Baton Rouge, LA Summary

When French explorer, Pierre le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville traced the Mississippi River in 1699, he came across two Indian villages that had marked their territorial boundaries by staining a tall cypress pole with animal blood. The Frenchman named the spot Baton Rouge, or “red stick.” Amazingly, he recommended the river bluff as a perfect spot to develop a settlement. By the 1760s, Baton Rouge was on its way to becoming a leading river port to the surrounding cotton, indigo, and rice plantations.

Though Britain was ceded the territory in 1763, the city retained a French influence. Baton Rouge also came under Spanish occupation following the First Battle of Baton Rouge in 1779 between England and Spain, and remained part of the Spanish dominion for the next 20 years. Baton Rouge returned to French rule, but the treaty’s authenticity was soon in dispute by the Spanish. At that time, the French awarded America the territory in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Seven years later an American militia stormed Baton Rouge’s old Spanish fort and drove the Spanish out of the city at the Second Battle of Baton Rouge.

Thirty-two years after Baton Rouge was founded as a town, it became the state capital in 1849.

Though largely destroyed by the Civil War, Baton Rouge quickly rebuilt its city and river-based economy. By the 1920s, the city entered its most flamboyant years of populist politics under Huey Long, who served as governor from 1928 until he entered the senate in 1932. His administration built many of Baton Rouge’s highways and bridges, along with the elaborate, beautiful, Art-Deco Louisiana State Capitol, a 34-story skyscraper constructed in 1932. It was on the steps of the building that Long was assassinated in 1935. His grave, marked by a monument, is on the grounds of the Capitol. Facing the river is the Gothic-style Old State Capitol, used from 1850 to 1932.

Also part of the Old Capitol complex is the Arsenal Museum, which houses interesting exhibits of Louisiana’s history.

World War II brought renewed prosperity to Baton Rouge as petrochemical and aluminum industries established large plants in the area. It also marked a new era of politics with Huey Long’s brother, Earl, becoming a threeterm governor of the state in the 1940s and 1950s.

Baton Rouge is now the state’s second-largest city with a population of approximately 575,000 residents. The city is also headquarters for all divisions of parish, state, and federal government, which sustain nearly one-fifth of Louisiana’s workers.

Thankfully, visitors to the city can distance themselves from the chemical plants and ramshackle districts that hug the Mississippi riverbank, and soak up the city’s riverfront attractions. These include the Louisiana Arts and Science Center, which features an Egyptian tomb and fine arts gallery; the Riverside Museum; and Redstick Plaza. Also worth viewing are the Nautical History Center, and the USS Kidd, a former World War II destroyer. Additionally, visitors can tour the Mississippi on a paddle-steamer, or stay moored on a gaming boat.

The Rural Life Museum and Windrush Gardens at Louisiana State University (LSU) features a fine collection of nineteenthcentury plantation buildings as well as period artifacts and slave quarters. LSU also houses the Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural Sciences. The Southern University, the country’s largest college for African-American students in the nation, features its fabulous Jazz Institute as well as the Gallery of Fine Arts.

Close to LSU’s campus is the state’s oldest plantation, Magnolia Mound, which dates back to 1791. Overlooking the Mississippi, the meticulously restored estate features period furnishings along with a grove of oak and magnolia trees.

Visitors are also encouraged to drive the River Road, which traces the Mississippi River to New Orleans. The 70-mile drive along Hwy 44/48 links many of Louisiana’s graceful river plantations including Nottaway, the largest enduring antebellum home in the South, and Oak Alley at Vacherie. The circa-1839 estate was featured as the home of Anne Rice’s immortal characters, Louis and Lestat, in Interview with the Vampire.

Baton Rouge is serviced by most major carriers through its metropolitan airport, located off I-10.

Bus service connects the city to New Orleans along I-10.