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- Culture and Heritage
- History and Politics
- Words and Sayings of Baton Rouge
The city of Baton Rouge was named nearly 300 years ago when on March 17, 1699, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, led an expedition along the Mississippi River.
The city's earliest written records are found in the diaries of these explorers which tell the tale of a pole stained with blood of fish and animals that served as the dividing line between the Bayougoula and Houmas Indians. It is from this "red stick" that Iberville christened our city "le Baton Rouge."
The Indian mounds on the campus of LSU were built 450 years before the construction of the great Egyptian pyramids.
Baton Rouge was named the state capital in 1846, and the Old State House was completed in 1850. Louisiana seceded from the Union in 1861, and in August 1862, Baton Rouge fell to the Union forces. The federal government of Louisiana was moved to New Orleans. It was 1882 before Baton Rouge again became the capital of the state.
Louisiana State University came to Baton Rouge in 1869. The campus was located downtown prior to its move in 1926 to its present location.
In 1927, Huey P. Long was elected governor and served from 1928-1932, when he became a United States Senator. One of the most famous "populist" politicians, Long provided "free textbooks" for public schools.
During Long's term, the skyscraper new State Capitol was erected. It cost $5 million and took only 14 months to complete. It stands nearly 450 feet tall with 34 stories. It was here that Long was assassinated in 1935. Long is buried on the grounds of the State Capitol.
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