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Museum of Political History
The Old Louisiana State Capitol
building is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that was home to the
state's legislature from the mid19th century until the new tower
building that was built in 1929. The structure was built to look and
act like a castle, which caused many local residents to call it the
Louisiana Castle, the Castle on the River, the Castle of Baton Rouge
or the Museum of Political History, although the majority of people
just call it the old capitol building. Therefore, when someone talks
of the "old state capitol", in the state, they are mostly referring
to this structure, rather than the other two that were built in
other capital cities; Donaldsonville and New Orleans. The
legislature would decide to move the capitol from New Orleans to
Baton Rouge in 1846, but many representatives were afraid that the
city that held the most people would become the most powerful in the
state with this new concentration of power. In 1840, New Orleans had
about 102,000 people, the fourth biggest in the nation, while Baton
Rouge only had 2269. So, in September, 1847, the city of Baton Rouge
gave the state a $20,000 plot of land for the new state capitol
building, which took the seat away from New Orleans. The donated
land sat high above the city on a bluff that looks out over the
Mississippi River, and was the place where the red pole stood, or le
baton rouge, that French explorers marked with a large red pole,
denoting the spot where a big Native American council would meet.
The building that was constructed on the hill is considered one of
the best examples of Gothic Revival architectures in the country,
which New York architect James Dakin planned. He wanted it to be
different than most state capitol buildings that were copies of the
main capitol building in Washington, so he thought of this
neo-Gothic medieval castle that looks upon the mighty Mississippi,
with turrets and crenallations. The huge floorplan, exterior glass
stained windows, towers and gables helped it to look like a 15th
century Gothic cathedral, that Dakin called as "Castellated gothic"
since it is decorated with cast iron that is cheaper and last longer
than traditional materials used then. In 1859, it was featured in
the most applauded DeBow's Review, the most important periodical in
antebellum south. Mark Twain, traveling by as a steam boat captain
in the 1850s, said that it was "pathetic that the whitewashed
castle, with turrets and things should ever have been built in the
otherwise honorable place". In the Civil War, Admiral David
Farragut, would capture the city of New Orleans, in 1862, and the
government left Baton Rouge. The union troops would use "the old
grey castle" as a prison and then garrison for African-American
troops under General Culver Grover, and while this happened, the
capitol building caught on fire, twice. The fires caused the
building to become nothing more than an empty shell gutted and
abandoned by the union troops. By 1882, the marvelous and grand old
building was completely reconstructed by engineer and architect,
William A. Freret, that is given the credit for the new spiral
staircase and magnificent stained glass dome that have become the
best points in the building. After being restored, it would be used
until 1932, when it was emptied into the new capitol building and
was used for a federally chartered veteran's organizations and seat
of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The gorgeous castle was
again restorated in the 1990s, and became the Museum of Political
History, with the newest changes happening on the outside fascade
that was redone in shades of tan stucco; that is quite different
from the old stone coloring. Many events are now held here,
including the yearly ball, where the participants recreate the
traditions and dances of the French culture, wearing traditional
18th and 19th centuries clothes. It has been considered the only
real castle on the continent, in the most traditional sense of the
word and is found in downtown Baton Rouge, easily within walking
distance of the new capital structure and most of the cultural
important buildings in the city. These include the St. Joseph
Cathedral, Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum, the
Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion and the new Shaw Center, which has
become nationally acclaimed. Inside the old capitol building, there
is a museum that contains numerous exhibits that pertain to the
political history of the state and home to the pistol that was used
to murder Huey Long, which is also showed.
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