State Capital Building

D’Iberville In 1699 Pierre le Moyne, sieur

d'Iberville, came upon a tall cypress pole smeared red with animal blood. 

This site on the banks of the Mississippi River would become known as Baton Rouge.

Baton Rouge means Red Stick. in French.

The local Indians called it Istrouma. 

It marked the boundary between two tribes hunting territory.

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge is over 300 years old. 

It became the state capital in 1846 and remained so until 1862.

  The capital changed locations several times after

that and Baton Rouge was designated the permanent state capital in 1879.

Baton Rouge History 1840 Judge Thomas Gibbes Morgan sold the property for $20,000

for the new state capitol building.

The property was located on a bluff above the Mississippi River.

Judge Morgan had planted magnolia trees and crepe myrtles to celebrate the birth of each of his eight children.

James H. Dakin drew the plans for the new capitol building.

He designed it to look like a castle because castles look strong and powerful. This style of architecture is called Castellated Gothic.

Original Old State Capital

Original Old State Capital

Old State Capital

Timeline of the Old State Capital

1845 The legislature voted to change the capital city from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.

1847 James H. Dakin was chosen as architect for the new capitol building in Baton Rouge.1850 The new capitol building is opened.

1862 Union soldiers start a fire that guts the interior of the capitol building.

1879 After moving to Opelousas, Shreveport and New Orleans, the legislature votes to return the capital city to Baton Rouge.

1882 After nearly twenty years of neglect, the capitol is completely restored.

1932 New Capitol Building is constructed and the Old State Capitol is empitied.

1994 The newly restored building is opened as the Center for Political and Governmental History.

Old State Capital Stairway

STATE AGRICULTURAL OFFICE

THE SENATE CHAMBER

House of Representative

It was in this chamber that Louisiana officials voted to secede from the United States in 1861.

Merci TrainAfter WWII the United States sent boxcars full of food and clothing to France.

Our gift became known as the Friendship Train.

The Merci Train was France's way of saying "Thank You" !  

Every state and the District of Columbia each received a boxcar filled with paintings, books, dolls, scarves, shrubs, plants and other treasures from France.

•Completed in 1932 under governor Huey P. Long

•Cost of 5 Million Dollars

•Art Deco building, which was completer in just 14 months

• Sits on 27 landscaped acres.

•  tallest state capitol building in the United States with a height of 405 feet it has 34 floors. 

•27 th floor has an observation deck that gives a very good view of the city and of the Mississippi River.

•  stairs to the main entrance are engraved with the name of each state and their date of admittance to the Union. 

New State Capitol

Main Entrance

Front Steps – Each State’s name according to it date joining the United States. Alaska and Hawaii were added later.

Memorial Hall

or “Rotunda,“

measures 35 by 120 feet

two stories high.

The floor is made of Mt. Vesuvius lava from Italy.

In the center of Memorial Hall is a 3,290 pound bronze relief map

of Louisiana.

The map lists each of the 64 parishes (counties) in the state around its border and depicts symbols of Louisiana’s major industries and natural products.

House Chamber 105 member

desks

One hundred desks date back to 1932.

The remaining five were added in the 1960s due to an increase in membership.

Senate Chambers 39 desks, one

for each of the

districts

The ceiling consists of 64 hexagonal tiles, one for each parish in Louisiana.

Near the main entrance of the Senate Chamber, an object is embedded in the ceiling, the result of a bomb that exploded in 1970.

Huey Long

View from Observation Desk

Arsenal Museum

Baton Rouge Arsenal was a U.S. Army post until 1879.

The post served as a major staging point for the army during the Mexican War.

The End