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Host: Kyle Crosby
Camera/Editor: Michael Malley
Transcript:
We are in the oldest neighborhood in Baton Rouge, the Spanish Town District. It was founded in 1805, just 2 years after the Louisiana Purchase and has the oldest architecture in the city with the oldest home being the Pino House, built in 1823.
Native Americans settled in the area several-thousand years ago. They would establish camps and villages along the rivers and bayous as these were the high points away from flooding. You can still find a ceremonial mound near the back of Arsenal Park, to the east of the Capitol. The Houmas and Bayougoula tribes were in the area when the Europeans arrived. These Europeans named the area after the Red Stick that these tribes placed to mark their territorial boundary, hence Baton Rouge.
During Spanish colonial occupation, Baton Rouge was located in an area known as West Florida and a fort was constructed on the river named Fort San Carlos. Twenty miles southeast of Baton Rouge, a place called Galvez Town was ceded to the US in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase, the Canary Islanders who lived there asked to come to Baton Rouge in order to continue living on Spanish soil.
The administrator of the Baton Rouge District at the time was Carlos de Grand Pre, and in 1805, he drew up the layout of an area east of the fort just 'out of cannon shot' that became known as Spanish Town. Spanish Town Road is the old public road used to travel between the fort and settlement.
Much of Spanish West Florida was actually inhabited by people of English descent, who didn’t really like being under Spanish rule. The city of Baton Rouge was mainly an Anglo area, but the settling of Spanish Town allowed the Spanish citizens a place for their culture and language to thrive.
The Canary Islands are located off the coast of West Africa. These people from the Canary Islands that settled in the area are called Islanos, and their ancestors are still present and spread all around the state today, myself included. The Islanos would settle in Louisiana as early as 1778, eventually rebelling against Spanish rule entirely, but that’s a story for another time.
The Civil War brought chaos and strife to the whole state, and many houses were destroyed by Union troops as they strengthened the defensive perimeter around the old Garrison. Only a few antebellum structures along North Street were spared.
After the war, came the Reconstruction Period. Newly freed slaves, who were looking for work settled in Spanish Town and built some of its signature cottages and shotgun houses.
In 1886, LSU moved to the old garrison grounds and Spanish Town became a lively university neighborhood with many homes built for students and faculty members. This would also drive the property value up and force out previous residents. Following LSU's move in 1926 to a new campus, the old campus became the site of the present State Capitol Park.
Gentrification and war would see several populations come and go over the years, and today you can see a variety of architectural styles of the homes here, from bungalows to Mission Style and Greek Revival.
Today, the neighborhood has adopted the flamingo as an unofficial mascot with the motto of “poor taste is better than no taste”. Around the beginning of the Mardi Gras season, approximately two dozen large pink flamingos made of plywood are placed in the LSU Lakes, to announce that the date for the annual Mardi Gras ball has been announced. It is a tradition to "kidnap" one of these flamingos by boat, and put it up as a yard or home decoration.
Spanish Town is also known for their massive parade every year during Mardi Gras. It began in 1981 and has since grown to be the largest parade in Baton Rouge. The Spanish Town parade attracts thousands of onlookers annually and is typically held on the Saturday before Mardi Gras Day.
Make it a priority to explore Spanish Town on your next Baton Rouge excursion, and don’t forget to subscribe for more Louisiana history, horror, folklore, and culture. I’m Kyle Crosby and this is Louisiana Dread: Quick History.
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www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=97968
www.theadvocate.com/baton_rou...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish...