Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana and the second largest city in the state. It was the French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville who gave the city its name. It happened when he was leading an expedition up the Mississippi River in 1698, and here he saw a red marker on the site, which marked the boundary between the hunting grounds of two local Indian tribes, the Houma and Bayagoula. The red pole was in French le bâton rouge.

The city’s European colonization began in 1721, when France established a military settlement and a trading post on the site of the first natural bluff along the waters of the Mississippi. This was important in order to establish a city at a height that avoided the regular floods along the river. Baton Rouge developed on the east bank of the Mississippi River, and through the years it was governed by several powers, before the acquisition of Louisiana by the United States in 1803.

After the American purchase of French Louisiana, Baton Rouge was incorporated in 1817, and it became the capital of Louisiana in 1846, replacing New Orleans. By the outbreak of the American Civil War, the population of Baton Rouge was nearly 5,500, and the number just about doubled towards the end of the century. In the 1950s and 1960s, the petrochemical industry boomed in Baton Rouge, stimulating the city’s expansion beyond its original center forming the city, you can see today.

There are several sights in Baton Rouge today, and the old and the present state capitols are the most well-known. The Old Louisiana State Capitol was designed by architect James Dakin with construction beginning in 1847. Unlike the Classicist capitols many places in United States, Dakin designed the building as a medieval castle in Neo-Gothic style. The unique capitol building overlooks the Mississippi River and housed the Louisiana State Legislature until the current capitol tower building was constructed from 1930-31.

The present Louisiana State Capitol replaced Dakin’s old building, and it was also a unique construction. At 137 meters, it was constructed as the tallest capitol in the United States. The State Capitol is one of the foremost examples of the art deco design which was popular in the 1930s, and it was the brainchild of Governor and U.S. Senator Huey P. Long. On September 8, 1935, Long was shot in the hall beside what is now the Speaker’s Office. He died two days later as a result of his wounds, and the statue and gravesite of Huey P. Long can today be visited in the Capitol Gardens in front of the building.

There is an observation deck at the 27th floor in the Louisiana State Capitol. The views are spectacular from here overlooking the Mississippi River and downtown Baton Rouge, where more sights wait. One of them is the nearby Capitol Park Museum with exhibits on the history and culture of Louisiana. You can also see the Pentagon Barracks which were built 1819-1825 and the Catholic St. Joseph Cathedral in the area close to the capitol building. St. Joseph Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Baton Rouge and was built 1853-1856.

The historic downtown is close to the former Louisiana capitol. Across the street from the capitol you can visit the Louisiana State University Museum of Art. It hosts historic and contemporary art exhibitions, as well as a vast permanent collection spanning the 1700s to present day. Along North Boulevard you can visit the impressive Old Governor’s Mansion. It was built 1930 and had Huey P. Long as the first resident. It was home to the Louisiana governors until 1963, when a new residence opened east of the state capitol. You can continue a but south to the Memorial Tower, erected in 1923 and officially dedicated in 1926. It is a memorial to Louisianans who died in World War I.

The Mississippi River is worth seeing as well. The famous river which is a part of U.S. history flows just west of downtown Baton Rouge. You can simply enjoy the view and pay a vist to the USS KIDD Veterans Museum. USS Kidd is a Fletcher-class destroyer from 1943, now berthed in Baton Rouge as a museum ship. The river was vital for the historic plantations, and you can see the Magnolia Mound Plantation which is a great example of French Creole architecture. The plantation was built in 1791, and its well-preserved buildings take you back to an important part of Louisiana history.