Tag: State Capitol (Baton Rouge LA)

Wikipedia says: Included in the Louisiana State Constitution of 1845 was a clause that required the state capital to be moved from New Orleans by 1849. A committee was formed to prepare a site for the eventual move and, the designs by James H. Dakin were chosen in a competition on May 5, 1847. The city of Baton Rouge donated a plot of land situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River to the state on September 7 for the construction of the new capitol. Dakin’s design for the capitol consisted of a “castellated” Gothic Revival building, a rarity for government buildings in the United States. The capitol was dedicated on December 1, 1849 in what was planned to be a grand ceremony. However, a devastating fire in Baton Rouge a week prior saw the funds reallocated as aid for the victims, which was deemed a “more worthy cause”. Despite the Old State Capitol being considered the best example of Gothic Revival architecture in the South, Mark Twain recounted from his time as a steamboat pilot that it was “pathetic” and likely the result of the “medieval romances” of Sir Walter Scott.

With the start of the Civil War in 1861, and the occupation of both New Orleans and Baton Rouge by the Union Army, the location of the state government was moved to Opelousas in 1862, and then to Shreveport in 1864. The portion of Louisiana that was occupied by Union troops was governed out of New Orleans. The vacant Old State Capitol was originally used as a prison by the Union Army and, then, as a garrison for its colored troops. On December 28, 1862, it was gutted by an accidental fire. After the war, the state government returned to New Orleans and utilized a mechanics’ institute as a meeting place until the state purchased an old hotel in 1875. The State Legislature appropriated money to rebuild the Old State Capitol in 1880; William A. Freret was placed in charge of the reconstruction. Under Freret, the capitol’s famous spiral staircase and stained glass dome were added, as well as a fourth floor. The State Legislature returned to Baton Rouge, after the completion of the renovations, on May 8, 1882.