Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge

Home       Back       Next

At 450 feet tall and with 34 stories, it is the tallest building in Baton Rouge, the seventh tallest building in Louisiana, and tallest capitol in the United States. It is located on a 27-acre tract, which includes the capitol gardens. The Louisiana State Capitol is often thought as "Huey Long's monument" due to the influence of the former Governor and U.S. Senator in getting the capitol built.

By the 1920s, the Old State Capitol was starting to show its age and proving to be too small for the expanding state government. The designs for the capitol consisted of a modern skyscraper, sited on the former campus of the Louisiana State University, and expected to cost $1 million. The inspiration to reject the traditional "rotunda-doLA_and-wing" capitol when designing Louisiana's came from Nebraska. Huey Long insisted that his capitol be a tower. The Capitol's facade was constructed out of limestone from Alabama and is decorated with many sculptures and reliefs, and includes much of Louisiana's symbols and its history. The front doors to the Capitol are reached by a "monumental stairway" consisting of 49, Minnesota granite steps. Each step has engraved the name of a U.S. state in the order of its statehood. Alaska and Hawaii, which were admitted after the completion of the Capitol, are both on the last step along with the phrase "E pluribus unum".

The tower itself is relatively unadorned until the 21st floor, where the square tower starts to transition to an octagonal shape. Four allegorical busts representing Law, Science, Philosophy and Art are carved into the corners of the tower reaching from the 22nd to the 25th floor. The State Capitol is topped with a 23-foot -tall lantern "symbolizing the higher aspirations of Louisiana.

Louisiana State Capitol Building #1 of 2

Louisiana State Capitol Building #2 of 2

Home       Back       Next