Welcome to this Louisiana Genealogy Trails Website. East Baton Rouge Genealogy and History This is a new site and we hope to soon add data here that can help Louisiana researchers as much as we've been able to help our Illinois researchers. My name is Janice, and I am your host for Louisiana. If you would like to submit data for this site, please email me with your submissions. Happy Trails to you on your quest for your ancestors. We need some help to do that though - volunteers to host these county websites. If you can make a basic webpage, and you have a desire to transcribe data for the free use of all researchers, we can use your talents! Review our Volunteer Information and email Kim. In the meantime, join our mailing list to be kept apprised of updates to this website.
East Baton Rouge Parish Founded in 1812. The second largest city in Louisiana, Baton Rouge was established as a military post by the French in 1719. Baton Rouge dates back to 1699, when French explorer Sieur d'Iberville leading an exploration party up the Mississippi River saw a reddish cypress pole festooned with bloody animals and fish that marked the boundary between the Native Houma and Bayou Goula tribal hunting grounds. They called the tree "le baton rouge," or red stick. The native name for the site had been Istrouma. 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, in the year 1811 East Baton Rouge Parish was created.  East Baton Rouge is one of the four parishes in the state of Louisiana to retain its original boundary lines.  In the year 1820, Baton Rouge was incorporated, and received its charter; since when, it has risen to the proportions of a city, and has become the capital of the State of Louisiana. The State-House at Baton Rouge was erected in 1847. The following names are engraved on marble slabs, on the front of the edifice, which is built of brick : ISAAC JOHNSON, Governor; TRASIMON LANDRY, Lt. Governor; PRESTON W. FARRAR, Speaker House Representatives; NEWTON RICHARDS, MAUNSEL WHITE, WALTER BRASHEAR, DANIEL D. AVERY, Commissioners, J. H. DAKIN, Architect.  ERECTED, 1817.  During the war, the capital was relocated several times; On May 29, 1862, Union troops occupied Baton Rouge. The capital was moved back to New Orleans, however in 1882 the center of government was returned to Baton Rouge. At that time the City had a population of 7,197.  In the 1930s, a new Louisiana State Capitol Building was again built in Baton Rouge under the direction of Huey P. Long. The parish seat is Baton Rouge, Louisiana's state capital. Cities Baker Baton Rouge Central City Zachary Census-designated places and other unincorporated communities Baywood Brownfields Gardere Inniswold Merrydale Monticello Oak Hills Place Old Jefferson Shenandoah Village St. George Westminster View Parish Map Surrounding Parishes East Feliciana (north) West Feliciana (northwest) West Baton Rouge (west) Iberville (south) Ascension (southeast) Livingston (east) St. Helena (northeast)	Online Data We intend to put data from all these categories online eventually. Feel free to contribute your data to this site to help it grow!     1860 Census now online   Data Coming Soon:
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