"Keeweechic's Baton Rouge" a Baton Rouge Travel Page by keeweechic

Baton Rouge literally means “redstick,” The city was given the name 300 years ago by a French explorer Iberville for the “red stick” he saw on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. The cities earliest written records are found in the diaries of these early explorers which tell the story of a pole stained with blood of fish and animals which served as a dividing line between the Houmas and Bayougoula Indians.

Baton Rouge was established as a military outpost in 1719 and incorporated in 1817. During the Civil War, the city was captured by Admiral David Farragut and the seat of government was moved to New Orleans. It was 1882 before Baton Rouge again became the capital of the State. Louisiana State University came to the city in 1869 and was at the time located downtown. The Indian mounds on the campus of the present LSU were built 450 years before the construction of the great Egyptian pyramids.

Baton Rouge is the State Capital of Louisiana and the Parish (county) seat. It lies just northwest of New Orleans on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is the premier industrial city in the area and has large petroleum and chemical complexes on the Mississippi River. The Port of Great Baton Rouge ranks second in Louisiana and fifth in the nation. Baton Rouge celebrated its 303rd Birthday in 2002.