Louisiana State Museum, Baton Rouge

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Last stop on my trip last weekend. It is in downtown Baton Rouge. The Louisiana Marathon and a music festival were both happening that morning/midday in Baton Rouge,unknown to me beforehand,so some streets and intersections were closed. However,driving in downtown Baton Rouge on any day is nothing like driving in downtown Houston. I think I ended up parking about 3 blocks further than I would've had to if nothing was going on that day. The museum is very close to the state capitol.


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The Museum has a lot more than Civil War exhibits. There's pretty good stuff there from The War of 1812,Mississippi River commerce and shipping,a really good section about slavery and slave trading and much more. I walked through it all but I was kinda tired and my feet still hurt from the Port Hudson march so I concentrated on the Civil War exhibits.
 
As soon as you enter the Civil War section you see this submersible. Look at that tiny propeller. I wouldn't have wanted to be a CSN crewmember of that contraption. "A dollar a dive and 6 months' pay if you don't come up."

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I love original uniforms and flags at museums. As always the quality of the pics aren't so hot because of lighting and reflections.

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To reduce glare,sometimes I have to take the pics at an angle.


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More P.G.T. Beauregard artifacts:

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As soon as you enter the Civil War section you see this submersible. Look at that tiny propeller. I wouldn't have wanted to be a CSN crewmember of that contraption. "A dollar a dive and 6 months' pay if you don't come up."

View attachment 120842
For many years this was displayed at the Cabildo on Jackson Square in New Orleans as Pioneer, the first attempt at a submersible by the team that eventually built H. L. Hunley.

Here is a link to Richard Keith Wills' 2000 master's thesis on this vessel, reflecting what was known about it to that time:
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/abstracts/wills.html
 
For many years this was displayed at the Cabildo on Jackson Square in New Orleans as Pioneer, the first attempt at a submersible by the team that eventually built H. L. Hunley.

Here is a link to Richard Keith Wills' 2000 master's thesis on this vessel, reflecting what was known about it to that time:
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/abstracts/wills.html
I knew I could count on you to kick in some good information about that vessel.
 
Last picture post. The other pics I have are mostly pics of drawings and old photographs in the exhibit. All are available through other sources.

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While navigating through downtown Baton Rouge to I-10 West for the trip home,I saw several old buildings that would probably be worth a visit on another trip. The Old State Capitol building looked interesting. Have to do a bit of research to see if there are any other CW-related sites downtown before my next trip. The Park Ranger at Port Hudson told me of a museum, which he couldn't remember the name of,near the intersection of I-10 and Essen Road. Never saw it. I think he thought I'd be getting on I-10 somewhere east of where I picked up the interstate.
 
The Old State Capitol building looked interesting. Have to do a bit of research to see if there are any other CW-related sites downtown before my next trip.
Mark Twain mentioned this building in Life on the Mississippi, and was not impressed with its faux turrets and crenelations:

From Chapter 40
Castles and Culture

Sir Walter Scott is probably responsible for the Capitol building; for it is not conceivable that this little sham castle would ever have been built if he had not run the people mad, a couple of generations ago, with his mediaeval romances. The South has not yet recovered from the debilitating influence of his books. Admiration of his fantastic heroes and their grotesque "chivalry" doings and romantic juvenilities still survives here, in an atmosphere in which is already perceptible the wholesome and practical nineteenth-century smell of cotton-factories and locomotives; and traces of its inflated language and other windy humbuggeries survive along with it. It is pathetic enough, that a white-washed castle, with turrets and things--materials all ungenuine within and without, pretending to be what they are not--should ever have been built in this otherwise honorable place; but it is much more pathetic to see this architectural falsehood undergoing restoration and perpetuation in our day, when it would have been so easy to let dynamite finish what a charitable fire began, and then devote this restoration-money to the building of something genuine.
 
Mark Twain mentioned this building in Life on the Mississippi, and was not impressed with its faux turrets and crenelations:

From Chapter 40
Castles and Culture

Sir Walter Scott is probably responsible for the Capitol building; for it is not conceivable that this little sham castle would ever have been built if he had not run the people mad, a couple of generations ago, with his mediaeval romances. The South has not yet recovered from the debilitating influence of his books. Admiration of his fantastic heroes and their grotesque "chivalry" doings and romantic juvenilities still survives here, in an atmosphere in which is already perceptible the wholesome and practical nineteenth-century smell of cotton-factories and locomotives; and traces of its inflated language and other windy humbuggeries survive along with it. It is pathetic enough, that a white-washed castle, with turrets and things--materials all ungenuine within and without, pretending to be what they are not--should ever have been built in this otherwise honorable place; but it is much more pathetic to see this architectural falsehood undergoing restoration and perpetuation in our day, when it would have been so easy to let dynamite finish what a charitable fire began, and then devote this restoration-money to the building of something genuine.
It's an eye-catcher from the road. :D
 
While navigating through downtown Baton Rouge to I-10 West for the trip home,I saw several old buildings that would probably be worth a visit on another trip. The Old State Capitol building looked interesting. Have to do a bit of research to see if there are any other CW-related sites downtown before my next trip. The Park Ranger at Port Hudson told me of a museum, which he couldn't remember the name of,near the intersection of I-10 and Essen Road. Never saw it. I think he thought I'd be getting on I-10 somewhere east of where I picked up the interstate.
The Old State Capitol building also houses a museum, as well as being used for weddings and other events. It was burned in 1862 when under Federal occupation, supposedly an accident. :sneaky: Sure, right. Photo below:
old-state-capitol-after-the-fire-of-1862.jpg


It was later restored, below are pics of outside and inside:

old state capitol exterior.JPG

old state capitol interior.jpg
 
The Museum has a lot more than Civil War exhibits. There's pretty good stuff there from The War of 1812,Mississippi River commerce and shipping,a really good section about slavery and slave trading and much more. I walked through it all but I was kinda tired and my feet still hurt from the Port Hudson march so I concentrated on the Civil War exhibits.

The Old Arsenal and museum is also located on the New Capitol grounds. The surviving powder magazine was built in 1838 and was taken over by State militia troops in Jan. 1861, prior to Louisiana secession. It was retaken by the Federals in May 1862. A very nice museum as shown in the link below:

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/powdermagazine.html
 
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Last stop on my trip last weekend. It is in downtown Baton Rouge. The Louisiana Marathon and a music festival were both happening that morning/midday in Baton Rouge,unknown to me beforehand,so some streets and intersections were closed. However,driving in downtown Baton Rouge on any day is nothing like driving in downtown Houston. I think I ended up parking about 3 blocks further than I would've had to if nothing was going on that day. The museum is very close to the state capitol.


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The Pentagon Barracks are also located on the west side of the New Capitol grounds. Built in 1825, they could house up to 1,000 troops. Across the road is the east bank of the Mississippi River.
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The Barracks during the Federal occupation of the Civil War.
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In 1886 the Barracks were converted to dormitories for the LSU campus at Baton Rouge, prior to relocation to present campus in the 1920's. Picture below is of university cadets in artillery drill around the turn of the century.

pentagon barracks lsu.jpg
 
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