The Old State Capitol and a Would Be Louisiana Dictator

 Baton Rouge, LA

When I see a pulpit with a state seal behind it, I have to pose!

The Old Louisiana State Capitol Building

Yesterday we had intended on visiting the current capitol building and the Old Capitol Building which is now a museum focusing on Louisiana's History and the Democratic Process.  The current capitol building had some giant tour busses out front and a line to get in so we will go back another day.

The Old Louisiana State Capitol Building is located downtown.  When Louisiana became a state the capitol was in New Orleans.  The state constitution mandated that the capitol be moved out of New Orleans by 1849.  Baton Rouge was chosen and the building was built and dedicated on Dec 1 1849 but a week before the dedication a major fire broke out in Baton Rouge and the funds that were going to be used for the move were used to help in the fire recovery so the move was delayed.  In 1861 both New Orleans and Baton Rouge were occupied by the Union Army so the a building in  Opelousas and then in Shreveport.  All in all 13 buildings were used at the capitol building during Louisiana's history.  

By the 20s the old capitol building was showing its age and becoming too small so a new capitol building was erected.  I will talk about that more when we actually go inside.

We found another Merci Box Car.  I think that is now 3 of the 48 that exist.  If we had known about these earlier in our travels we could have seen quite a few more.

The dome is incredible and lights the center of the building in really cool ways.

They had photos of many of the past governors.  

There was a whole room dedicated to the importance of democracy including voting and protesting

In another room an important vote was happening

The actual flag of the confederacy that flew over the capitol.  That flag racists fly isn't even the real confederate flag.

It really feels like a Meow Wolf installment right here.

Did a pirate run Louisiana at some point?  No he was a French explorer and at one point, the governor of Louisiana from 1713 to 1716.  His name is  Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and he was a French explorer.  He also explored the Detroit are and a famous car brand adopted his last name.  He was The Cadillac of explorers.

The museum spent a lot of time talking about Huey Long.  I could write a whole post on him.  He was a Louisiana Politician that didn't play by the rules and used his position to gain wealth and notoriety (sound familiar?).  He did a lot of great things for Louisiana in not great ways.  When we got home we watched a Ken Burns documentary on him.  It was really fascinating.  

He was assassinated in the new state capitol building, a building he had built.

I love going to a new place and learning about its history.  Today was a great example of this.  We ended up learning about important events that took place in Louisiana and had a big impact on the rest of the country.  

That's it for today.  If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here.