Virginia State Capitol

The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. It houses the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, the Virginia General Assembly, first established as the House of Burgesses in 1619.

The capitol was conceived of by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau in France. Although it was completed in 1788 and is currently 224 years old, the current Capitol is the eighth built to serve as Virginia's state house, primarily due to fires during the Colonial period. In the early 20th century, two wings were added, leading to its present appearance. In 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Richmond, Virginia

Following the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, on April 17, Virginia voted to secede from the United States and joined the Confederate States (though not officially doing so until May), and soon thereafter the Confederate government moved its capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond.

The Confederate Congress shared quarters with the Virginia General Assembly in the Virginia State Capitol, with the Confederacy's executive mansion, the "White House of the Confederacy", located two blocks away. The Seven Days Battles followed in late June and early July 1862, during which Union General McClellan threatened to take Richmond but ultimately failed. 

Three years later, on April 2, 1865, the Union Army under Ulysses S. Grant captured Richmond, and the state capital and Confederate capitals were briefly relocated to Danville. About 25% of the city's buildings were destroyed in a fire set by retreating Confederate soldiers, with Union soldiers putting out the fires as they entered the city.

[Source: Wikipedia]