The Old Louisiana State Capitol, also known as the State House, is a historic government building, and now a museum, at 100 North Boulevard in Baton Rouge,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

U.S.A. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

It housed the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 repres ...

from the mid-19th century until the current capitol tower building was constructed from 1929-32. It was built to both look like and function like a castle and has led some locals to call it the Louisiana Castle, the Castle of Baton Rouge, the Castle on the River, or the Museum of Political History; although most people just call it the old capitol building. The term "Old State Capitol" in Louisiana is used to refer to the building and not to the two towns that were formerly the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and Donaldsonville. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on January 12, 1973, wit
six photos and two maps
/ref> With . and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

on May 30, 1974.

History

In 1846, the state legislature in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

decided to move the seat of government to Baton Rouge. As in many states, representatives from other parts of

feared a concentration of power in the state's largest city. In 1840, New Orleans' population was about 102,000, making it the fourth-largest city in the U.S. The 1840 population of Baton Rouge, on the other hand, was only 2,269. On September 21, 1847, the city of Baton Rouge donated to the state of Louisiana a $20,000 parcel of land for a state capitol building. The land donated by the city for the capitol stands high atop a bluff facing the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, a site that some believe was once marked by the red pole, or ''baton rouge'', which French explorers claimed designated a Native American council meeting site. New York architect James H. Dakin was hired to design the Baton Rouge capitol building, and rather than mimic the national Capitol Building in Washington, as so many other states had done, he conceived a

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

medieval-style castle overlooking the Mississippi. In 1859, the statehouse was featured and favorably described in '' De Bow's Review'', the most prestigious periodical in the antebellum South. Mark Twain, however, as a steamboat pilot in the 1850s, loathed the sight of it, "It is pathetic ... that a whitewashed castle, with turrets and things ... should ever have been built in this otherwise honorable place." Burning of the state house Baton Rouge

In 1862, during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

Admiral

David Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. F ...

captured New Orleans, and the seat of government retreated from Baton Rouge. The Union's occupying troops first used the capitol building — or "old gray castle," as it was once described — as a prison, and then to garrison African-American troops under General Culver Grover. While used as a garrison the building caught fire twice. This sequence of events transformed Louisiana's capitol into an empty, gutted shell abandoned by the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

. By 1882 the statehouse was totally rebuilt by architect and engineer William A. Freret, who is credited with the installation of the

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

and the stained glass dome, which are the interior focal points. The refurbished statehouse remained in use until 1932, when it was abandoned for the new

Louisiana State Capitol The Louisiana State Capitol (french: Capitole de l'État de Louisiane) is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Louisiana and is located in downtown Baton Rouge. The capitol houses the chambers for the Louisiana State Legislature, made ...

building. The Old State Capitol has since been used to house Federally-chartered veterans organizations, and as an office of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

, among other things.

Museum of Political History

Restored in the 1990s, the Old State Capitol is now the Museum of Political History. Most recently, the exterior façade has been refurbished with shades of tan stucco, in noticeable contrast to its former gray stone coloring. Numerous events are held there including an annual ball wherein the participants re-enact dances and traditions of French culture while wearing 18th- and 19th-century dress. The museum's location downtown in Baton Rouge is within walking distance of the current capitol tower and of many culturally significant buildings. These include the

Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion The Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion is located at 502 North Blvd. between Royal and St. Charles Streets in Baton Rouge and was used as Louisiana's official gubernatorial residence between 1930 and 1963; a new residence was completed in 1963. ...

, the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum, St. Joseph Cathedral, and the widely acclaimed Shaw Center. In 2010, the Museum of Political History's visitor experience opened, designed by award-winning Bob Rogers and the design firm BRC Imagination Arts, with attractions and exhibits showcasing the building as an architectural treasure and highlighting historic artifacts. Included is an interactive gallery featuring past state governors including

Huey P. Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

. A key attraction, ''The Ghost of the Castle'', is a one-of-a-kind multi-dimensional theatrical production, during which visitors come face to face with the ghost of Sarah Morgan Dawson (1842–1909), a young Baton Rouge resident who loved the castle and wrote about it in her book, ''Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman'' (originally published in 1913 under a different title). In the roughly 12-minute experience, Sarah's ghost "conjures the building’s remarkable trials and tribulations through history," showing "the determination of everyday Louisianans who have saved the castle time and time again."Storyline of presentation
at IMDb, crediting Old State Capitol; retrieved 31 May 2017. Admission to the museum is free, and the building is wheelchair-accessible.

References

External links

Louisiana's Old State Capitol and Museum of Political History
- official website
Louisiana's Old State Capitol FoundationGovernor Henry Watkins Allen Memorial by La-CemeteriesLibrary of Congress, Survey number HABS LA-1132

Baton Rouge Digital Archive
from the East Baton Rouge Parish Library {{Portal bar, National Register of Historic Places 1847 establishments in Louisiana Buildings and structures in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Government buildings completed in 1852 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana History museums in Louisiana Museums in Baton Rouge, Louisiana National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Works Progress Administration in Louisiana

History

Museum of Political History

See also

References

External links