Baton Rouge...a Capital of two Capitols

Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site, Plaquemine, LA

Our first stop on Tuesday was the Plaquemine Lock State Historic Park, in Plaquemine, Louisiana, south of Baton Rouge. Construction on the lockhouse and the lock began in 1895 in order to provide a short cut from the Mississippi River to Louisiana's interior via the Bayou Plaquemine and the Atchafalaya and Red Rivers.

The lock was unique when it was completed in 1909 for two reasons...firstly, it was the highest fresh-water lift of any lock in the world (51 feet) and, secondly, it utilized a novel engineering design using a gravity-flow principle. By World War II, it was determined that the lock could not keep up with the river traffic and a new, larger lock system was constructed 13 miles away in Port Allen. When the new set of locks opened in 1961, the Plaquemine Lock was closed.

A turtle swimming in the Plaquemine Lock!

The site is now home to a small museum (currently partially closed awaiting bids for electrical work to restore power to the entire facility) as well as the park surrounding the old lock. We toured the lock via a small bridge above the water below and walked around the docks along the park at the water's edge. We saw 5 turtles swimming in the shallow water at the bottom of the lock, only one of whom was willing to pose for pictures.

Next we drove to a restaurant in downtown Baton Rouge recommended to us by the very friendly and chatty Plaquemine Lock tour guide: Poor Boy Lloyd's, where we had yummy catfish po'boys and iced tea. Great recommendation...we really enjoyed it!

Old Louisiana State Capitol

From there we walked a block or so to the Old Louisiana State Capitol, a large Gothic Revival style structure built at almost 4 times the original estimated cost, in 1847. We were totally impressed from the fence on in. The original wrought-iron fencing, restored in 2008, still stands, but the truly impressive aspects of the building lay within.

Old Louisiana State Capitol Dome

During the Civil War, the Old State Capitol served as a barracks for Union soldiers and briefly as a Federal prison. On December 28, 1862, Union soldiers accidentally (or intentionally, depending on who you ask) set a fire that gutted the interior of the building. Following this unfortunate event, the building lay dormant and in ruins for almost 20 years before William Freret was selected to restore it. He added a fourth story to James Dakin's original design, as well as a central wrought-iron spiral staircase. Several other changes served to bring more light into the main hall, especially the dome ceiling, and remain today as beautiful as in 1882 when the renovation was first completed.

The Old Capitol now houses an informative and fascinating glimpse of Louisiana's colorful political history. A section of the museum addresses former Governor Huey Long's (1928-1932) enduring influence on Louisiana's infrastructure and social programs, as well as the many controversies that swirled around him. His supporters appreciated his tenacity for building highways and bridges, providing free education and books for poor children, and pumping lots of money into LSU to improve the school in innumerable ways. His detractors wondered how the state would pay for Long's programs, and tried to have him impeached for corruption and bribery.

View from New Louisiana State Capitol

New Louisiana State Capitol

In 1932, at the height of Governor Huey Long's charismatic and highly controversial tenure, the Old State Capitol was abandoned for the New Louisiana State Capitol, a building described by some of his detractors as a monument he built to himself. Coincidentally, he was assassinated in 1935 in the halls of the New State Capitol, which he lobbied to have built while he was running for Governor in 1928. This structure is the tallest state capitol in the nation at 34 floors, which certainly made for some great views of the city of Baton Rouge from the tower platform on the 27th floor.

House chamber of the
New Louisiana State Capitol

We also peeked into the State Senate chamber, as well as the House chamber where the members were assembling for a session in the afternoon. Both are pretty, but the House chamber, teeming with people, was really interesting. There are four giant lantern lights, each with intricate metalwork, hanging from the ceiling. Very pretty.

Old Arsenal, Baton Rouge, LA

Outside the capitol, we found the Old Arsenal, a brick structure built in 1838 on what was, at the time, a federal military outpost. For safety reasons, the walls were constructed to be over 54" thick and ventilation ducts snaked through the walls so that bullets could not pierce the structure and ignite the gun powder stored inside. At the beginning of the Civil War, Louisiana troops initially controlled the arsenal, but later Federal forces commandeered it during the Battle of Baton Rouge and held it for the remainder of the war.

Severe thunderstorms, high winds and widespread flooding were forecast for the rest of the afternoon, so we retreated to the relative safety of our giant tin can. No marshmallow roasting that evening.