Born a slave, he became a renowned architect and engineer

Born into slavery on a South Carolina plantation in 1807, Horace King was freed in 1846 by his owner John Godwin, with whom he had worked to build bridges over the Chattahoochee River.

King became the most sought-after bridge builder in the South, and also constructed buildings and the freestanding, three-story spiral staircase at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery. He rebuilt bridges, factories, warehouses and textile mills that were destroyed during the Civil War.

King served two terms in the Alabama House of Representatives.

In the 1870s he moved his family to LaGrange, Georgia, where he built several bridges.

– Jan Schroder, The Georgia 100