Louisiana’s new state capitol was the brainchild of Governor Huey P. Long. On Sept. 8, 1935, the capitol was the site of Long’s assassination. He is buried in the Capitol Garden facing the building that he worked so hard for.
The capitol is located in downtown Baton Rouge on a 27-acre tract of land on the former site of Louisiana State University. It was constructed in only 14 months during the height of the Depression (January 1, 1931 to March 1, 1932) for a cost of $5,000,000. At 34 stories (433 feet), it is the tallest state capitol in the nation. It encompasses 249,000 square feet--nearly six acres--of floor space for government agencies. The building was to be a public monument that would symbolize the history, material progress, and intellectual and spiritual values of the people of Louisiana.
Governor Long had expressed interest in building a tower or skyscraper, so the New Orleans architectural firm of Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth used the Nebraska state capitol, under construction at the time, as a model. Louisiana’s capitol is one of only four skyscraper capitols in the country and is one of only nine capitol buildings that do not have a dome. Within 36 days of the completion of the final design, actual construction by the George A. Fuller Company of Washington, D.C. had begun.
The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Company built a rail spur that stopped at the point of construction. Twenty five hundred rail cars were needed to transport the exterior limestone and interior marble. The total number of rail carloads consisted of 500 loads of tile, 285 of sand, 240 of gravel, 200 of limestone, 190 of cement, 108 of bricks, 50 of marble, 30 of bronze, 26 of granite, 24 of ornamental iron, and 20 of terrazzo.
Clad in Alabama limestone, the skyscraper is an excellent example of a simplified classicism with Art Deco details. The exterior is the most impressive aspect of the building. It is massed as a progression of repeating blocks that rise to a central square tower; at the 22nd floor, it cuts away in stages from a square plan to an octagonal plan. The transition from square to octagon is made by four massive allegorical winged figures that guard the corners and represent Law, Science, Philosophy, and Art.
The upper octagonal cupola has large pedimented windows on all four sides; this area is garnished with symbolic stylized motifs. There is more carved ornamentation in this area than in any other part of the exterior building. The transition from the cupola to the beacon is provided by four massive flying buttresses.
The 48 front steps are made of Minnesota granite; each state is listed in order of their admittance to the Union, with Alaska and Hawaii occupying the top step. The top step also is carved with E Pluribus Unum from the Great Seal of the United States.
The statues alongside the front steps were designed by Lorado Taft and sculpted by C. M. Dodd. They are called the Patriots (an armored soldier and the mourners of a warrior slain in battle) and The Pioneers (men and women of courage who created our state out of the wilderness). Images of pelicans, Louisiana’s state bird, are used extensively throughout the building.
When built, the capitol contained all the features of a modern office building, including one the first central air‑conditioning systems in the South. Of special interest were the electronic voting machines in both houses of the legislature. The machines fed the results of roll call votes from the floor to the governor's office.
This link to the National Register of Historic Places will provide more information on Huey Long’s influence on the new state capitol and its historical and architectural significance. http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/nhl/search_results.asp?search_type=city&value=Baton+Rouge&pageno=32
The State Library of Louisiana has an extensive photograph collection covering such subject areas as: architecture, floods, politicians, agriculture, plantations and social life. For more information on content and obtaining copies of photographs, contact the Louisiana Section, 225/342-4914 or email ladept@state.lib.la.us
