Today, Florida's Capitol Complex consists of the large new capitol, with its 22 story central tower, 2 side domes, and two adjoining office buildings. The smaller Historic Capitol Museum is located just to the east across the beautiful courtyard, which is the scene of many public events. The courtyard is on the west side of Historic Capitol Square. When planned in 1845, a road ran between what is now the Hisoric Capitol and the new Capitol.
Just across that street, was the old City Hotel which stood where the House Chamber wing is at today. Known by many names, the City Hotel played an interesting role in the history of the Capitol. During the 1840s, politicians often stayed at the convenient City Hotel during sessions and many political deals were made there. Someone suggested that the owner, Thomas Brown, should run for office, which he did, and he became Florida’s second Governor. After the Civil War, The City Hotel was the office for Lt. Governor Gleason who claimed to be the official acting Governor temporarily ran the state government and at one time he temporarily ran the state government from the hotel.
Later, there were many residential homes around the west side of Capitol Square. These were removed by 1950 for Waller Park, which separated the Historic Capitol from the Supreme Court Building. Then in Waller Park in 1972, construction started on the foundation for the new Capitol. When the foundation for the new Capitol was dug, archeologists found many interesting items relating to the Historic Capitol, some of the older homes, the old City Hotel.
In the late 1800s, the old Confederate monument was moved to the west side of the Historic Capitol. Monuments and other features help historians indentify photographs of the Historic Capitol since it was symmetrical from 1845 to 1923. In 1955, the site of the Governors’ inaugurations moved from the east side of the Historic Capitol to the west side and continued there until 1975. After the new Capitol was finished in 1977, Governor Graham's second inauguration in 1983 and Governor Martinez’s inauguration in 1987 was both held here in the courtyard between the two Capitols.