OLD STATE HOUSE
The magnificent Old State House in Baton Rouge, is now a museum dedicated
in large part to the legacy of Governor Huey P. Long, who still greets visitors in his animatronic reincarnation. The
building is an awesome example of Gothic architecture. Huey Long campaigned successfully to create a new capitol at
another location in Baton Rouge, and that, the current Louisiana capitol building, was his seat of power. The old state
house, ridiculed by Mark Twain for its over-the-top architectural flourishes, trashed by occupying Union troops and later
restored, is a must-see stop in Baton Rouge. While there, you can learn a great deal about Long, one of America's
most important and widely misunderstood political leaders. He has been villainized as a leftist revolutionary and praised
as a devoted champion of the common man. He was assassinated in 1935 by a gunman related to one of his political enemies.
The pistol and the bullet that killed him are on display in the museum.
