Great River Road
Old Louisiana State Capitol, LA

Built in the late 1840s, the old capitol, a distinguished example of Gothic Revival, stands high on a bluff facing the Mississippi River. During the Civil War, Union forces captured the “old gray castle” and used it as a prison and a garrison for African-American troops. While the building caught fire twice, it remained in use until 1932, when it was abandoned for the new State Capitol building. Restored in the 1990s, the former capitol is now a museum.