—After spending New Years in New Orleans, I can happily say we checked off two more states capitols while in the area. We toured the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, as well as the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson. Both were interesting, but the capitol in Louisiana was absolutely amazing. Granted it was still all decorated for the Christmas season, but it would be incredible without them.
I didn’t know much about the capitol except that it was tall like the Capitols in North Dakota, Nebraska and Florida. However, I learned that the Louisiana State Capitol is the tallest of all the US State Capitols. It is 450 feet tall, has 34 stories and is the seventh tallest building in Louisiana, We also learned that it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982.
This capitol doesn’t have scheduled tours, but there are plenty of people around more than happy to answer questions and give guidance. I always love seeing the chambers, but I definitely wanted to see the view from the observation desk on the 27rg floor. The observation desk is 350 feet high and the views are spectacular. It was extremely windy and cold up there, but we walked around, took some pictures and enjoyed the view of the Mississippi River.
Once we made our way back down, we stopped and took a closer look at the inviting lobby. You can’t help but notice the display of flags. These are the flogs that have flown over all or parts of Louisanna through the years.
- Present day US Flag
- Spanish Castlenad Leon flag
- French Bourbon flag
- British Union flag
- Spanish Bourbon flag
- French tri-color flag
- 15 star US Flag
- Republic of West Florida flag
- LA Independent Republic flag
- 3rd National Confederate flag
- Louisiana state flag
Eventually we made our way to the Chambers. They were just as beautiful and decorated as the main lobby. There was many types of stones and wood used in the walls, desks, rails, ceiling and grillwork. It was beautiful to look at how it all plays together.
A visit to the Louisiana State Capitol would not be complete without visiting the Memorial Hall and the burial site of Huey P Long. The Memorial Hall holds portraits of all American governors of Louisiana from William C.C. Claiborne to Huey P Long. Sadly Long was shot inside the capitol on Sept 8, 1935 and died two days later. He is buried on the grounds and contains a beautiful statue which faces the capitol. It was a great memorial and is easily recognized from the observation deck. However we did take a closer look and walked around the grounds for a little bit before ending our visit.
We had an incredible time exploring the Louisiana State Capitol and definitely would like to have spent more time learning more about it’s history. I look forward to returning on a future visit and seeing it again. The people were very friendly and assisted us with any questions (and we had a lot, lol). We have seen quite a few capitols now, and this is probably in my top 5-10. Here is a link to their website with hours, directions, etc. I will note that they Observation Desk closes at 4:00. Hope you make it someday. If you have been, please drop me a message and let me know what you enjoyed about your visit.
