Where We Practice Law: The History of Baton Rouge

The city of Baton Rouge was named over 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." D'Iberville's writings refer to the area as Istrouma or Red Stick, which when translated into French becomes Baton Rouge. Records of D'Iberville describe large reddened poles erected by Indians with fish and bear heads attached in sacrifice. These may have designated boundaries at a point separating the hunting grounds of the Bayou Goula and the Houma Indian tribes.

In 1718, the French are alleged to have constructed a fort near the area to protect travelers from New Orleans to northern outposts. the Baton Rouge area then belonged to France. The area was transferred to England by the treaty of Paris in 1763. Following this, the settlement was renamed New Richmond.

In September of 1779, the Spanish defeated the English at Fort Butte on Bayou Manchac and then captured Baton Rouge, so that by 1781 West Florida, including East Baton Rouge was under Spanish influence.

In 1810, when the Spanish were overthrown by local settlers, approximately 1,000 persons resided in the Baton Rouge vicinity. The people declared themselves independent and renamed this area the West Florida Republic, In a few months, the territory was annexed by Louisiana and was divided. At that time, East Baton Rouge Parish was created.

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; however, the Indian mounds on the campus of LSU were built 450 years before the construction of the great Egyptian pyramids.

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.

Several flags have flown over Baton Rouge since its founding. Those of France, England, Spain, West Florida, Louisiana, Confederate States of America and the United States of America.

Louisiana was admitted into the Union on April 8, 1812. Baton Rouge was incorporated in 1817; it became the State Capital in 1849.

For most of the duration, of the Civil War (1861-1865), Baton Rouge was under Union control, except for a brief period in 1862. During the war, the capital was relocated several times; however in 1882 the center of government was returned to Baton Rouge. At that time the City had a population of 7,197.

At the turn of the century, the town began to develop industrially due to its strategic location on the first bluff along the Mississippi River north of the Gulf of Mexico.

Baton Rouge Louisiana's Capital City is now 74.74 square miles in size with some 230,000 people. East Baton Rouge Parish population is approximately 412,500 and is 472.1 square miles in size.

The Baton Rouge Flag is a field of crimson representing the great Indian Nations that once inhabit-ed the area. The crest on the lower left uses the red, white and blue, representing the colors of the United States. The upper left of the shield is the fleur-de-lis of France, the upper right is the Castille of Spain, and the lower potion is the Union Jack of Great Britain. The crest encompasses the emblems of the three foreign countries, whose flags have flown over Baton Rouge. The name "Baton Rouge" in white appears prominently on the field of crimson.