Carte de Viste of Louisiana's state capitol building in Baton Rouge. Image is horizontal in format. Clear with good contrast; view of front. Photographer's backmark, A.D. Lytle, Baton Rouge.

The Old Louisiana State Capitol, also known as the State House, is a historic government building, and now a museum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It housed the Louisiana State Legislature from the mid-19th century until the current capitol tower building was constructed in 1929-32.

It was built to both look like and function like a castle and has led some locals to call it the Louisiana Castle, the Castle of Baton Rouge, or the Castle on the River. The term "Old State Capitol" in Louisiana is used to refer to the building and not to the two towns that were formerly the capital city: New Orleans and Donaldsonville.

In 1862, during the Civil War, Union Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans, and the seat of government retreated from Baton Rouge. The Union's occupying troops first used the capitol building — or "old gray castle," as it was once described — as a prison, and then to garrison African-American troops under General Culver Grover. While used as a garrison the building caught fire twice. This sequence of events transformed Louisiana's capitol into an empty, gutted shell abandoned by the Union Army.  [jet] [ph:L]

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