On December 12, 1804, the state legislature voted to designate Milledgeville as the capital of Georgia.

The Marquis de Lafayette visited the building in 1825 while on his tour through the United States.

Governor Joe Brown worked from the building, conducting the affairs of the state militia and engaging in disputes with C.S.A.

Brown and others fled the capitol ahead of the arrival of General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army.

The Old Capitol building was damaged, while armories and magazines on Statehouse Square were destroyed.