BATON ROUGE, bat'on roozh', La., city parish-seat of East Baton Rouge, and capital oi the State. The name is derived from the French, meaning red baton or stick. The city is situated on the eastern bank of the Missis sippi River, 90 miles northwest of New Or leans, and is on the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company, the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico, the Southern Pacific and the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley railroads. It is picturesquely built on a bluff commanding an excellent view of the surrounding country. The houses are mostly of French and Spanish architecture. The river below the city is bor dered by sugar-cane plantations, orchards of tropical fruits, private gardens and villas. It was the capital of the State from 1847 to 1864, when the seat of government was removed to New Orleans. On 1 March 1882, Baton Rouge was again selected as the capital city. The State capitol building here was cotnpleted in 1852 at a cost of $246,000. It was partially burned during the Civil War but was rebuilt in 1882. The Louisiana State University was or ganized here in 1860. The city also contains various State institutions, orphan asylum, peni tentiary, deaf and dumb and blind asylums, State agricultural and mechanical college and agricultural experiment station. There are, among other public buildings, the courthouse, city hall, State capitolHill Memorial Library, Elks' home, post-office, collegiate institute, high school building and a national soldiers' cemetery.
There are varied and extensive manufactur ing interests, including the largest southern re finery of the Standard Oil Company, cotton seed products, lumber, sugar, molasses, brick, artificial ice and agricultural implements. The
city has national and State banks, several daily and weekly newspapers. There is a large and growing trade with the surrounding cotton and sugar growing regions, and a flourishing shipping trade is carried on in its excellent harbor. The city has a real property assessed valuation of $2,000,000, actual valuation $3,500, 000, exclusive of the valuable city, parish and State property which is exempt from assess ment. In addition to the above personal as sessed property is $1,000,000, making a total assessment of $3,000,000, real value $5,000,000.
Baton Rouge adopted the commission form of government in 1913. The city was one of the earliest French settlements in Louisiana. A convention which met here 21 Jan. 1861, adopted the Ordinance of Secession on the 26th; the city was taken by the Federal army 7 May 1862. On 5 August the same year a Confeder ate force numbering 5,000 under command of Gen. John C. Breckenridge attacked the Fed eral garrison under Gen. Thomas Williams, but was repulsed after a fierce contest lasting two hours. General Williams was killed and both sides lost heavily. The city was shortly after ward evacuated but a month later was re occupied by the Federal troops who remained until the close of the war. A former govern ment arsenal here was destroyed during the war. Pop. about 17,000.