Timeline of Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 19th century

• 1721 – Fort established by French.[1]
• 1763 – Period of British West Florida begins.
• 1779 – September: Battle of Baton Rouge at Fort New Richmond, during the Gulf Coast campaign of the American Revolutionary War.
• 1783 – Period of Spanish West Florida officially begins; Baton Rouge fort has been renamed Fort San Carlos.

19th century

• 1805 – Spanish Town, first residential area, is established.
• 1806 – Beauregard Town, second neighborhood, is established.
• 1810 – Baton Rouge becomes part of the Republic of West Florida in September,[2] but by December the republic is annexed by the U.S. into the Territory of Orleans, which in 1812 becomes the state of Louisiana.
• 1812-1815 – War of 1812, including the Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans
• 1817 – Town incorporated.[3]
• 1819 – Baton-Rouge Gazette newspaper begins publication.[4]
• 1833 – State Library of Louisiana headquartered in Baton Rouge.[5]
• 1835 – Louisiana State Penitentiary in operation.[6]
• 1842 – Democratic Advocate newspaper begins publication.[4]
• 1849 – Baton Rouge becomes capital of Louisiana.[3]
• 1850 – First Capitol building constructed.[7]
• 1852 – Louisiana Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind[8] and Magnolia Cemetery established.
• 1860 – Andrew Lytle photography studio in business.[9][10]
• 1861 – January 23: Louisiana secession convention held.[7]
• 1862
  • May 12: City occupied by U.S. federal troops.[7]
  • August 5: Battle of Baton Rouge (1862).[11]
• 1867 – Baton Rouge National Cemetery established.
• 1868 – St. Joseph's Academy founded.[12]
• 1869 – Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana relocated to Baton Rouge.[13]
• 1870 – Seminary renamed "Louisiana State University".[13]
• 1877 – Synagogue dedicated.[14]
• 1882 – State capital returns to Baton Rouge,[1] following the Reconstruction Era.
• 1897 – Audubon Sugar School of Louisiana State University founded.[12]

20th century

• 1905 – Daily State newspaper in publication.[4]
• 1909 – Baton Rouge Refinery commissioned.
• 1916
  • Southern College relocates to Baton Rouge.[7]
  • Historical Society of East and West Baton Rouge established.[15]
• 1923 – Baton Rouge General Hospital active.[16]
• 1924 – Community Coffee in business.
• 1926
  • New Louisiana State University campus dedicated.[13]
  • Baton Rouge High School and Arcade Theatre[17] built.
  • Louisiana Municipal Association headquartered in Baton Rouge.
• 1928
  • City Park Golf Course opens.
  • Louisiana State University's College of Commerce established.
• 1929 – State Theater built.[17]
• 1932 – Louisiana State Capitol inaugurated.[8]
• 1934 - WJBO radio begins broadcasting.[18]
• 1935 – Huey P. Long assassinated.[8]
• 1939 – East Baton Rouge Parish Library established.
• 1940
  • Baton Rouge League of Women Voters founded.[19]
  • Population: 34,719.[1]
• 1944 – Piccadilly Restaurant in business.
• 1947
  • City and Parish of East Baton Rouge consolidated.
  • Baton Rouge Civic Symphony Orchestra active.[11]
  • H. J. Wilson Co. in business.
• 1950 – Population: 125,629.[20]
• 1953
  • June 20–28: Baton Rouge bus boycott held during Civil Rights Movement.[7][11]
  • WAFB-TV (television) begins broadcasting.[21]
• 1955 – WBRZ-TV begins broadcasting.[21]
• 1960
  • Baton Rouge sit-ins, marches, and demonstrations by Southern University students during the Civil Rights Movement.[22]
  • Broadmoor High School founded.
  • Population: 152,419.[20]
• 1961 – Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge established.[23]
• 1962
  • January 19: "Protestors force Southern University...to temporarily shut down."[24]
  • City Parish Beautification Commission established.[25]
• 1963 – Foundation for Historical Louisiana headquartered in Baton Rouge.[26]
• 1964 – Baton Rouge Chapter of the Links established.[22]
• 1970
  • Baton Rouge Zoo established near city.[27]
  • Population: 165,963.[20]
• 1974 – One American Place (hi-rise) built.
• 1976 – Cortana Mall Cinema in business.[28]
• 1978 – Comité des Archives de la Louisiane founded.[29]
• 1979 – Louisiana Association of Museums headquartered in city.[29]
• 1980 - Population: 219,419.[20]
• 1981 – LSU Hilltop Arboretum established.[30]
• 1982 – City and Parish of East Baton Rouge governments merged.
• 1986 – Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge established near city.
• 1987 - Richard Baker becomes U.S. representative for Louisiana's 6th congressional district.[31]
• 1990 – Population: 219,531.[20]
• 1997
  • Mall of Louisiana in business.
  • Datta Temple & Hall of Trinity consecrated.[32][33]
• 1998 – City website online.[34][35]

21st century

• 2001: Bobby Simpson becomes mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish.
• 2005
  • August 29: Hurricane Katrina.
  • First African-American, Kip Holden, becomes mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish.
  • Shaw Center for the Arts opens.
• 2007: Cinemark 16 Perkins Rowe (cinema) in business.[28]
• 2010: Population: 229,493 city;[36] 440,171 parish.
• 2011: Cedric Richmond becomes U.S. representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district.[37]
• 2012
  • April: Exxon Baton Rouge Refinery pipeline oil spill.
  • June 14: Exxon Baton Rouge Refinery benzene leak.
• 2016
  • July 5: Alton Sterling was fatally shot by a police officer, which led to protests in Baton Rouge.
  • July 9: Protest against police violence.[38]
  • July 17: 2016 shooting of Baton Rouge police officers
  • August: 2016 Louisiana floods submerge thousands of homes throughout the parish

See also

• History of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• List of mayors of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• National Register of Historic Places listings in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
• Timeline of Louisiana[8]
• Other cities in Louisiana:
  • Timeline of New Orleans
  • Timeline of Shreveport, Louisiana

References

1. Leon E. Seltzer, ed. (1952), Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, New York: Columbia University Press, p. 174, OL 6112221M
2. Florence M. Jumonville (2002). "Chronology of Louisiana History". Louisiana History: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-28240-9.
3. Federal Writers' Project 1941, p. 250: "Baton Rouge"
4. "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
5. Davies Project. "American Libraries before 1876". Princeton University. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
6. Nobles 2000.
7. "Louisiana: A History Timeline". Louisiana Educational Television Authority. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
8. Federal Writers' Project 1941, pp. 693–703: "Chronology"
9. Mark Martin (2006). "An Eye of Silver: Andrew D. Lytle, Baton Rouge Photographer, 1858–1917". Louisiana History. 47 (3): 333–366. JSTOR 4234203.
10. Hill Memorial Library, Special Collections. "Online Exhibitions". Louisiana State University. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
11. "KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana". Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
12. Patterson's American Educational Directory. 29. Chicago. 1932. hdl:2027/uc1.b3970358.
13. "History of LSU". Louisiana State University. Archived from the original on March 10, 2009. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
14. "Baton Rouge, Louisiana". Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities. Jackson, Mississippi: Goldring / Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
15. Proceedings of the Historical Society of East and West Baton Rouge. University Bulletin. 8. Louisiana State University. 1917.
16. "Baton Rouge General History and Timeline". Baton Rouge General. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
17. "Historic Theatre Inventory". Maryland, USA: League of Historic American Theatres. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
18. Jack Alicoate, ed. (1939), "Standard Broadcasting Stations of the United States: Louisiana", Radio Annual, New York: Radio Daily, OCLC 2459636
19. Robin Roberts (ed.). "Timeline of Louisiana Women's History". Louisiana State University. Archived from the original on October 2014.
20. Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, US Census Bureau, 1998
21. Charles A. Alicoate, ed. (1960), "Television Stations: Louisiana", Radio Annual and Television Year Book, New York: Radio Daily Corp., OCLC 10512206
22. "Our African American Legacy". East Baton Rouge Parish Library. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
23. "Chronology of Catholic Dioceses: USA". Norway: Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
24. Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, "Chronology", King Encyclopedia, Stanford University, retrieved March 29, 2017
25. "Finding Aids for Collections in the Baton Rouge Room". East Baton Rouge Parish Library. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
26. "Foundation for Historical Louisiana". Retrieved August 6, 2014.
27. Vernon N. Kisling, Jr., ed. (2001). "Zoological Gardens of the United States (chronological list)". Zoo and Aquarium History. USA: CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-3924-5.
28. "Movie Theaters in Baton Rouge, LA". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
29. American Association for State and Local History (2002). "Louisiana: Baton Rouge". Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada (15th ed.). ISBN 0759100020.
30. "Garden Search: United States of America: Louisiana". London: Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
31. "Louisiana". Official Congressional Directory. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1987. hdl:2027/uc1.l0063588560.
32. "Datta Temple & Hall of Trinity". Baton Rouge. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
33. Pluralism Project. "Baton Rouge, Louisiana". Directory of Religious Centers. Harvard University. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
34. "City-Parish Gets Wired", The Advocate, January 31, 1998
35. "Official Website of Baton Rouge". Archived from the original on December 1998 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
36. "Baton Rouge (city), Louisiana". State & County QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on March 13, 2005. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
37. Civic Impulse, LLC. "Members of Congress". GovTrack. Washington DC. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
38. Black Lives Matter Activist Arrested at Baton Rouge Protest, ABC News, July 10, 2016

Bibliography

Published in the 19th century

• "Baton Rouge". Commercial Directory of the Western States. St. Louis: Richard Edwards. 1867.
• "Mississippi River: Baton Rouge". James' River Guide ... Mississippi Valley. Cincinnati: U.P. James. 1871.

Published in the 20th century

• "Baton Rouge". Automobile Blue Book. USA. 1919.
• Federal Writers' Project (1941). "Baton Rouge". Louisiana: a Guide to the State. American Guide Series. NY: Hastings House. hdl:2027/uc1.$b727648. + Chronology
• Wm. L. Richter (1969). "Slavery in Baton Rouge, 1820–1860". Louisiana History. 10 (2): 125–145. JSTOR 4231058.
• Sidney Tobin (1969). "The Early New Deal in Baton Rouge as Viewed by the Daily Press". Louisiana History. 10 (4): 307–337. JSTOR 4231090.
• Meyers, Rose. A History of Baton Rouge, 1699–1812 (1976)
• Ory Mazar Nergal, ed. (1980), "Baton Rouge", Encyclopedia of American Cities, New York: E.P. Dutton, OL 4120668M
• George Thomas Kurian (1994), "Baton Rouge", World Encyclopedia of Cities, 1: North America, Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO (fulltext via Open Library)

Published in the 21st century

• Connie H. Nobles (2000). "Gazing upon the Invisible: Women and Children at the Old Baton Rouge Penitentiary". American Antiquity. 65 (1): 5–14. doi:10.2307/2694805. JSTOR 2694805.
• "Plantation Country: Baton Rouge", Louisiana & the Deep South, Lonely Planet, 2001 (fulltext via Open Library)
• Florence M. Jumonville (2002). "East Baton Rouge". Louisiana History: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood. p. 524+. ISBN 978-0-313-28240-9.
• "Baton Rouge/E.B.R. Parish, LA". U.S. City Open Data Census. Sunlight Foundation and Open Knowledge International. 2018. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018.

External links

• "Baton Rouge Room". East Baton Rouge Parish Library.
• "Directories & Phonebooks: Baton Rouge". Louisiana History Research Tools. Research Guides. Louisiana State University Libraries.
• "(Baton Rouge, Louisiana)". Louisiana Digital Library. Louisiana State University Libraries Digital Services.
• Items related to Baton Rouge, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).
• "Baton Rouge History". Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections: Manuscript Subject Guides. Louisiana State University Libraries.