. The city limits were initially circular, extending one mile from the zero milepost. Initial expansions of the city limits were circular, too. Early demographic patterns were re-established along much the same lines as before the war. West End continued to grow as an upper-class residential-business community. Wealthy white citizens built their Victorian mansions along Washington and Peachtree Streets.
In spite of the system of segregation, prosperous black enclaves emerged, concentrated after 1906
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along Auburn Avenue - the "Sweet Auburn" district. Other black neighborhoods developed in Summerhill, Vine City, and many more residential pockets surrounding the central city.
From the end of the Civil War through the 1890s, Atlanta experienced rapid growth. By the end of the 1870s, the central business district spread from Union Depot toward the city limits. The city developed along the rail lines and around the depot. A wide path of railroad tracks cut right through the center of town, converging in the lower downtown gulch. A network of viaducts, planned in the early 1900s and completed a quarter-of-a-century later, was built to facilitate the flow of traffic over the tracks. The viaducts moved the business district up one level, thereby creating the area now known as Underground Atlanta.
A simple, utilitarian Italianate architecture was favored for Atlanta's railroad depots and influenced the design of the two and three story commercial buildings constructed before the turn-of-thecentury. The railroads continued to be the cornerstone of Atlanta's economy through this period, into the automobile age and through World War II, when emphasis shifted to truck and air travel transport. Transportation and private enterprise spurred the city's growth. Several new rail lines were added to Atlanta's network in the 1890s. The consolidation of ten radiating lines in that decade, including five divisions of Southern Railway, definitely established Atlanta's dominance as the railroad center of the Southeast.
When the nation's economy stalled in the doldrums of recession and depression starting in the 1880s, an Atlanta promoter staged a series of fairs and expositions to bring business to this area.
The International Cotton Exposition of 1881 was staged to promote Atlanta as a textile center and lure mills from new England in an attempt to build a new economic base in the post-war South by diversifying from the region's agrarian base. The Piedmont Exposition of 1881 was a regional show to publicize Piedmont States' products and establish closer ties between agriculture and industry. The Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895, specifically proposed to counteract depression, advertised Atlanta as a transportation and commercial center. Historians consider the Exposition of 1895 a most important factor in Atlanta's emergence as the major city of the Southeast, based on Henry Grady's "New South" movement to re-enter the economic mainstream of American life. The Exposition gained world-wide publicity and by 1903 Atlanta was the headquarters for many national and regional companies.
The fair and exposition had the desired effect on Atlanta's growing industrial base as contrasted with the rest of the agrarian-oriented South. Textile mills came south, industrial complexes were built along the rail lines, and mill villages were built to house the workers.
One of the oldest and largest cotton mills and mill villages extant is the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills (c. 1881) and its mill housing district, Cabbagetown, located within two miles of downtown Atlanta. Workers from the mountain counties of North Georgia, attracted by mill wages, left their Appalachian homes to settle here. The mill owners provided housing and health care. Cabbagetown, a six-block-square area in the shadow of the mill buildings, is characterized by narrow streets, large shade trees, simple frame one and two-story shotguns and cottages with Victorian styling in porch, door and window designs.
A forerunner of the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills was the Exposition Mill, now demolished. The Exposition Mill was built on the former site of Oglethorpe Park, as the main building for the International Cotton Exposition of 1881, with a view to its ultimate use as a cotton mill. The Exposition building was sold to a group of businessmen a few months after the show closed and soon was put into production. It developed into one of the most important mill in the area. Other historic mills still standing in Atlanta are the VanWinkle Gin and Machine Company (c. 1893), and
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the Whittier Mill (c. 1900), along with some of its mill houses.
Atlanta's residential perimeters were expanded by the advent of the horse-drawn streetcar in 1871, and suburban patterns developed along the lines of the electric streetcar starting in 1891.
At the same time, several major private developers emerged. Among these early Atlanta builders was Joel Hurt, who built Atlanta's first "skyscraper", as well as the eight-story Equitable Building, and Inman Park, Atlanta's first planned residential suburb. At the suggestion of architect John Root who was then designing the Equitable Building, Hurt invited Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture, to Atlanta for consultation. Olmsted had already won national recognition for his natural terrain designs of New York's Central Park and Riverside Park in Chicago, and his influence is evident in many of Atlanta's parks and residential areas. Inman Park was actually designed by a landscape gardener, Joseph Johnson; however, the plan strongly reflects the Olmsted influence. The design is faithful to the natural terrain, with curved streets developed around open park areas.
Edgewood Avenue was built in a straight line to connect Inman Park to downtown Atlanta, and Hurt installed Atlanta's first electric streetcar on Edgewood to serve his new suburban community. Olmsted's firm also designed the suburb of Druid Hills and influenced the Ansley Park plan.
During this same period, the early 1880s, Confederate Colonel Lemuel P. Grant donated land to the city for Grant Park. Replacing Oglethorpe Park, it is Atlanta's oldest public park extant. Piedmont Park was initially part of the Gentlemen's (Piedmont) Driving Club. Members of the Club were a leading force in Atlanta's progressive development. The land was leased to the Exposition Company for the Cotton States Exposition in 1895, and later became a public park. The Olmsted Brothers re-designed the park in 1910.
Beginning with the Equitable Building, Atlanta quickly followed the Chicago School of architecture in the development of skyscrapers of "elevator buildings". The new high-rise buildings transformed the city's skyline from picturesque High Victorian to a cluster of multi-use skyscraper hotels and office buildings. The new skyscrapers attracted large railroad and insurance interests. Since office workers generally earned higher wages than factory or farm workers, the office buildings generated a demand for large retail stores and hotels to serve an increasing number of travelers to the city. It was not until after the World War I that business-men began to look at office buildings as a investment. This led to the building boom of the 1920s. A system of viaducts, conceived by architect Haralso Bleckley in 1901 and completed in 1928-1929, bridged the railroad gulch and raised the street level of downtown Atlanta. The original plan, conceived in the City Beautiful Beaux Arts tradition, included boulevards, walkways and parks.
The Great Depression has an architectural style all its own: Art Deco-Modern. Although building starts we sharply curtailed during this period of national economic hardship, a few of the commercial buildings that were constructed from the 1930s to World War II reflected the new Art Deco styling. Most residential building of the decade clung to the revival styles of architecture.
The early commercial buildings and the Victorian and post-Victorian homes built in the 1890 to 1930 period give Atlanta its distinctive personality. Many of these structures are potentially viable today and could be preserved, restored and rehabilitated for contemporary uses. The viaducts, which created the area now known as Underground Atlanta, and Plaza Park, completed in 1950, are the only elements of the Bleckley Plaza plan ever completed.
A variety of architectural styles evolved between 1890 and 1930, following national trends reviving elements of Gothic, Classical and Colonial styles. Turn-of-the-century revival architecture includes
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Beaux Arts Classicism, Neo-Classical, Tudor-Jacobean, Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival and Commercial styles. In addition, Bungalow-Craftsman and 20th Century Vernacular-Plain styles emerged. There are many fine examples of these varied styles of architecture created by outstanding architects and craftsmen still standing in Atlanta. Excellent examples of homes constructed during this era of suburban growth may be found in the Druid Hills, Buckhead and Ansley Park neighborhoods. Without these beautifully detailed old structures, Atlanta would be Anywhere, USA, a skyline of high-rises, round and square, pre-stressed concrete and mirrored glass sameness. Atlanta is the capital City of the Southeast, a city of the future with strong ties to its past. The old in new Atlanta is the soul of the city, the heritage that enhances the quality of life in a contemporary city. Without these artifacts of our culture, Atlanta would simply not be Atlanta. In the turbulent 60s, Atlanta was "the city too busy to hate." It must never become the city too busy to care.
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2
State Government

Georgia Government
Georgia Constitution
The state constitution provides the basic framework for Georgia's government. It takes precedence over any other source of law within the state, i.e., laws passed by the legislature, court decisions, and local ordinances. Only the United States Constitution is a higher authority in the event of conflict.
A new constitution ratified by the people of Georgia in 1982 became effective July 1, 1983. Georgia has had a total of ten constitutions. In reality, these constitutions were not all separate and distinct documents, since often the language of one was carried over to the following constitution. The Constitution of 1983 resulted in a major revision of the basic laws of the state.
To amend the constitution, two thirds of the House of Representatives and Senate chambers must vote in favor of the proposed amendment. The amendment is then passed on to the voters in the next general election. If the majority of people vote in favor of the amendment then it will be ratified.
Executive Branch
The executive branch, the largest branch of state government in terms of both employees and funding, enforces law and carries out the programs, such as education, health, welfare, and transportation.
The chief official in the executive branch is the governor, who is elected by the voters for a four-year term, with succession to one consecutive term allowed. The governor has a number of powers in state government, including proposing new programs and laws for the state, proposing a state budget for the legislature to consider, vetoing legislation, and appointing members of many of the boards in state government.
In addition to the governor, Georgia's constitution provides for several constitutional officers who are the heads of executive departments and are elected directly by the voters for four-year terms. The authority for the offices of these officials is established in the state constitution. Currently, the list of constitutional officers includes the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, commissioner of insurance (formerly comptroller general), superintendent of schools, commissioner of labor, and commissioner of agriculture.
A majority of executive departments are headed by policy-making boards whose members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Usually in cooperation with the governor, the boards appoint a department director or commissioner to administer agency affairs. A few department heads are appointed directly by the governor.
Legislative Branch
The Georgia General Assembly, the formal title of the legislature, was formed in 1777, and is older than the United States Congress. At the time of its origin, the legislature consisted of a single house, but in 1789 it became a bicameral body, consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate. The House of Representatives and Senate operate with similar powers, except that appropriation bills must originate in the House, while confirmation of the governor's appointments rests with the Senate. The concurrence of both bodies is necessary before any bill may become a law.
The House of Representatives has 180 members, and the Senate has 56. Two-year terms of office apply to both houses, and the entire membership of each body is elected at the same time. Presiding
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over the House of Representatives is the speaker, a member of that body elected every two years by the membership. In the Senate, the lieutenant governor as president of the Senate serves as presiding officer. Both offices have a number of formal powers, including the appointment of committee members, the assignment of bills to committee, and the recognition of members who want to speak on the chamber floor.
At the heart of the legislature is its committee system, where most study and consideration of legislation occurs. Before a bill can come up for a vote before the full body, a committee must have studied the bill and reported it out of committee with a recommendation.
The General Assembly meets each year, beginning the second Monday in January, for a 40-legislativeday session. The typical session lasts until mid-March. During the session the legislature has the responsibility of enacting new laws, amending existing ones, or eliminating unnecessary ones. Additionally, one of the important functions of the legislature is to enact annually a budget for the state, termed a general appropriation act, which sets the level of funding for all programs in state government.
Judicial Branch
The third branch of state government consists of courts of limited, general, and appellate jurisdiction. Judges of these courts are popularly elected, with trial and appellate judges selected on a non-partisan basis.
Courts of limited jurisdiction generally hear less serious cases. In this category are: (1) magistrate courts, which issue search warrants, try violations of county ordinances, and hear civil suits under $2500; (2) probate courts, which probate wills, administer estates, and in some counties handle traffic cases; (3) state courts of counties, which hear civil cases and misdemeanor criminal cases; (4) juvenile courts, which hear cases involving youths under seventeen. Each county in Georgia has its own magistrate, probate, and juvenile court, while approximately sixty counties have a state court of the county. Magistrate, probate, and juvenile judges decide cases without a jury, while state courts provide for a jury trial. Decisions of magistrate and probate judges can be appealed to superior court where the case is tried anew, while juvenile and state court appeals go to Georgia's appellate courts.
The basic trial court with general jurisdiction for hearing cases involving state law is the superior court. Here, any civil or criminal case may be tried, and all felonies must be tried. Unless the defendant requests that the judge alone try the case, a jury is used to reach a verdict. The legislature has divided Georgia into forty-four superior court circuits, with each circuit containing from one to eight counties and served by one or more judges. Superior court must meet at least twice year within each county of a circuit; each county has its own superior court, although its judge may be shared with other counties in the circuit.
Georgia's two major courts of appellate jurisdiction are the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. These courts do not try cases, but hear appeals from lower courts. The Court of Appeals has nine judges and can hear any appeal from a trial court, unless the Constitution has specifically directed that the matter be heard by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court consists of seven justices who make up the state's highest appellate body. Any appeal involving the constitutionality of any law, interpretation of the U.S. or Georgia Constitutions, and election matters must be heard by this court. Additionally, the high court may hear appeals in other matters, such as capital felonies, divorce, and alimony, and cases in which the Court of Appeals has requested ruling.
11

Finding Elected Officials
An official directory of Georgia U.S. congressmen, state and county officers is available at the Secretary of State website at http://www.sos.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/OfficialDirectoryIndex.asp. Information about elected officials also can be found at http://www.vote-smart.org. If you are a registered voter in Georgia, you can use the Secretary of State Poll Locator to get maps and directions to your polling place, find your elected officials, and check your voter registration information. Just log on to http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/locator.htm.
Voter Registration and Statewide Election Information
Voter registration and statewide election information may be obtained by visiting the Secretary of State website at http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/applications.htm. Voter registration applications are available at http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/applications.htm.
Legislative Search Information
Information about Georgia General Assembly legislation, committees and the Georgia Legislative Budget Office can be obtained at http://www.legis.state.ga.us.
Georgia Student Page Program
Members of the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate are served by student pages who deliver messages, obtain copies of bills and perform errands. Rules require pages to be at least 12 years of age. A representative or senator may name up to 10 pages during the legislative session and the lieutenant governor and speaker of the House of Representatives may name as many pages as he or she sees fit for each day the legislature is in session. For more information about the page program, please contact your state representative's or state senator's office. Contact information may be obtained at the following websites: http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/locator.htm http://www.sos.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/OfficialDirectoryIndex.asp http://www.vote -smart.org
12

How A Bill Becomes A Law
IDEA A. Conceived by individual legislator B. Conceived by Study Committee, Ad Hoc Committee, Interim Committee C. Conceived by citizen or citizens' group D. Conceived by special interest group or lobby
II. DRAFTING A. Drafted by any of above mentioned groups or individuals utilizing private legal resources B. Drafted by legislative counsel on behalf of individual legislator, legislative committee, or subcommittee C. Copied after legislation in other states
III. INTRODUCTION A. Filed with Clerk of House of Representatives.* B. Read for first time (by title) to entire House by clerk (assigned to committee by speaker) C. Read second time automatically on next legislative day
IV. COMMITTEE ACTION A. Chairman sets date for action on bill, notifies interested parties B. Interested persons testify, for and against C. Committee votes with several options available
1. Recommend "do pass" for bill in original form 2. Recommend "do pass" for bill with committee amendment 3. Recommend "do pass" for bill as substituted by committee 4. Recommend "do not pass" for bill either in original form or in amended or substituted form 5. Pass bill with no recommendation 6. Hold bill / no action
V. BILL (if given "do pass" recommendation) RETURNED TO HOUSE A. Placed on calendar B. Called by speaker for third reading and vote C. Bill debated on floor / Bill may be amended or substituted on floor by majority vote D. Bill passed or defeated by majority vote (2/3 vote required for tax measure or constitutional amendment resolution)
VI. TO THE SENATE Bills that pass the House, in whatever form, are transmitted to the Senate where a similar process takes place
VII. RETURN TO HOUSE
?? Senate amendments require House approval ?? If House concurs with Senate amendment in its entirety, measure is passed and sent to the governor ?? If House disagrees with the Senate amendment or changes any other language, bill is assigned to conference
committee composed of three house and three senate members
?? Conference committee may rewrite entire bill or resolve differences on conflicting language ?? Conference committee report read in House and Senate which accepts or rejects the report ?? If accepted the bill is passed ?? If either chamber rejects the conference report, the measure is assigned to new conference committee or
allowed to die
VIII. BILL GOES TO GOVERNOR A. Governor may sign the bill into law B. May veto the bill C. Bills not acted on will automatically become law (has 6 days during session and 40 days after session)
IX. VETO OVERRIDE General Assembly may override a veto by 2/3 vote and measure becomes law
*Many bills originate in the Senate and follow similar procedures as described in this outline.
13

How A Bill Becomes A Law
(For Young Students) Ideas for a new law can come from any person or group. Even you can have an idea for a law. The idea must be told to a person called a legislator. Legislators are people who make laws. Some legislators work in the House of Representatives and are called state representatives. Other legislators work in the Senate and are called state senators. After a legislator writes down the idea and shares it with other legislators, the idea becomes a bill. If most of the legislators do not like the bill, the bill may "die." That idea cannot become a law at that time. If the state representatives like the bill, most of them will vote "yes." Then, the bill is sent to the legislators in the Senate. If the state senators like the bill, most of them will vote "yes." The bill is then sent to the governor. If the governor says "yes" to the bill, it becomes a law. If the governor says "no" to the bill, it does not become a law. This is called a veto. In Georgia, if the governor does nothing with the bill, it will become a law after 40 days.
14

How a Bill is Passed in the Georgia Legislature

A.B. 12

Legislator goes to Office

of Legislative Counsel.

Legislator sees need for a new

1

There, attorney advises

2

law or changes in existing law

legislator on legal issues

and decides to introduce a bill.

and drafts bill.

Legislator files bill with the Clerk of the House or Secretary of the Senate.

On legislative day after

3

filing, bill is formally introduced. In chamber,

bill's title is read during

period of first readings.

Immediately after first

4

reading, presiding officer assigns bill to a standing

committee.

In the House only, on next legislative day, Clerk reads bill's
5 title (second reading) in
chamber, although actual bill is now in committee. In Senate, second reading comes after bill is reported favorably from committee.

Once presiding officer

calls bill up from Rules

Calendar, Clerk or

11

Secretary reads bill's

title (third reading).

Bill is now ready for floor

For the last 30 days of

session in the House

(25 days in Senate), presiding officer calls

10

up bills from the Rules

Calendar for floor

Starting with 10th day of

session in the House (15th in

Senate), the Rules Committee meets and from bills on Gen-

9

eral Calendar prepares a Rules

Calendar for the next day's floor

Clerk or Secretary prepares a

General Calendar of bills favor-

ably reported from committee. For first 10 days of session in

8

the House (15 days in Senate),

presiding officer calls up bills

Bill is reported favorably by committee and returned to Clerk or Secretary.

7

Bill considered by

6

committee. Author and

other legislators may

testify. If controversial,

public hearings may be

held.

debate, amendments,

consideration.

consideration.

from this calendar for floor action.

and voting.

Bill

New Laws

If second house passes bill, it is returned

12

After debate, main question is called and members vote. If bill is approved by majority of total membership of that house, it is sent to the other house.

to house where bill was introduced. If changes are accepted, . . .
13
If first house rejects changes and second house insists, a conference committee may be appointed. If committee report is accepted by both

Bill is enrolled and sent to the
14 Governor (if requested).
Otherwise, all enrolled bills
sent to Governor following
adjournment sine die.

Governor may sign bill or

15

do nothing, and bill becomes law. Governor

may veto bill, which

requires two-thirds of

members of each house

to override.

Acts and other laws enacted at the session are printed in the
16 Georgia Laws series. Also, act is
incorporated into the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
Act becomes effective the following July 1, unless a different

houses, . . .

effective date is provided in act.

2002 Carl Vinson Institute of Government University of Georgia

GEORGIA ELECTORATE

SUPREME COURT

COURT OF APPEALS

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

STATE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT

SECRETARY OF STATE

COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE

GOVERNOR

ATTORNEY GENERAL

COMMISSIONER OF
AGRICULTURE

COMMISSIONER OF LABOR

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SUPERIOR COURTS

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS

JUDICIAL AGENCIES

OFFICE OF PLANNING AND BUDGET

GOVERNOR'S OFFICE

DEPARTMENT OF AUDITS AND ACCOUNTS

DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL AND ADULT EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE
SERVICES

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

DEPARTMENT OF BANKING AND FINANCE

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY
HEALTH

LEGISLATIVE AGENCIES

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

STATE FORESTRY COMMISSION

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

BOARD OF PARDONS AND
PAROLES

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN
RESOURCES

DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE
JUSTICE

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY
AFFAIRS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLE
SAFETY

DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY, TRADE,
AND TOURISM

GEORGIA STUDENT FINANCE
COMMISSION

STATE MERIT SYSTEM OF PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION

UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
OF GEORGIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF
GEORGIA

STATE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF GEORGIA

STATE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
SERVICE

BOARD OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION

2002 Carl Vinson Institute of Government The University of Georgia

EXAMINING AND LICENSING BOARDS

ADVISORY BOARDS

OTHER EXECUTIVE AGENCIES

INTERSTATE AGENCIES

AUTHORITIES

2002 GEORGIA GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION CHART
ELECTED
APPOINTED

3
State Web sites, Symbols, And Facts

Georgia Web Sites
Please visit our virtual tour web site...
www.sos.state.ga.us/onlinetour/index.html
? View the Secretary of State's Office and its new advanced technology web site
? Look at a panoramic view of the Governor's suite
? View the House and Senate chambers ? Learn more about the Capitol
Education Center ? Schedule a tour ... and much more!!!
www.sos.state.ga.us - Secretary of State web site has information about Georgia's official state symbols, capitol/state history, government information, Georgia's Constitution, lesson plans for teachers and tour information. Also, there are links to the archives, corporations, elections, professional licensing boards, and securities divisions. www.georgia.gov - State of Georgia web site includes information on the governor, legislators and the legislative process, as well as links to all Georgia state department web sites. www.legis.state.ga.us - Provides information about Georgia General Assembly legislation and committees and the Georgia Legislative Budget Office. www.georgia.org - State of Georgia Industry, Trade and Tourism web site offers information about tourism, economic development, international trade and film, video and music in Georgia. www.cviog.uga.edu - University of Georgia educational web site includes an abundance of Georgia history and government information. www.gawomen.org - Georgia Women of Achievement web site. www.census.gov - Data about the people and economy of Georgia and the United States. www.dot.state.ga.us - Provides transportation maps and traffic information.
15

Georgia State Symbols

In 1916, with the

support of the

Georgia

Federation of

Women's Clubs,

the Cherokee

rose was named

the state floral

State Flower

emblem. The

name "Cherokee

Rose" is a local designation derived from the

Cherokee Indians who widely distributed the

plant. The rose is excessively thorny and

generously supplied with leaves of a vivid

green. In color it is waxy white with a large

golden center. Blooming time is in the early

spring, but favorable conditions will produce,

in the fall of the year, a second flowering of

this hardy plant.

On April 6,

1935, the

brown thrasher

was first chosen

as the Georgia

state bird by

official

State Bird

proclamation of the Governor. In

1970, at the request of the Garden Clubs of

Georgia, it was designated by the legislature

as the official state bird. The thrasher is

commonly found in the eastern section of the

United States, ranging north to Canada and

west to the Rockies. The bird migrates to the

North in the summer and spends its winters

in the Southern states. Almost a foot in

length, the thrasher has a long curved bill

and a very long tail. It has two prominent

white wing bars, a rich brown color on its top

side, and a creamy white breast heavily

streaked with brown.

State Fish
In 1970, the large mouth bass was designated the official state fish. Some of the best and most picturesque fishing waters of the United States are found in Georgia, and pursuit of the largemouth bass is widely popular. At one time, the world's biggest largemouth bass was taken from the waters of a Georgia stream.

In 1937, the live

oak was

adopted as the

official state tree

at the request of

the Edmund

Burke Chapter of

the Daughters of

State Tree

the American Revolution. It

flourishes along the coastal plains and on the

islands where the first settlers made their

homes. Many famous Georgians, as early as

General James Edward Oglethorpe, were

able to enjoy its beauty.

In 1970, the bobwhite quail was chosen as the official state game bird. Quail hunting in Georgia has long been popular with sportsmen around the world, and our state State Game Bird is often recognized as the "Quail Capitol of the World." The quail can withstand a loss of two thirds of its population with no reduction in the spring breeding population.

16

In 1975, the honeybee was named the official state insect. The honeybee has a highly specialized labor force, an elaborate social structure, an State Insect astounding communications system, and a well-fed population. It is a member of the great insect family Apoidea, which includes 20,000 species, among them bumblebees and carpenter bees. It makes an important contribution to the economy the production of honey and aids agriculture in the cross-pollination of more than 50 of the state's crops.

After it was discovered that Georgia's coastal waters were a calving area for the right whale, this State Marine Mammal endangered species became the state marine mammal in 1985. The right whale grows up to 50 feet long, has no dorsal fin, and bears distinctive patches of whitish bumps on its head. It is the only one of the great whales that is native to Georgia waters.

The shark tooth was

designated the official

state fossil in 1976.

Probably one of the

most sought-after

fossils by amateur

collectors, the shark

State Fossil

tooth is a relatively common fossil in the

Georgia coastal plain. In fossil form, the

shark tooth can be traced back 375 million

years. Fossilized shark teeth are found in a

range of colors-from the more common

blacks and grays to whites, browns, blues,

and reddish browns.

The tiger swallowtail, proclaimed the state butterfly in 1988, is one of Georgia's most beautiful species of lepidoptera with large yellow wings edged and striped with black. The resolution State Butterfly designating a state butterfly was inspired by Mrs. Deen Day Smith, president of The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc., who donated funds to build the Day Butterfly Center at Calloway Gardens.

Designated the

state reptile in

1989, the gopher

tortoise is one of

the oldest living

species native to

Georgia. The

State Reptile

gopher tortoise

belongs to a group

of land tortoises that originated in North

America 60 million years ago. This tortoise

digs burrows up to 40 feet wide and 10 feet

deep providing year-round shelter from

predators and weather for more than three

dozen other animal species. The gopher

tortoise population is threatened but still

remains outside of protected areas.

In 1976, quartz was chosen the official state gem. It is common in Georgia in a wide variety of colors. The resolution making it the state gem cited two particular forms: State Gem the amethyst, which is mostly used in jewelry, and the clear quartz, which, when faceted, resembles the diamond.

17

Grown properly only in a small pocket of south Georgia, the Vidalia onion matures into unsurpassed sweetness in the spring. In one of nature's most delicious mysteries, the Granex State Vegetable seed which produces a hot onion elsewhere grows into an onion one "can eat like an apple" in the fields around Vidalia and Glennville. The bill designating the Vidalia onion as the official state onion was enacted by the General Assembly in 1990.
Georgia has a wealth of minerals, among them staurolite crystals, popularly called "Fairy Crosses" or "Fairy Stones." Particularly State Mineral abundant in north Georgia, the distinctively twinned, crossed crystals have been collected for generations as good luck charms. In 1976, staurolite was named the official state mineral.
Christened the state seashell in 1987, the knobbed whelk is a whorled shell, eight inches long at maturity, displaying heavy spines, many State Seashell knobs, and an orange or red mouth. Minerals in Georgia coastal waters cause ocher striations on the sand-colored, semigloss surface. This marine snail shell is found all along Georgia's shoreline, out to 30 feet of water.

Georgia grown peaches

are recognized for their

superior flavor, texture,

and appearance and for

their nutritious qualities

that promote a healthy,

State Fruit

balanced diet. Georgia is known as the "Peach

State" because of the growers' reputation for

producing the highest quality fruit. The peach

became the official state fruit in 1995.

In 1979, the

azalea was

chosen the state

wildflower. Many

species and

varieties are found

State Wildflower

across Georgia. A hardy species,

they possess vibrant colored flowers

blooming from March until August.

The General

Assembly selected

the peanut to be the

official state crop in

1995. Georgia

State Crop

produces nearly 50 percent of the total

United States peanut crop and more than 50

percent of peanuts used in the production of

peanut butter. Georgia leads the nation in

peanut exports.

On April 24, 1979, the song "Georgia On My Mind," with music by Hoagy Carmichael and lyrics by Stuart Gorell, State Song was designated Georgia's official state song. It was performed on March 7, 1979, before a joint meeting of the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives by Georgiaborn recording artist Ray Charles.

18

In 2003, H.B. 380 was signed, creating a new state flag for Georgia. The new state flag is based on the first national State Flag flag of the Confederacy (the "Stars and Bars") and consists of a field of three horizontal bars of equal width, two red separated by a white bar in the center. In the upper left corner is a square blue canton the width of two bars. In the center of the canton is a circle of 13 white stars, symbolizing Georgia and the other 12 original states that formed the United States of America. Within the circle of stars is Georgia's coat of arms (the central design on the state seal) immediately above the words "In God We Trust" -- both in gold.

The current

Great Seal of

Georgia was

adopted by

the State

Constitution

State Seal

of 1798. On its front side

appear three pillars supporting an arch,

emblematic of the three branched of

government-- the legislative, judicial, and

executive. A militia man stands with a drawn

sword defending the Constitution whose

principles are wisdom, justice, and

moderation. The reverse of the seal shows a

ship with cotton and tobacco, and a man

plowing, representing the agriculture and

commerce of the seal's motto. In 1914, the

date on the seal was changed from 1799 to

1776 to correspond with the date of the

Declaration of Independence. By law, the

Secretary of State is the custodian of the

Great Seal, which is attached to official

papers by executive order of the governor.

Grits was made the official

prepared food of Georgia

in 2002. Grits are bits of

ground corn or hominy

State

which constitute a uniquely indigenous southern food

Prepared Food first produced by Native

Americans many centuries ago. Corn is a

preeminent Georgia crop grown throughout

the state.

The General Assembly has recognized these official symbols: Georgian's Creed, 1939; waltz Our Georgia, 1951; museum of art Georgia Museum of Art, 1982; state ballet company Atlanta Ballet, 1973; atlas Atlas of Georgia, 1985; state historic drama The Reach of Song, 1990; state folk festival Georgia Folk Festival, 1992; state theatre Springer Opera House, 1992; `possum' Pogo, 1992; music theatre Jekyll Island Music Theatre Festival, 1993.
Also enacted by legislation are the folk life play Swamp Gravy, 1994; State of Georgia "Poultry Capital of the World," 1995; railroad museum Central of Georgia Railroad Shops Complex, 1996; state beef cook-off "Shoot the Bull," 1997; state pork cook-off "Slosheye Trail Big Pig Jig," 1997; state tartan, 1997; state school Plains High School, 1997; Peanut Monument Turner County, 1998.
The General Assembly adopted the state pledge of allegiance in 1951. I pledge allegiance to the Georgia flag and to the principles for which it stands: Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation.

Parts of this section were reprinted from Georgia's Official State Symbols brochure. Please reference http://www.sos.state.ga.us/ state_capitol/education_corner/ state_symbols.html for a comprehensive listing of all state symbols and designations.

19

State Song
On April 24, 1979, the song "Georgia On My Mind," with music by Hoagy Carmichael and lyrics by Stuart Gorell, was designated Georgia's official state song. It was performed on March 7, 1979, before a joint meeting of the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives by Georgia-born recording artist Ray Charles.
Georgia on My Mind
Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind.
Georgia, Georgia, a song of you Comes as sweet and clear as moonlight through the pines.
Other arms reach out to me Other eyes smile tenderly Still in peaceful dreams I see The road leads back to you. Georgia, Georgia, no peace I find Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind. Melodies bring memories
That linger in my heart Make me think of Georgia
Why did we ever part? Some sweet day when blossoms fall
And all the world's a song I'll go back to Georgia
'Cause that's where I belong.
20

Georgia Fast Facts
Georgia Population (2000): 8,186,453
Land Area (square miles): 57,906
Persons per square mile (2000): 141.4
Admission to Statehood: January 2, 1788 Statehood: 4th of the original 13 colonies
Capital City: Atlanta
Number of Counties: 159
Geographic Center: Twiggs County, 18 miles southeast of Macon
Highest Point: 4,784 feet, Brasstown Bald
Lowest Point: Atlantic coast, sea level
State Motto: Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation
Origin of State's Name: Named for King George II of England
Nickname: Peach State
Agriculture: Poultry and eggs, peanuts, cattle, hogs, dairy products, vegetables
Industry: Textiles and apparel, transportation equipment, food processing, paper products, chemical products, electric equipment, tourism
Government: U.S. Congressional Districts 13, U.S. Senators 2 State Senators 56, State House of Representatives - 180
Famous Georgians: James E. Carter, U.S. President, Plains Rebecca Latimer Felton, first appointed woman U.S. Senator, Decatur Bobby Jones, golfer, Atlanta Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader, Atlanta Gladys Knight, singer, Atlanta Juliette Gordon Low, U.S. Girl Scouts founder, Savannah Margaret Mitchell, author, Atlanta Jackie Robinson, baseball player, Cairo Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court associate justice, Savannah Alice Walker, author, Eatonton
Some information compiled from www.50states.com and www.census.gov
21

Outstanding Achievements

James Oglethorpe lands at Yamacraw Bluff establishing GA as the thirteenth colony

Establishment of first Negro Baptist church in America

Charter for first state-chartered university, UGA, on January 27

1733

1736

1773

Founding of first Protestant Sunday School in America by John Wesley in Savannah

1783

1785

1793

Opening of nation's first government-supported high school, Richmond Academy, in Augusta

First usage of Eli Whitney's cotton gin near Washington, GA

Sarah Porter Hillhouse first U.S. woman to own and edit a newspaper

Creation of first Indian alphabet by Sequoyah, a Cherokee

America's first gold rush near Dahlonega, GA

1802

1819

1821

Sailing of the Savannah, first steamship to cross Atlantic Ocean, on May 20 from Savannah

1828
Publication of first Indian newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix, in New Echota

1828

1834

Construction of first iron sea vessel the John Randolph, in Savannah

Founding of Wesleyan College--first college chartered to grant degrees to women

Invention of sewing machine by Dr. Francis Goulding of Liberty County

GA first state to grant full property rights to married women

1836

1836

1842

Establishment of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, first state-owned railroad in U.S.

1844

1866

Invention of first machine for manufacturing ice by Dr. John Gorrie of Columbus

1874
GA first state to create a Dept. of Agriculture

Spelman College in Atlanta first in nation to certify a black nurse

Passage of Tom Watson's free mail delivery in U.S. Congress

Origin of memorial poppy of World War I on Nov. 9 by Moina Michael

1881

1886
Beginning of Coca-Cola in Atlanta

1893

1912
Founding of Juliette Gordon Low's Girl Scouts of America in Savannah

1918

1922

Rebecca Felton of Cartersville becomes first woman to serve in U.S. Senate

First newsprint from pine by Dr. Charles Herty
1932

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first Georgian to receive Nobel Peace Prize

Jimmy Carter wins presidential election; only native Georgian to hold the office

1945
GA first to lower legal voting age from 21 to 18

1964

1974
Hank Aaron home run record

1976

1979

Initiation of Marta rapid rail service

First broadcast of Atlanta-based CNN
1980

Initiation of HOPE Scholarship, awarding over $1 billion to more than 500,000 Georgians as of 2002

Cathy Cox sworn in as first female Secretary of State in GA

1983
New state constitution effective

1993

1996
Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta

1999

2002

GA first state to have uniform electronic voting machines

WHITFIELD HABERSHAM

DADE

CATOOSA

MURRAY

FANNIN

TOWNS UNION

RABUN

WALKER CHATTOOGA

GILMER

GORDON

PICKENS

WHITE LUMPKIN

STEPHENS

FLOYD

DAWSON

BARTOW

CHEROKEE

FORSYTH

HALL

BANKS FRANKLIN HART

JACKSON MADISON ELBERT

POLK
PAULDING HARALSON

COBB

DOUGLAS FULTON

BARROW

GWINNETT

CLARKE

DEKALB

WALTON OCONEE

OGLETHORPE WILKES

LINCOLN

GEORGIA

ROCKDALE

FAYETTE CLAYTON

CARROLL COWETA
HEARD TROUP

MERIWETHER

McDUFFIE

NEWTON HENRY

MORGAN

GREENE

TALIAFERRO

COLUMBIA

JASPER SPALDING BUTTS

PUTNAM

WARREN

HANCOCK

GLASCOCK

RICHMOND

PIKE LAMAR MONROE

BALDWIN JONES

JEFFERSON WASHINGTON

BURKE

UPSON

HARRIS

TALBOT

BIBB CRAWFORD

WILKINSON TWIGGS

JOHNSON

JENKINS

SCREVEN

MUSCOGEE

TAYLOR

PEACH

EMANUEL

CHATTAHOOCHEE

MARION

MACON

HOUSTON BLECKLEY

LAURENS TREUTLEN

CANDLER BULLOCH EFFINGHAM

MONTGOMERY

SCHLEY

STEWART QUITMAN

EBSTER W

SUMTER

TERRELL

RANDOLPH

LEE

DOOLY PULASKI DODGE

WHEELER

CRISP

WILCOX

TELFAIR

TURNER

BEN HILL

JEFF DAVIS

TOOMBS

EVANS

TATTNALL

BRYAN

APPLING

LIBERTY LONG

CHATHAM

CLAY CALHOUN DOUGHERTY

EARLY

BAKER

MILLER

MITCHELL

WORTH

TIFT

IRWIN

COLQUITT

BERRIEN COOK

COFFEE ATKINSON

BACON

WAYNE

PIERCE

WARE

BRANTLEY

McINTOSH GLYNN

SEMINOLE LANIER

DECATUR GRADY THOMAS

LOWNDES BROOKS

CLINCH

ECHOLS

CHARLTON

CAMDEN

Carl Vinson Institute of Government The University of Georgia

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Touring the capitol

Field Trip Guide For Teachers
Revised August 2005
I. PLANNING PHASE
A. Why take a field trip to the Capitol?
A visit to the Georgia Capitol offers students an opportunity to view first-hand the most important government building in the state and to learn about the heritage of Georgians. An interpretive tour provided by the Office of the Secretary of State gives students an overview of Georgia history with visual emphasis on current events, portraits, flags, statues and the Capitol building.
B. Which grade levels would most benefit from a tour of the Capitol?
Guided tours provided by the Office of Secretary of State are available for grades 3-12. Older students (8th grade and above) who are studying Georgia government and political science benefit from a trip during the legislative session (usually January through March); however, the Georgia General Assembly has adopted a policy encouraging elementary level teachers to schedule their class trips when the legislature is not in session. Not only is there less confusion during this time, but students also have more freedom to become acquainted with the Capitol and the Georgia Capitol Museum. Tour guides also have more time to answer questions and interact with each group individually. The weather in the fall and spring provides a much nicer opportunity to tour the grounds of the Capitol and neighboring sites.
C. Are tours provided for children in pre-kindergarten-2nd grade?
While tours are recommended for grades 3-12, guided tours are available for students in kindergarten through second grade. These tours begin at the Capitol and last 30-45 minutes. Chaperones should check in at the security desk at the Washington Street entrance. Tours for this group focus on larger concepts of Capitol history and the functions of the people that work in the Capitol. Because of the age and level of comprehension of younger children, guided tours are NOT available for student groups in the pre-kindergarten age group.
D. Where does a field trip to the Capitol fit into your curriculum?
There are no hard and fast rules about when to schedule a field trip in relation to your course of study. Some teachers effectively use the trip as a culminating activity on a unit on citizenship, civics or Georgia history. Others use this opportunity as a preliminary motivating experience with great success. Regardless of when the trip is made, it is imperative that an orientation be given before students visit the Capitol, especially during the legislative session.
E. When is the best time to schedule a tour during the legislative session?
The Georgia General Assembly begins their legislative session each year on the second Monday in January. There are no tours of the galleries the first few days of session. After the first week, the legislature usually adjourns for a one-week budget recess and then reconvenes, but this pattern may vary. The House Public Information Office, (404) 656-5082, and the Senate Public Information Office, (404) 656-0028, can provide expected dates of recess once the session begins. The first six months of the year are the busiest at the Capitol. When possible, school groups (particularly 7th grade and below) are encouraged to book tours in the fall.
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F. How far in advance should trips be scheduled? Trips to the Capitol should be scheduled in advance to assure that a tour guide will be available; tours may be scheduled up to six months in advance. Even if a group does not wish to take a guided tour, advanced scheduling is still recommended for fire code compliance. To schedule a guided tour of the Capitol, school groups and other visitors should contact the tour staff in the Office of the Secretary of State at (404) 656-2844 or email sostour@sos.state.ga.us. Before calling to schedule a tour, please identify three alternate dates and times in case your first choice is unavailable.
D. What are the available tour times? Tours are given Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The guided portion of the tour is approximately 30-45 minutes in duration.
Tours times are as follows (January-- March): A.M. Tours -- 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 P.M. Tours -- 1:00 1:30 2:00
(April-May / September-December):
A.M. Tours -- 10:00 10:30 11:00 P.M. Tours -- 1:00 2:00
Summer Tours (June-August) A.M. Tours -- 10:00 11:00 P.M. Tours -- 1:00 2:00 H. How many students may tour the Capitol at one time? Tours are scheduled for groups of 10 or more. Groups are limited in size to 60 people per tour group. Often, teachers with groups that exceed these limits break the field trip into multiple days. Please call the tour program staff with additional questions.
I. What is the basic format of a Capitol tour? The tour begins at the Capitol building where tour guides provide an overview of the building's history in the Rotunda, located on the executive (2nd) floor.
Throughout the Capitol, students will view portions of the state's $2 million art collection containing some of the oldest portraits in the state of Georgia. During the legislative session, tours end on the fourth floor where students, teachers and other visitors may choose to visit the public galleries to view the General Assembly. While in the Capitol, students are encouraged to look at the museum cases on the fourth floor. The Hall of Valor, which houses the state's historic flag collection, is located on the first floor.
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II. THE DAY OF THE CLASS VISIT
A. Is parking available for school buses? Buses and commercial vans (not minivans) may park, free of charge, on the right curb of Washington Street in front of the Capitol. Visitors in automobiles may park in state parking lots, which charge a nominal fee. Lots which are available for public parking include: the Archives parking lot on Capitol Avenue, the Steve Polk Plaza parking lot (next to the World of Coca Cola) and the public lot at Underground Atlanta located on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.
MARTA is also an option for transportation to the Capitol. MARTA exits located nearest the Capitol are the Georgia State Station (directly across from the Capitol in the Sloppy Floyd/Twin Towers complex) or the Five Points station (two blocks west of the Capitol at Underground Atlanta.)
B. What kind of security can we expect when entering the Capitol ?
Groups starting at the Capitol should register at the security booth inside the door. Once inside the Capitol, security booths are located at each entrance for the protection of state officials and the security of state records and property. School groups usually enter the Capitol at the Washington Street entrance and will go through metal detectors. Students and chaperones are required to pass through a metal detector in a single-file line. An x-ray machine will examine all backpacks, purses and packages. Students should not bring radios, headphones, knives or any sharp objects into the Capitol. C. Are there helpful tips for chaperones while visiting the Capitol? Teachers are responsible for the discipline and safety of their students throughout the tour. Students should not run on the marble floors and stairs and should not lean on the balcony railings. Noise must be kept to a minimum. While outside the Capitol, students must not climb on statues or walk through the grass and/or flowerbeds.
Teachers who wish to visit the viewing gallery of the House or Senate chambers should inform the staff outside the galleries and notify them of the number of students in their group. It may be necessary to wait 10 to 15 minutes before entering. Once inside, most groups are allowed 15 minutes to observe the lawmakers in action.
Students should be reminded that important state business is being conducted in each chamber. All visitors to the galleries must remain seated and quiet and may not applaud. Students are not allowed to lean on the gallery railing from the first row.
If the General Assembly is adjourned during your visit, your tour guide may take you into a gallery and discuss the legislative process with the students.
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D. Are cameras allowed inside the Capitol? Photography is prohibited in the House and Senate galleries while the legislature is in session. Video cameras are also prohibited during the legislative session. If the General Assembly is not in session, photography is permitted as it is throughout the public areas of the Capitol. E. Are dining facilities available for students? Several dining options are available for school groups at lunchtime. If the class brings lunch, students may eat at tables in the upper and lower levels of Plaza Park, near the Capitol Education Center and directly across from the western entrance of the Capitol. There is also a cafeteria in the Sloppy Floyd/Twin Towers complex located across from the Capitol. The food court at Underground Atlanta is also nearby. There are no indoor facilities at the Capitol for students to have lunch. F. Where are the restrooms located? Student groups needing to take advantage of restroom facilities before the tour begins, are asked to arrive at the Capitol 20 minutes before their scheduled tour time. Tours begin promptly at the scheduled tour times. Public restrooms in the Capitol are located on the first and third floors. Groups must remain quiet and orderly as they wait in the hall near the restrooms, as the Capitol is a professional workplace where important state business is conducted. III. Pre and Post Planning the Fieldtrip A. What resources are provided by the Secretary of State's Office to prepare students for their Capitol field trip? The Secretary of State website (www.sos.state.ga.us) contains Capitol and state information such as a list of state symbols and an outline of the legislative process. The virtual tour of the Capitol provides a detailed look at the rooms, portraits, busts and architecture that make up the Capitol building. Resources for teachers provide historical and procedural information regarding the Capitol and the legislative process. A teacher guidebook is available online or can be mailed upon request.
We Look Forward To Seeing You Soon !
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The Georgia Capitol Museum and Hall of Valor
The Georgia Capitol Museum is a public educational institution housed in the State Capitol building under the administration of the Office of Secretary of State. The Museum seeks to preserve and interpret the history of the Georgia State Capitol building itself, as well as the events that have taken place within its walls. To carry out this purpose, the Museum collects, maintains, and exhibits significant artifacts, including historic flags and works of art, within the State Capitol.
In 1955 the General Assembly created the Georgia State Museum of Science and Industry, a new division in the Office of Secretary of State. Funding for the Capitol's restoration in 1994 provided for improvement in the museum's exhibitions. The Commission on the Preservation of the Georgia State Capitol was charged to provide advice and guidance for the care, conservation, and exhibition of the collection in the Georgia Capitol Museum, officially renamed in 1997. The new design allowed the interpretation of the Atlanta Capitol--its history, construction, and uses--to be exhibited with a fresh, modern approach.
Located on the fourth floor of the Capitol, the Georgia Capitol Museum offers a host of displays that provide information about Georgia's history, government, and natural and economic resources. The north atrium exhibits explore the museum's early collections, emphasizing the natural history of Georgia. These exhibits include the Georgia regions dioramas, which show animals that can be found in the five regions of Georgia. Outside the legislative galleries and in the south atrium, exhibits interpret the Capitol's history and significant events such as the gubernatorial history diorama, which highlights the interests and achievements of some of Georgia's former governors.
The Hall of Valor, which houses the Georgia State Capitol flag collection, is located on the first floor of the building. This historic flag collection consists of approximately 70 banners, most from the Civil War era, but also from the Spanish American War, World Wars, and modern warfare. Torn and bullet-ridden, many of these flags survived fierce battle and witnessed great bravery. Restored flags are periodically rotated so the visiting public may view them.
The Georgia Capitol Museum includes displays of personal items and photographs of former Georgia governors.
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State
Capitol
Grounds
The grounds of the Georgia State Capitol invite visitors to stroll and learn. The landscaping provides shade and color all year round. The statues and memorials honor famous Georgians who have shaped our state's history.
1. United Spanish War Veterans Memorial - Commemorates the war between the United States and Spain in 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. Consequently, Spain lost control over the remains of its overseas empire -- Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, Guam and other islands.
2. "Expelled Because of Their Color" - This bronze statue was donated by the Black Caucus of the Georgia General Assembly in 1976 to commemorate the Bicentennial. The sculpture is "dedicated to the memory of the 33 black state legislators who were elected, yet expelled from the Georgia House of Representatives because of their color in 1868."
3. Flame of Freedom - Presented by the American Legion in commemoration of its 50th anniversary and dedicated to all those who served the cause of freedom in the armed forces of the United States.
4. Eugene Talmadge - Served for six years as the Georgia commissioner of agriculture and six years as governor. He was elected for a fourth term in 1946, but died on Dec. 21 of that year. After a controversy over succession, his son Herman Talmadge succeeded him in office.
5. Joseph Emerson Brown and Elizabeth Grisham Brown - Joseph Brown served as governor at Milledgeville from 1857-1865. He also served as US senator and as chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. His wife, Elizabeth, was a loyal patriot.
6. Richard B. Russell - Served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives (1921-1931), governor of Georgia (1931-1933), and United States senator from Georgia (1933-1971). This is the largest statue on the capitol grounds. The monumental size of the statue is due to the fact that it was originally planned to be placed in the park across Washington Street.
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7. Liberty Bell - This reproduction of the Liberty Bell was presented to the people of Georgia at the direction of the honorable John W. Snyder, secretary of the treasury. As the inspirational symbol of the United States Savings Bond Independence drive from May 15 to July 4, 1950, the Liberty Bell was displayed in every part of the state.
8. Ellis Arnall - Served as governor of Georgia (1943-1947). Arnall brought about more reforms in state government than any other governor in Georgia history; including prison reform, reduction in the voting age, revision of the state constitution and creation of the office of lieutenant governor.
9. Thomas E. Watson - Served as a member of the Georgia General Assembly (1882-1884), congressman from Georgia (1890-1892), and US senator from 1920 until his death.
10. Spanish Cannons - The barrels of two bronze cannons are located on either side of the capitol plaza. They were cast in Seville, Spain in 1856 and given to the state by the Navy Department in honor of Lieutenant Thomas M. Brumby of Marietta "who represented our Navy in the surrender negotiations at Manila and raised the United States flag over the city walls."
11. Jimmy Carter - Served as a Georgia state senator (1963-1964), Georgia's 76th governor (1971-1975), and the 39th United States president (1977-1981). Carter is the first Georgian to hold the nation's highest elected office.
12. Statue of Liberty - The Boy Scouts of America dedicated this replica of the Statue of Liberty as a pledge of everlasting fidelity and loyalty.
13. John Brown Gordon - A Confederate hero and general, Gordon was the first governor to occupy an office in the Capitol building in Atlanta. He later served two terms in the US Senate. The statue depicts him reviewing troops as the commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans.
14. Civil War Cannons - Located on either side of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive Capitol entrance.
15. Miss Freedom - The statue weighs about a ton and adorns the top of the Georgia State Capitol. Given the name "Miss Freedom," she holds a torch in her right hand in remembrance of Georgia's war dead. In her other hand she holds a sword, symbolic of military protection of the state.
16. Herman Talmadge - Served as governor of Georgia (1948-1955) and United States senator from Georgia 1957-1981. As senator, Talmadge gained national respect as a member of the committee which investigated the Watergate scandal.
For additional information about the capitol grounds statues, please visit the Secretary of State's website at http://www.sos.state.ga.us/onlinetour/grounds/now.html
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Directions to Capitol Education Center
Capitol Education Center / 180 Central Avenue / Atlanta, GA 30303 / 404-463-7720
To schedule a tour of the Georgia State Capitol, Call 404-656-2844
From the South Buses*: Take I75/85 North to Exit 245 (Capitol Avenue). At the end of the exit ramp, continue straight through the stop sign. At the first traffic light, turn left onto Hank Aaron Drive. (The name will change to Capitol Avenue). Then turn left on MLK, Jr. Drive. At the next light, make a left onto Washington Street. The capitol will be on the left and the Capitol Education Center (CEC) is located in Georgia Plaza Park on the right. Buses may unload passengers on Washington Street; visitors must walk through Georgia Plaza Park to get to the CEC.
Cars: Take I75/85 North Exit 246 (Central Avenue); continue straight. The CEC is on the right.
From the North Buses*: Take I75/85 South to Exit 248A (MLK, Jr. Drive) and veer right onto MLK, Jr. Drive. At the third light make a left onto Washington Street. The capitol will be on the left. At the second light, take a right onto Trinity Avenue. Drive one block and take a right onto Central Avenue. The CEC is located two blocks north on the right. Buses are allowed to drop students off on Central Avenue.
Cars: Take I75/85 South to Exit 248A (MLK, Jr. Drive). Bear right onto MLK, Jr. Drive. At the light make a left onto Washington Street. The capitol will be on your left. Go two blocks and make a right onto Trinity Avenue. Go one block and make a right onto Central Avenue. The CEC is two blocks down on your right.
From the East Buses*: Take I20 West to Exit 58A (Capitol Avenue). Turn right on Capitol Avenue. Proceed to the third traffic light and make a left onto MLK, Jr. Drive. Proceed to the light and make a left onto Washington Street. The capitol will be on the left and the CEC is located in Georgia Plaza Park on the right. Buses may unload passengers on Washington Street; visitors must walk through Georgia Plaza Park to get to the CEC.
Cars: Take I20 West to Exit 58A (Capitol Avenue). Turn right on Capitol Avenue. Turn left on Memorial Drive. Immediately bear right onto Trinity. Go two blocks and take a right on Central Avenue. The CEC is located two blocks down on the right.
From the West Buses*: Take I20 to Exit 56B (Windsor Street/Spring Street/Stadium). At the third light, turn left onto Central Avenue. Go to Mitchell Street and turn right. Go one block and the capitol will be on the left. To park, drive around the capitol and turn left onto Washington Street. Again, the capitol will be on your left. The CEC is located in the Georgia Plaza Park on the right. Buses may unload passengers on Washington Street; visitors must walk through Georgia Plaza Park to get to the CEC.
Cars: Take I20 to Exit 56B (Windsor Street/Spring Street/Stadium). At the third light, turn left onto Central Avenue. Continue straight, and the CEC will be on your right.
*Parking: Buses and commercial vans may park on Washington Street when the national security level is at yellow or below. However, when the national security level is raised to orange or higher, buses may unload on Washington Street but may NOT park there. No vehicles are to park on Washington Street opposite the Capitol at code orange or higher, but may park in nearby lots or at Turner Field. Please coordinate pickup time with your bus driver. Alternately, buses may choose to drop passengers in front of the CEC on Central Avenue. If doing so, follow "car" directions.
Car parking: Metered parking is available on city streets. Additional parking for cars may be located at: ? Steve Polk Plaza parking lot on MLK, Jr. Drive, next to World of Coke ? Underground Atlanta parking lot on MLK, Jr. Drive
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