Down by the River: A History of the Baton Rouge Riverfront

摘要

This report describes in detail the history of the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and its riverfront, from its beginnings in the late 17th century to the present. At present, the Port of Greater Baton Rouge can boast of general cargo facilities; grain facilities; liquid bulk terminals; a barge terminal on the Mississippi river; and, to be completed early in 1997, an inland rivers terminal near the junction of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway with the river. In 1994, according to figures supplied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baton Rouge ranked fourth among ports in the United States in terms of tonnage handled. Furthermore, the capital city outranked seventh-place New Orleans, which had dominated oceangoing commerce in the Mississippi Valley since the eighteenth century.