- The world famous "Mardi Gras" is celebrated in New
Orleans. Mardi Gras is an ancient custom that originated in
southern Europe. It celebrates food and fun just before the
40 days of Lent: a Catholic time of prayer and sacrifice.
- The Battle of New Orleans, which made Andrew Jackson a
national hero, was fought two weeks after the War of 1812
had ended and more than a month before the news of the war's
end had reached Louisiana.
- Louisiana was named in honor of King Louis XIV.
- Baton Rouge hosted the 1983 Special Olympics
International Summer Games at LSU.
- Louisiana has the tallest state capitol building in the
United States; the building is 450 feet tall with 34 floors.
- Louisiana is the only state in the union that does not
have counties. Its political subdivisions are called
parishes.
- Louisiana is the only state with a large population of
Cajuns, descendants of the Acadians who were driven out of
Canada in the 1700s because they wouldn't pledge allegiance
to the King of England.
- The Superdome in New Orleans is the worlds largest
steel-constructed room unobstructed by posts.
Height: 273 feet (82.3 meters), Diameter of Dome: 680 feet
(210 meters), Area of Roof: 9.7 acres, Interior Space:
125,000,000 cubic feet, Total floor footage: 269,000 sq. ft.
(82,342 sq. meters), Electrical Wiring: 400 miles (640
kilometers)
- Metairie is home to the longest bridge over water in the
world, the Lake Pontchartrain causeway. The causeway
connects Metairie with St. Tammany Parish on the North
Shore. The causeway is 24 miles long.
- Louisiana is the only state that still refers to the
Napoleonic Code in its state law.
- Since 1835 the New Orleans & Carrolliton Line is the
oldest street railway line still in operation.
- Saint Martin Parish is home to the world's largest
freshwater river basin, the Atchafalaya Basin; the basin
provides nearly every type of outdoor recreational activity
imaginable.
- Breaux Bridge is known as the "Crawfish Capital of the
World".
- The first American army to have African American
officers was the confederate Louisiana Native Guards. The
Corps d'Afrique at Port Hudson was sworn into service on
September 27, 1862.
- In Louisiana, biting someone with your natural teeth is
considered a simple assault, but biting someone with your
false teeth is considered an aggravated assault.
- The Saint Charles streetcar line in New Orleans and the
San Francisco, California cable cars are the nation's only
mobile national monuments
- Jennings is called the "Garden Spot of Louisiana" for
it's rich and productive farmland. Jennings sobriquet
{nickname} became a "Northern Town on Southern Soil".
- Baton Rouge's flag is a field of crimson representing
the great Indian nations that once inhabited the area.
- Money Magazine has rated Terrebonne Parish, in the heart
of Cajun Country the best place to live in Louisiana for 3
years in a row.
- In 1718 The French found New Orleans and marked "Cannes
Brulee" on maps upriver in the area known today as the City
of Kenner. French for "Burnt Canes", Cannes Brulee was a
name given by explorers who observed natives burning cane to
drive out wild game.
- Between April 17,1862 and May 18, 1864 20 major Civil
War battles and engagements were fought on Louisiana soil.
- In 1803 the United States paid France $15 million for
the Louisiana Territory. 828,000 square miles of land west
of the Mississippi River. The lands acquired stretched from
the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the
Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. Thirteen states were
carved from the Louisiana Territory. The Louisiana Purchase
nearly doubled the size of the United States.
- bayou: \BUY-you\ n. a French name for slow-moving
"river"
- Louisiana's first territorial governor, William C.C.
Claiborne had great admiration for the awkward bird that
inhabited the Gulf Coast region. The pelican, rather than
let its young starve, would tear at its own flesh to feed
them. The Governor's great respect for the Pelican led him
to first use the Pelican symbol on official documents.
- The Catahoula Leopard Dog, often called the Catahoula
Hound, is the official state dog.
- The City of Sulphur is the 13th largest city in
Louisiana and is named for the chemical and mining industry
that helped to establish Calcasieu Parish in the late
1100%'s.
- The Town of Walker became a municipality under the
State's Lawrason Act (136 of 1898) on July 9, 1909 as a
village.
- Saint Joseph's Cemetery, the only known United States
cemetery facing north-south is in Rayne.
- Incorporated in 1813 under the Lawrason Act, Saint
Francisville is the second oldest town in Louisiana.
- The Union Cottonseed Oil Mill of West Monroe was in the
planning stages as early as 1883. By 1887, it provided the
area with many jobs for the laborers of the area. The Union
Oil Mill is the oldest industry in Ouachita Parish.
- French speaking Acadians in the mid-1700s settled the
Lafayette Parish region of south Louisiana. The Acadians
were joined by another group of settlers called Creoles,
descendants of African, West Indian, and European pioneers.
At the time of the migration, Louisiana was under Spanish
rule and authorities welcomed the new settlers.
- The city of Kaplan is referred to as "The Most Cajun
place on earth".
- The town of Jean Lafitte was once a hideaway for
pirates.
- Winnsboro, the "Stars and Stripes Capital of Louisiana",
is one of the most patriotic cities in America. On Memorial
Day, July 4th, Veteran's Day, Labor Day, and other special
occasions, approximately 350 American flags fly proudly
along highway 15.
- The name "Bogalusa" is derived from the Indian named
creek "Bogue Lusa", which flows through the city.
- Frances Parkinson Keyes, one of America's best selling
authors, lived in Crowley for more than ten years.
- The golden spike, commemorating the completion of the
east-west Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad, was
driven at Bossier City on July 12, 1884, by Julia "Pansy"
Rule. It was the first such spike driven by a woman.
- Jim Bowie, the legendary adventurer and hero of the
Battle of the Alamo, lived in Opelousas after moving there
from Kentucky. Opelousas is the third oldest city in
Louisiana.
- The City of Ponchatoula is the oldest incorporated city
in Tangipahoa Parish. Ponchatoula derives its name from the
Choctaw Indian language meaning "hair to hang" because of
the abundance of Spanish moss on the trees surrounding the
area.
- Le Musee de la Ville de Kaplan {The Kaplan Museum} is
located in the center of downtown Kaplan. Le Musee at
appropriate times has exhibits centered on the seasonal
festivals. Mardi Gras, Easter, July 4, Bastille Day,
Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.
- Rayne is known as the "The Frog Capital of the World".
- Notations on the original plats of survey for the area
that is now Ville Platte stated that surveyors had to use
pirogues and flat boats to properly do their work.
- Because Covington is in a region referred to as the
Ozone Belt, it has long been known for its clean air and
water.
- Gueydan is known as the "Duck Capital of America" in
recognition of its abundance of waterfowl.
- Mamou bills itself as "The Cajun Music Capital of the
World." Mamou musicians, in particular the musicians who
have perform at Fred's Lounge have been a major force in
expanding the audience for Cajun music far beyond Southwest
Louisiana.
- The Harvey Canal Locks near Westwego connect the
Mississippi River to the Harvey Canal. Back in the 1100%s the
locks served as ferries to transport railroad cars from one
side of the canal to the other. Workers would then reunite
the railroad cars on land. This service may have sparked the
name of the town. According to one local folk tale, trainmen
would shout "West We Go" as the railroad cars were
reconnected and pulled out of the station.
- Church Point boasts the designation "The Buggy Capital
of the World". A festival celebrates this designation
annually on the first weekend in June.
- The Creole House in French Settlement was built of
cypress wood. It is typical of the dwellings built in the
late 1100%'s because cypress was so plentiful in the
surrounding swamps.
- Fort Polk was established in 1941 and named in honor of
the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, the first Episcopal Bishop
of the Diocese of Louisiana. On March 12, 1993, Fort Polk
officially became the home of the Joint Readiness Training
Center.
- Pineville is home to a one of a kind museum called the
Old Town Hall Museum. It is the only museum in the entire
state of Louisiana dedicated to municipal government.
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