We started the day by driving out to LSU, Louisiana State University, like a lot of the American college campus it is massive and more impressively their football stadium, remember this is college football, holds 103,000 people and if you want a season ticket it could cost $2,300 and a suite (or box as we know it) is $69,000. I know they are good but this seems excessive it just goes to show why the NFL has so much money if the college version pays this well! We drove back to the hotel then started our walk around the State Capitol of Louisiana. Not far from the hotel is the Old State Capital which was built to look like a castle. This was home to the State Legislature from the mid-19th century until the new Capitol tower building was constructed in 1929. Some locals call it the castle of Baton Rouge! It opened in 1852 and was the seat of government until January 1861 when legislators voted to secede from the Union. Union forces captured Baton Rouge in 1862 and camped on the grounds. While the building was occupied a fire broke out in one corner of the building but unfortunately it quickly spread and all of the interior was ruined, luckily the walls remained so when they decided to re-establish the Capitol in Baton Rouge in 1880 the architect worked within the existing structure. It has a really impressive entranceway as there is a spiral staircase which leads up to the first floor and above that is a massive stain glass window dome. We walked around the two floors that are open, they have a representation of the governors office as well as the senate and house chambers, these look more like churches than political houses but that could be to do with the stained glass windows. The building is now a museum so we walked all around the exhibitions, there was one quite interesting one about one of the more flamboyant politicians Huey Long who was a Governor with ambitions on the White House, he also believed that the rich didn’t need so much money and they should give back what they don’t need to help others. He also established the Louisiana Charity Hospital System which included hospitals that provided care for people that couldn’t afford insurance. Although he was not around to see the opening of the new Charity Hospital in 1939, by 1940 it was fully occupied and was the second largest hospital in the US with a total capacity of 2,680, he had overseen the building of ten charity hospitals in the state of Louisiana. Unfortunately for the new hospital in 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused severe flooding which meant all patients and staff were evacuated, it suffered damage was seems to have been used as an excuse to close the hospital. All of the charity hospitals created by Long are now managed by commercial organisations although they still have to provide some free services it is not the 80% it was when they opened, they always took private patients which allowed them to offer the charity services. Once we had finished walking round we walked along the levee looking at the Mississippi until we got to the USS Kidd, this WWII ship is now a veterans museum, we didn’t go round but we did look at both the ship and the plane they have on display. From there we went to the Old Governor’s Mansion. This is the second governor’s mansion to occupy the site as the first one, a large frame house was used by Louisiana governors’ from 1887 to 1929 when Governor Long put forward plans to pull down the antebellum mansion, there was a lot of public disapproval but he carried on regardless and used convicts from the State Penitentiary to demolish the old building. When they tried to impeach Long in March 1929 one of the articles of impeachment was that he destroyed the old mansion and another accused him of destroying and disposing of property and furniture form the governors mansion. He failed to be impeached and the new mansion was completed in 1930. It was modelled on the White House in Washington D.C., supposedly because he wanted to become familiar with the White House before he became president! It cost almost $150,000 to build plus an additional $22,0000 for the finest damask and velvet drapes, crystal chandeliers and furniture! He only actually lived in the mansion for a year out of his term while his family remained in Shreveport. This mansion was used by the Governors until 1961 so was only actually used for 32 years. We started walking back towards downtown and after a stop for lunch we went to our final location, passing St Josephs Cathedral on the way. This is a very modern looking cathedral but was actually built as a church in 1853, it only became a cathedral after the Diocese of Baton Rouge was created in 1961 the building was finally consecrated as a cathedral in 1970. The State Capitol was built in 1932 and is the tallest Capitol building in the United States. It is 450 feet and 34 stories, it is also the tallest building in Baton Rouge and the seventh tallest building in Louisiana. It was Huey Long who convinced the pubic that it would be a good investment as it would be modern and would save the state money. It was built in 14 months and from what I can tell it pretty much employed everyone in Baton Rouge through the depression! Leading up to the main entrance are a series of steps with the names of all the United States in the order of each state’s admittance to the Union. After the first 13 steps there is a platform, before the steps continue again with the rest of the 48 states. The 49th step lists both Alaska and Hawaii which were admitted to the Union in 1959 after the building was constructed. The entrance hall or Memorial Hall is magnificent, it is covered in marble from Italy, Spain and some from Vermont. We went straight to the lift to take us to the Observation deck which is on the 27th Floor 350 feet up and provides great views of Baton Rouge, it also lets you look down on the grounds where there are formal gardens, the Old Arsenal Museum and the Pentagon Barracks. We walked all round the Observation deck taking in the views then went back down to have a look at the Chambers. If anything these look older than the ones in the Old Capitol building! They are very ornate and again everything is covered in marble and intricate bronze work over the windows. You can walk down the executive corridor where the original governors suite was and was also where Senator Long was shot in 1935, he was going to run as an independent as neither the Republicans or Democrats would have him and it would be interesting to think what might have happened if they had chosen him instead of Roosevelt as he was definitely different although by all accounts quite a bully as well. We finished walking round then went back to the hotel as we have an early start tomorrow.
