" You're looking at the first neoclassically designed public building in America. Thomas Jefferson[unk] designed it to be the capital building for the commonwealth of Virginia, here in Richmond. It was finished in 1790 just a few years after the United States was formed. Based on a Roman Temple built in France in the 1st century A.D., Virginia's capital building was abound to the ideals of the past and a grand gesture towards the future of the new nation. I can tell that we're gonna have to take a closer look at this important building later on in the series. But Richmond has a whole lot of other important structures that really tell the story of American history. Here in St. John's Church in 1775, Patrick Henry[unk] helped kick off the revolution with his famous speech, "Give me Liberty, or give me Death." In the early days of the new United States government, the Supreme Court grew some teeth, thanks to Chief Justice John Marshall who lived in this federal-style house on East Marshall Street. This monumental church as it's called, was designed in 1812 by Robert Mills. The same man who designed the Washington monument. Not only the capital of Virginia, Richmond was also the capital of the confederacy during the silver war era. This house on East Clay Street, now museum, was the White House of the confederacy. An executive residence for Jefferson Davis[unk] with an imposing columned portico."

" Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee[unk] worshiped here at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Built in 1845 and known as the Cathedral of the confederacy. After the tumult of the Civil War, Richmond began regaining its fortunes again. By 1886, when Richmond City Hall was built with its tall tower, the city was once again one of the most important industrial centers in the South. [unk] has this neighborhood along the James Rivers called, was once home to the South's busiest commercial trade industry. It was devastated by fire during the war, but today it's been restored and houses a lively mix of restaurants, shops, and night clubs. By 1895, grand buildings like the Jefferson Hotel[unk] were growing up in Richmond. One look at those classical decorations and quiete brick granted in Terracotta. Those towers, low jails and pavilions, not to mention the elegant lobby with its statue of Jefferson himself. And you know that Richmond was a prosperous place by the turn of the 19th century. But the building we're really here to see was built at the dawn of that century, Virginia's executive mansion. While no record exist of where the earliest Virginia governors resided, we do know that the legislature in 1811 authorized the expenditure of $12,000 for the construction of an executive mansion. They ended up actually spending 20 and the results are right behind me. A beautiful example of what we today call the Federalists Style. Charles Bulfinch's Massachusetts state house is one of the first and grandest examples of this style. And it inspired the young Boston architect, Alexander Parris. When Paris moved South to Richmond, he designed the elegant Wickham House and won the contract to design the new executive mansion. Richmond carpenters and contractors took over and after adding a few elements, like the portico over the front door, and the parapet over the East. The house was first occupied in 1813 by Governor James Barber[unk] and his family. Today, this gracious house is the oldest continuously occupied Governor's Mansion in the US and home to Governor James Gilmore, his wife Roxane, and their 2 children."