Baton Rouge History

Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana and the seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, is known for its unique Creole and Cajun cuisine and its lively music, but these are just a part of the city's vibrant culture. The restored antebellum mansions and colonial plantations, museums, gardens, and the downtown riverfront all contribute to Baton Rouge's boast of "authentic Louisiana at every turn."

In 1699, French explorer Pierre le Moyne, sieur d'Iberville, was leading an expedition up the Mississippi River when the group came upon a tall cypress pole stained red with animal blood that marked the boundary between the Bayogoula and the Houma tribes. The pole (and indeed, the entire region) came to be known as Baton Rouge ("Red Stick").

The State Capitol, built under the direction of Huey P. Long in the 1930s, is the tallest capitol building in the U.S. A monument to Long, who was assassinated in the Capitol in 1935, stands in a sunken garden on the south side of the grounds. The Old State Capitol, a Neo-Gothic medieval castle complete with turrets and crenellations, still stands overlooking the Mississippi.