Old Louisiana State Capitol the old capitol building. 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. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 12, 1973, and was designated a National Historic Landmark on May 30, 1974. In 1846, the state legislature in New Orleans decided to move the seat of government to Baton Rouge. As in many states, representatives from other parts of Louisiana feared a concentration of power in the state's largest city. In 1840,
Louisiana State Guard to provide a military response to man-made or natural disasters, insurrections, or military invasions while the National Guard was federalized had to raise their own state defense forces to replace these National Guard units. The Louisiana State Guard was authorized by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1942 by a vote of 85-5 in favor of creating the state militia. Unlike other state guards, who were organized and trained around the possibility of repelling an invasion, the Louisiana State Guard was created with the intent to primarily take over civil defense responsibilities such as evacuating civilians during an attack or arresting