Hannibal Kimball - Capital of Georgia

Capital of Georgia

One of his first tasks in Atlanta was helping to convince the constitutional convention of Georgia to move the state capital from Milledgeville to Atlanta. In 1868, shortly after the congress agreed to move the capital, Kimball purchased an abandoned opera house and constructed the first capitol building. The building was completed in only 4 months, after which it was leased to the city, which then agreed to provide it without cost to the state for 10 years. The next year, the Georgia Legislature purchased the building, with the city paying $100,000 for part of the cost permanently making Atlanta the capital of Georgia.

On March 16, 1869, Kimball along with Edward N. Kimball, John Rice, John C. Peck, and Jame A. Burns incorporated the Atlanta Canal and Water Company. The company had previously been incorporated to cut canals from the Chattahoochee River into and throughout the city streets for sanitary and other uses. However, the previous company had not completed any work on the project. The new Atlanta Canal and Water Company would thus construct Atlanta's first sewer system.