The Pentagon Barracks is a five-building brick complex on the bluffs above the Mississippi, built in the 1820s as a US Army garrison and now converted to apartments and offices. The buildings surround a central courtyard in a distinctive arrangement that gave the complex its name decades before the Pentagon in Arlington was built.
The barracks served as military quarters until the Civil War, then passed to Louisiana State University (LSU was originally founded on this site in 1860), then to various state government uses. The main building now functions as a Louisiana Welcome Center with exhibits on the history of the complex. The site is immediately adjacent to the New State Capitol and offers a good view down the bluff toward the river. Even if the interior is closed, the exterior architecture and the setting above the Mississippi make it worth a short detour from the capitol buildings.