It was in this neo-Gothic building (1850) resembling a medieval castle with its striking dome, towers and crenellations, that representatives voted in January 1861 to withdraw from the Union and form a separate nation, which proved to be short-lived. Today the Old State Capitol houses the Museum of Political History, the artefacts and displays of which include the pistol used to assassinate the Confederate governor Huey Long, a firm rival of Franklin D. Roosevelt.