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The newest Louisiana capital building, in the city of Baton Rogue, is one of four skyscraper capitals, one of nine capitals without a dome, and is the tallest capital building in the United States.
In the 1930s, the capital building was built to replace the Old State Capital Building which was damaged by two fires, while occupied by the Union Army, during the Civil War.
On August 5, 1862, the Battle of Baton Rouge occurred when the Union Navy attacked the capital of Louisiana. The battle resulted in the Union’s capture of the city.
On September 21, 1847, Baton Rouge donated a piece of land for the Louisiana State Capital which would be built to resemble a gothic style castle.
In 1862, during the Civil War, Union Admiral David Glasgow Farragut captured New Orleans, during the Battle of New Orleans, and the capital of Baton Rogue soon after.
The Union troops first used the “old gray castle,” as it was once described, as a prison for captured Confederate troops. Later in the war, the castle was used as a garrison for African-American troops under General Culver Grover.
While used as a garrison the Old Louisiana State Capitol caught fire twice. After the second fire, the structure was abandoned by Union troops. By 1882 the state house was totally reconstructed by architect and engineer William A. Freret, who is credited with the installation of the spiral staircase and stained glass dome, which are the focal points of the interior.
The refurbished state house remained in use until 1932, when it was abandoned for the New State Capitol building. The Old State Capitol Building has since been used to house federally chartered veteran’s organizations, and the seat of the Works Progress Administration. Restored in the 1990s, the former Capitol Building is now a museum.
Currently, the structure is a U.S. National Park and serves as the Old State Capital Musuem which contains a comprehensive political history of the state.
When the French established the area of Louisiana as a colonial territory, the area of Biloxi, Mississippi served as a capital of the French settlement. In 1722, under the second administration of Bienville, the French moved the capital to New Orleans. After Louisiana became a state, the capital was later moved to Baton Rouge, where a gothic style capital Building was built in the late 1840s. However, when the Union army captured the capital building in 1862, the building caught fire twice under their command. This for a period of decades after the war the State Capital rotated between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
In 1699, French explorer Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville named “le Baton Rouge” for the “red stick” along a Mississippi River bluff.
A historical marker regarding the Founding of Baton Rogue, Louisiana is in front of the Old State Capital Building.
Hamilton Historical Records 