Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion

Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
View of the Old Governor's Mansion from the northeast, 2009
Location	502 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Coordinates
Built	1930
Architect	Dreyfus,Weiss & Seifert
NRHP Reference #	75000847
Added to NRHP	July 24, 1975

The Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion is located at 502 North Blvd. between Royal and St. Charles Streets in Baton Rouge and was used between 1930 and 1961; a new residence was completed in 1963. When the original Louisiana Governor's mansion was termite-infested during the beginning of Huey Long's governorship, Long decided to build a new one on the site. This governor's mansion is modeled after the White House in Washington D.C. supposedly because Governor Long wanted to become familiar with Washington's White House. During the construction of this new governor's mansion Huey Long refused to move into the original one. Instead after his inauguration Long stayed at the Heidelberg Hotel in Baton Rouge while his family stayed back home in Shreveport.

History

This building replaced the first Governor's Mansion, which was a rather large, though modest, frame house constructed for Nathan King Knox, a Baton Rouge businessman, and was the official residence of Louisiana's Governors from 1887 until 1929, when it was razed and the present Old Governor's Mansion was built. The building cost almost $150,000 to complete, and, at a cost of $22,000 (a princely sum for depression-era Louisiana), the Mansion was furnished with the finest damask and velvet drapes, crystal chandeliers, hand-printed French wallpaper, and other fine appointments.

In 1963, a new Mansion was constructed just east of the towering State Capitol building, and in 1964 the old Mansion became the home of the Louisiana Arts and Science Center Museum. The Mansion served as headquarters for the LASC until 1976, when the Museum moved to new quarters in the Old Illinois Central Train Station. In 1978, the Mansion reopened as a historic house museum.

External links

• Old Governor’s Mansion - official site
• Old Louisiana Governor's House, at National Park Service