Alexander Hamilton

How this work helped shape America

Born enslaved around 1840, probably in Georgia or North Carolina, Alexander Hamilton emerged from slavery and Civil War service to establish himself as a builder and contractor in Atlanta. After moving to the city in 1877, Hamilton developed a respected construction business and in 1890 was joined by his son Alexander D. Hamilton, creating the contracting firm Alexander Hamilton and Son. The family enterprise constructed residential, commercial and institutional buildings as Atlanta expanded during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hamilton transformed skilled building craftsmanship into an intergenerational Black-owned contracting business operating within an industry in which racial discrimination severely restricted opportunities for Black builders.