Baton Rouge

Click a letter for the index

Or search the encyclopaedia:

 

 

Go

 

Deep-water port in East Baton Rouge Parish on the Mississippi River, the capital of Louisiana; population (2000 est) 227,800. Industries include oil refining, petrochemicals, and iron; the port is the fourth largest in the country. Baton Rouge was incorporated in 1817 and became the state capital in 1849.

History
The first Europeans to discover the area were the French, led by the explorer Pierre le Moyne in 1699. Baton Rouge was settled in 1719 and was, successively, under French, British, Spanish, French, and Spanish rule until the residents rebelled against Spain in 1810, and Baton Rouge joined the USA. In 1862 it was the site of the Battle of Baton Rouge, when the Confederates tried to retake the city in the American Civil War. Its growth as a modern city owes much to the establishment of oil refineries, the first of which was built in 1909.

Red symbolizes the fire from Iceland's volcanos. White represents ice. Blue stands for the mountains. Effective date: 19 June 1915. >>