Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U. S. state of Louisiana. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, the most populous parish in Louisiana, it is the 99th most populous city in the United States, second-largest city in Louisiana after New Orleans. It is the 16th most populous state capital; as of the U. S. Census Bureau's July 2017 estimate, Baton Rouge had a population of 227,549, down from 229,493 at the 2010 census. Baton Rouge is the center of Greater Baton Rouge, the second-largest metropolitan area in Louisiana, with a population of 834,159 as of 2017, up from 802,484 in 2010 and 829,719 in 2015; the city of Baton Rouge is a major industrial, medical, motion picture, growing technology center of the American South. It is the location of Louisiana State University, the LSU System's flagship university and the largest institution of higher education in the state, it is the location of Southern University, the flagship institution of the Southern University System, the only black college system in the nation.
The Port of Greater Baton Rouge is the 10th-largest in the United States in terms of tonnage shipped, is the farthest upstream Mississippi River port capable of handling Panamax ships. The Baton Rouge area owes its historical importance to its strategic site upon the Istrouma Bluff, the first natural bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico; this allowed development of a business quarter safe from seasonal flooding. In addition, the city built a levee system stretching from the bluff southward to protect the riverfront and low-lying agricultural areas; the city is a culturally rich center, with settlement by immigrants from numerous European nations and African peoples brought to North America as slaves or indentured servants. It was ruled by seven different governments: French and Spanish in the colonial era. Human habitation in the Baton Rouge area has been dated to 12000–6500 BCE, based on evidence found along the Mississippi and Amite rivers. Earthwork mounds were built by hunter-gatherer societies in the Middle Archaic period, from the fourth millennium BCE.
The speakers of the Proto-Muskogean language divided into its descendant languages by about 1000 BCE. The Eastern Muskogean language began to diversify internally in the first half of the first millennium AD; the early Muskogean societies were the bearers of the Mississippian culture, which formed around 800 CE and extended in a vast network across the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, with numerous chiefdoms in the Southeast, as well. By the time the Spanish made their first forays inland from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in the early 16th century, by some evidence many political centers of the Mississippians were in decline, or abandoned. At the time, this region appeared to have been occupied by a collection of moderately sized native chiefdoms, interspersed with autonomous villages and tribal groups. Other evidence indicates these Mississippian settlements were thriving at the time of the first Spanish contact. Spanish expeditions encountered the remains of groups who had lost many people and been disrupted in the aftermath of infectious diseases, chronic among Europeans, unknowingly introduced by the first expedition.
French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville led an exploration party up the Mississippi River in 1698. The explorers saw a red pole marking the boundary between the Houma and Bayogoula tribal hunting grounds; the French name le bâton rouge is the translation of a native term rendered as Istrouma a corruption of the Choctaw iti humma. According to Pénicaut, From there we went five leagues higher and found high banks called écorts in that region, in savage called Istrouma which means red stick, as at this place there is a post painted red that the savages have sunk there to mark the land line between the two nations, namely: the land of the Bayagoulas which they were leaving and the land of another nation—thirty leagues upstream from the baton rouge—named the Oumas; the location of the red pole was at Scott's Bluff, on what is now the campus of Southern University. It was a 30-foot-high painted pole adorned with fish bones; the settlement of Baton Rouge by Europeans began in 1721 when French colonists established a military and trading post.
Since European settlement, Baton Rouge has been governed by France, Spain, the Republic of West Florida, the United States, the Confederate States, the United States again. In 1755, when French-speaking settlers of Acadia in Canada's Maritime provinces were expelled by British forces, many took up residence in rural Louisiana. Popularly known as Cajuns, the descendants of the Acadians maintained a separate culture. During the first half of the 19th century, Baton Rouge grew as the result of steamboat trade and transportation. Baton Rouge was incorporated in 1817. In 1822, the Pentagon Barracks complex of buildings was completed; the site has been used by the Spanish, British, Confederate States Army, United States Army and was part of the short-lived Republic of West Florida. In 1951, ownership o
Covington, Louisiana
Covington is a city in, the parish seat of, St. Tammany Parish, United States; the population was 8,765 at the 2010 census. It is located at a fork of the Tchefuncte River. Covington is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area; the earliest known settlement by Europeans in the area was in 1800 by Jacques Drieux, during the British West Florida period. In 1813, John Wharton Collins established a town with the name of Wharton, he is buried on the corner of the city cemetery directly across from the Covington Police Department. There are conflicting stories about. Many historians believe the city was renamed for General Leonard Covington, a hero of the War of 1812. Local historian Judge Steve Ellis floats another theory centered on the suggestion by Jesse Jones, a local attorney, that the city be named in honor of the Blue Grass whiskey---made in Covington, Kentucky---enjoyed by town officials. In any case, Leonard Covington is the namesake of both towns. Commerce was brought to Covington via boat up the Bogue Falaya River, which used the Tchefuncte River as a means of passage to and from Lake Pontchartrain.
In 1888, the railroad came to town. Much of the former railroad right-of-way is now occupied by the Tammany Trace, a thirty-one mile bike trail running east and west through several communities on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain. In the late 20th century, with the expansion of Louisiana's road system, many people who worked in New Orleans started living in Covington, commuting to work via the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. With the expansion of the interstate system, Covington experienced a boom of growth. Many people moved to the Northshore for more affordable housing, larger lot size and a small town feeling; this is considered to be associated with white flight out of New Orleans, though the Jefferson Parish area saw the most expansion during that period. Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Slidell, but Covington was sufficiently elevated to escape the massive storm surge. Following the storm, along with the rest of the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, experienced a population boom as a result of many former inhabitants of the New Orleans area being forced to move out of their storm-ravaged homes.
The town's population continues to grow. Covington has an elevation of 26 feet. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.2 square miles, of which 8.0 square miles is land and 0.23 square miles, or 2.60%, is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 8,483 people, 3,258 households, 2,212 families residing in the city; the population density was 1,248.0 people per square mile. There were 3,565 housing units at an average density of 524.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 77.45% White, 20.17% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.25% from other races, 1.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.56% of the population. There were 3,258 households out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.8% were married couples living together, 17.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.1% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.10. In the city, the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $36,949, the median income for a family was $50,332. Males had a median income of $36,434 versus $23,859 for females; the per capita income for the city was $21,438. About 11.8% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.5% of those under age 18 and 17.2% of those age 65 or over. A 10-foot-tall statue of Ronald Reagan on a 6-foot base is reputed to be the world's largest of the former president; the Covington trail head is the start of Tammany Trace, a 31-mile paved rails-to-trails path for hikers and bicyclists, which connects Covington with Mandeville, Abita Springs and Slidell.
Ernest Angelo, Texas oilman and Republican politician, reared in Covington Peggy Dow, film actress and philanthropist, lived much of her childhood in Covington Frank Burton Ellis, state senator, U. S. District Court judge, 1962–1965 Dave Fortman, guitarist for the band Ugly Kid Joe and current American music producer, graduated from Covington High School Elizabeth Futral, opera soprano reared in Covington, her father was minister of the Covington First Baptist Church for many years. Daniel F. Galouye, science fiction writer Katherine Haik, Miss Teen USA 2015 Robert Higgs, economist. Lived in Covington for several years. Blanche Long, First Lady of Louisiana 1939–1940, 1948–1952, 1956–1960, born in Covington in 1902 "Pistol" Pete Maravich, NBA all-star, lived in Covington until his death in 1988 Walker Percy and essayist, lived in Covington until his death in 1990 Harry Reeks, landscape painter and combat artist for the U. S. Marine Corps. Amy Serrano, poet and humanitarian Amanda Shaw, Cajun fiddler and actress Ian Somerhalder and model, born
U.S. Route 11 in Louisiana
U. S. Highway 11 is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that spans 1,756 miles from New Orleans, Louisiana to Rouses Point, New York. Within the state of Louisiana, the highway travels 31 miles from the national southern terminus at US 90 in New Orleans to the Mississippi state line south of Picayune. From Eastern New Orleans, US 11 crosses Lake Pontchartrain on the nearly five-mile-long Robert S. Maestri Bridge; the route parallels Interstate 10 into Slidell. After crossing I-12, US 11 parallels I-59 to the town of Pearl River, at which point the two highways proceed concurrently across the state line; the portion of US 11 between Slidell and Pearl River was once part of the Old Spanish Trail, an early auto trail that became the route of US 90 when the U. S. Highway System was implemented in 1926. US 11 terminated in Mississippi just northwest of what is now the John C. Stennis Space Center. In 1937, US 90 was relocated onto a new route bypassing Slidell and Pearl River reducing the distance between New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
US 11 was extended into Louisiana two years over the former alignment of US 90, the two routes were co-signed into Downtown New Orleans. This concurrency was discontinued in 1951 with US 11 being cut back to its current southern terminus at US 90 in Eastern New Orleans; until the construction of the Interstate Highway System in the area during the late 1950s to mid-1960s, US 11 was one of two major routes eastward out of New Orleans, the other being US 90. Both still serve as important alternate routes to I-10 when hurricanes threaten the area, as was most evident when, in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina damaged the nearby I-10 Twin Span Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, rendering the crossing impassable for over six weeks. North of Pearl River, US 11 does not serve a similar function, since it was moved onto I-59 in 1965 and no longer retains a separate crossing over the various branches of the Pearl River system. From the south, US 11 begins at an intersection with US 90 in Eastern New Orleans between Michoud and Venetian Isles.
It heads north along Ridgeway Boulevard as an undivided two-lane highway and travels through an area of marshland known as Irish Bayou. After 5.5 miles, the highway reaches Point Aux Herbes, where it passes through an interchange with I-10 at exit 254. US 11 continues northeast onto the Robert S. Maestri Bridge, a 4.8-mile-long span across Lake Pontchartrain that parallels the I-10 Twin Span Bridge. About midway across the lake, US 11 crosses from Orleans Parish into St. Tammany Parish and begins to follow the east side of the Norfolk Southern Railway trestle. Making landfall in North Shore, US 11 becomes known as Pontchartrain Drive and passes through the community of Eden Isle. At Oak Harbor Boulevard, the highway enters the city of Slidell and widens to accommodate a center turn lane and a second travel lane in each direction; this portion of the highway serves as a commercial corridor for the surrounding suburban area. In Slidell, US 11 curves to the northwest and intersects LA 433; the center lane disappears, the two highways run concurrent for a short distance until reaching an intersection with Front Street.
Here, US 11 turns back to the northeast alongside the NSRW tracks while LA 433 continues straight ahead across the rail line onto Bayou Liberty Road. US 11 follows Front Street through Slidell's historic district and intersects US 190 Bus. at Fremaux Avenue, beginning a brief concurrency for several blocks to a junction with mainline US 190 at Gause Boulevard. Here US 190 Bus. reaches its western terminus, US 11 continues northward along Front Street, narrowing again to an undivided two-lane highway. Just beyond Indiana Avenue, US 11 crosses to the west side of the NSRW line via an overpass. Proceeding north for one mile, US 11 reaches the northern limit of Slidell and enters a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-12 at exit 83 widening to a divided four-lane highway. I-12 connects with Hammond to the west and a major interchange with I-10 and I-59 a short distance to the east. Returning to two-lane capacity, US 11 continues north through the small suburb of Alton and intersects LA 1091, entering the town of Pearl River.
One mile the highway intersects LA 41, which heads north toward Bogalusa. From this intersection, LA 3081 continues north along Main Street while US 11 turns southeast onto Concord Boulevard and crosses the NSRW line at grade. Shortly afterward, US 11 enters an interchange with I-59 at exit 3, which marks the northern terminus of LA 1090. US 11 turns north to follow the on-ramp to I-59 and utilizes the interstate's alignment for the remainder of its distance in Louisiana. After 1.5 miles, I-59/US 11 reaches exit 5A, which forms the northern terminus of LA 3081 and provides another connection to Pearl River. Following this interchange, the highway crosses a bridge over the West Pearl River. Just north of the bridge is exit 5B, an interchange with a local road known as Old US 11, part of the pre-interstate alignment that now serves the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area. Exiting the Pearl River corporate limits, I-59/US 11 proceeds northward through the Honey Island Swamp and, after 5.3 miles, reaches its final interchange, exit 11.
It crosses the main branch of the Pearl River into Mississippi at a point 2.5 miles (4.0
Bypass (road)
A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, to improve road safety. A bypass designated for trucks may be called a truck route. If there are no strong land use controls, buildings are built in town along a bypass, converting it into an ordinary town road, the bypass may become as congested as the local streets it was intended to avoid. Petrol stations, shopping centres and some other businesses are built there for ease of access, while homes are avoided for noise and pollution reasons. Bypass routes are controversial, as they require the building of a road carrying heavy traffic where no road existed; this creates a conflict between those who support a bypass to reduce congestion in a built up area, those who oppose the development of undeveloped land. However, some of those in the bypassed city may oppose the project, because of the potential reduction in city-centre business.
In Ontario, examples include the Donald Cousens Parkway and the Box Grove Bypass in the city of Markham. In Nova Scotia, the section of Highway 104 between Thomson Station and Masstown is colloquially named the Cobequid Pass; the idea of bypasses predates the use of motor vehicles. The first London bypass, the present Marylebone Road between Paddington and Islington, was started in 1756. Bypasses can take many years to gain planning funding. Many towns and villages have been campaigning for bypasses for over 30 years e.g. Banwell in North Somerset. There was large-scale protest during construction of the Newbury bypass—officially known as the Winchester–Preston Trunk Road —a 9-mile stretch of dual carriageway which bypasses the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England; the protest was popularly known as the Third Battle of Newbury, a name, adopted by one of the main protest groups. The name was chosen in reference to the First Battle of Newbury of 1643 and the Second Battle of Newbury of 1644, both of which took place close to the town during the English Civil War.
In the United States, bypass routes are a type of special route used on an alternative routing of a highway around a town when the main route of the highway goes through the town. The original designation of these routes were "truck routes" to divert through truck traffic away from the town, but the designation was changed to "bypass" in 1959 by AASHTO. However, many "Truck" routes remain. In a few cases, both a bypass and a business route exist, each with auxiliary signs. Bypass routes are less common than business routes. Many of those that existed before the era of Interstate highways have lost their old designations. For example, in Missouri, the old bypass route of U. S. Route 71 to the east of Kansas City, Missouri was decommissioned. Around St. Louis, what had been U. S. Route 50 Bypass was absorbed into a diversion of U. S. Route 50 from Interstate 44 and Interstate 64. In the Interstate Highway System in the United States, primary routes are designated with a one- or two-digit number, while bypasses and loops are designated with a three-digit number beginning with an digit.
However, there are many exceptions to this convention, where routes with three-digit numbers serve the main route through town while the routes with one- or two-digit numbers serve as the bypass. A few such examples can be found in the metropolitan areas of Des Moines, Omaha and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Another meaning of the term bypass route is a highway, constructed to bypass an area, congested with traffic; this includes Interstate Highway beltways and U. S. Highways constructed to circumvent downtown areas. Examples of these are U. S. Route 60 bypassing Williamsburg, Interstate 285 bypassing Downtown Atlanta, U. S. Route 20/U. S. Route 31 bypassing metro South Bend and Interstate 75 bypassing Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida; these bypasses carry mainline routes rather than auxiliary "bypass" routes. The first bypass route in the United States was completed in 1958, as Alabama State Route 210 in Dothan, Alabama. In the United States, the term shoofly – a borrowing from railroad jargon – is sometimes used to refer to a short temporary roadway built to bypass a construction site or other temporary obstruction.
The U. S. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices uses the term "diversion". In Brazil the widest and busiest bypasses are located in the state of São Paulo, many of them intersect and merge around large cities to form ring-like systems. Most notably the Rodoanel Mário Covas, which encircles the city of São Paulo and passes through other cities in the metropolitan area
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state in the Deep South region of the South Central United States. It is the 25th most populous of the 50 United States. Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Louisiana is the only U. S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes. The state's capital is Baton Rouge, its largest city is New Orleans. Much of the state's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp; these contain a rich southern biota. There are many species of tree frogs, fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a natural process in the landscape, has produced extensive areas of longleaf pine forest and wet savannas; these support an exceptionally large number of plant species, including many species of terrestrial orchids and carnivorous plants.
Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other southern state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized, four that have not received recognition. Some Louisiana urban environments have a multicultural, multilingual heritage, being so influenced by a mixture of 18th-century French, Spanish, Native American, African cultures that they are considered to be exceptional in the US. Before the American purchase of the territory in 1803, present-day Louisiana State had been both a French colony and for a brief period a Spanish one. In addition, colonists imported numerous African people as slaves in the 18th century. Many came from peoples of the same region of West Africa. In the post-Civil War environment, Anglo-Americans increased the pressure for Anglicization, in 1921, English was for a time made the sole language of instruction in Louisiana schools before a policy of multilingualism was revived in 1974. There has never been an official language in Louisiana, the state constitution enumerates "the right of the people to preserve and promote their respective historic and cultural origins."
Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715. When René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane; the suffix -ana is a Latin suffix that can refer to "information relating to a particular individual, subject, or place." Thus Louis + ana carries the idea of "related to Louis." Once part of the French Colonial Empire, the Louisiana Territory stretched from present-day Mobile Bay to just north of the present-day Canada–United States border, including a small part of what is now the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Gulf of Mexico did not exist 250 million years ago when there was but one supercontinent, Pangea; as Pangea split apart, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico opened. Louisiana developed, over millions of years, from water into land, from north to south; the oldest rocks are exposed in areas such as the Kisatchie National Forest. The oldest rocks date back to the early Cenozoic Era, some 60 million years ago.
The history of the formation of these rocks can be found in D. Spearing's Roadside Geology of Louisiana; the youngest parts of the state were formed during the last 12,000 years as successive deltas of the Mississippi River: the Maringouin, Teche, St. Bernard, the modern Mississippi, now the Atchafalaya; the sediments were carried from north to south by the Mississippi River. In between the Tertiary rocks of the north, the new sediments along the coast, is a vast belt known as the Pleistocene Terraces, their age and distribution can be related to the rise and fall of sea levels during past ice ages. In general, the northern terraces have had sufficient time for rivers to cut deep channels, while the newer terraces tend to be much flatter. Salt domes are found in Louisiana, their origin can be traced back to the early Gulf of Mexico, when the shallow ocean had high rates of evaporation. There are several hundred salt domes in the state. Salt domes are important not only as a source of salt. Louisiana is bordered to the west by Texas.
The state may properly be divided into two parts, the uplands of the north, the alluvial along the coast. The alluvial region includes low swamp lands, coastal marshlands and beaches, barrier islands that cover about 20,000 square miles; this area lies principally along the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River, which traverses the state from north to south for a distance of about 600 mi ) and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The breadth of the alluvial region along the Mississippi is from 10 to 60 miles, along the other rivers, the alluvial region averages about 10 miles across; the Mississippi River flows along a ridge formed by its own natural deposits, from which the lands decline toward a river beyond at an average fall of six feet per mile. The alluvial lands along other streams present similar features; the higher and contiguous hill lands of the north and northwestern part of the state have an area of more than 25,000 square miles. They consist of prairie and woodl
Florida Parishes
The Florida Parishes, on the east side of Mississippi River — an area known as the Northshore or Northlake region — are eight parishes in southeast Louisiana, United States, which were part of West Florida in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Unlike most of the state, this region was not part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase; the Florida Parishes of Louisiana stretch from the Mississippi state line on its eastern and northern borders, to the Mississippi River on its western border, Lake Pontchartrain on its southern border. The most populated community is the Baton Rouge metropolitan area; the Parishes have 10.755 percent of the state's land area. Its population at the 2000 census was 887,444 residents, or 19.858 percent of the state's population at that time. Its largest communities are, in descending order of population, Baton Rouge, Hammond, Baker, Zachary, Merrydale, Denham Springs, Oak Hills Place, Lacombe; the area that became the Florida Parishes was at one time part of French Louisiana.
Following the French and Indian War, the region, like most of the rest of French Louisiana east of the Mississippi River, was transferred to Great Britain. The region became part of the British colonial province of West Florida. Following the American Revolutionary War, West Florida was the subject of a border dispute between the newly-formed United States and Spain, which acquired West and East Florida from the British after the war; the dispute led American and British settlers in the part of West Florida west of the Perdido River to declare an independent Republic of West Florida in 1810 and elected their leader, Fulwar Skipwith, as president. The flag of the Republic of West Florida, identified with the Bonnie Blue Flag of the Civil War era, flies on many public buildings in the Florida Parishes. In 2006 the state legislature designated it the "official flag of the Republic of West Florida Historic Region."The Republic was annexed by the United States, the present-day Florida Parishes were incorporated into the Territory of Orleans, which joined the Union as the State of Louisiana in 1812.
In 1810, four parishes were established in the region: East Baton Rouge, Feliciana, St. Helena, St. Tammany. In the 19th century, five additional parishes were created as follows, with Feliciana Parish ceasing to exist: Washington Parish, 1819. Since 1993, Interstate 12, which runs east and west through the Northshore region, has been designated as the Republic of West Florida Parkway. East Baton Rouge Parish East Feliciana Parish Livingston Parish St. Helena Parish St. Tammany Parish Tangipahoa Parish Washington Parish West Feliciana Parish Intrastate regions Republic of West Florida Lake Pontchartrain Map of Louisiana regions National Park Services - Florida Parishes Florida Parishes weather
New Orleans
New Orleans is a consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the southeastern region of the U. S. state of Louisiana. With an estimated population of 393,292 in 2017, it is the most populous city in Louisiana. A major port, New Orleans is considered an economic and commercial hub for the broader Gulf Coast region of the United States. New Orleans is world-renowned for its distinct music, Creole cuisine, unique dialect, its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras; the historic heart of the city is the French Quarter, known for its French and Spanish Creole architecture and vibrant nightlife along Bourbon Street. The city has been described as the "most unique" in the United States, owing in large part to its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. Founded in 1718 by French colonists, New Orleans was once the territorial capital of French Louisiana before being traded to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. New Orleans in 1840 was the third-most populous city in the United States, it was the largest city in the American South from the Antebellum era until after World War II.
The city's location and flat elevation have made it vulnerable to flooding. State and federal authorities have installed a complex system of levees and drainage pumps in an effort to protect the city. New Orleans was affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which resulted in flooding more than 80% of the city, thousands of deaths, so much displacement because of damaged communities and lost housing as to cause a population decline of over 50%. Since Katrina, major redevelopment efforts have led to a rebound in the city's population. Concerns about gentrification, new residents buying property in closely knit communities, displacement of longtime residents have been expressed; the city and Orleans Parish are coterminous. As of 2017, Orleans Parish is the third most-populous parish in Louisiana, behind East Baton Rouge Parish and neighboring Jefferson Parish; the city and parish are bounded by St. Tammany Parish and Lake Pontchartrain to the north, St. Bernard Parish and Lake Borgne to the east, Plaquemines Parish to the south, Jefferson Parish to the south and west.
The city anchors the larger New Orleans metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 1,275,762 in 2017. It is the most populous metropolitan area in Louisiana and the 46th-most populated MSA in the United States; the city is named after the Duke of Orleans, who reigned as Regent for Louis XV from 1715 to 1723. It has many illustrative nicknames: Crescent City alludes to the course of the Lower Mississippi River around and through the city; the Big Easy was a reference by musicians in the early 20th century to the relative ease of finding work there. It may have originated in the Prohibition era, when the city was considered one big speakeasy due to the government's inability to control alcohol sales, in open violation of the 18th Amendment; the City that Care Forgot has been used since at least 1938, refers to the outwardly easy-going, carefree nature of the residents. La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded in the Spring of 1718 by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha.
It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of the Kingdom of France at the time. His title came from the French city of Orléans; the French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris, following France's defeat by Great Britain in the Seven Years' War. During the American Revolutionary War, New Orleans was an important port for smuggling aid to the rebels, transporting military equipment and supplies up the Mississippi River. Beginning in the 1760s, Filipinos began to settle around New Orleans. Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez launched a southern campaign against the British from the city in 1779. Nueva Orleans remained under Spanish control until 1803, when it reverted to French rule. Nearly all of the surviving 18th-century architecture of the Vieux Carré dates from the Spanish period, notably excepting the Old Ursuline Convent. Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Thereafter, the city grew with influxes of Americans, French and Africans.
Immigrants were Irish, Germans and Italians. Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on nearby large plantations. Thousands of refugees from the 1804 Haitian Revolution, both whites and free people of color, arrived in New Orleans. While Governor Claiborne and other officials wanted to keep out additional free black people, the French Creoles wanted to increase the French-speaking population; as more refugees were allowed into the Territory of Orleans, Haitian émigrés who had first gone to Cuba arrived. Many of the white Francophones had been deported by officials in Cuba in retaliation for Bonapartist schemes. Nearly 90 percent of these immigrants settled in New Orleans; the 1809 migration brought 2,731 whites, 3,102 free people of color, 3,226 slaves of African descent, doubling the city's population. The city became a greater proportion than Charleston, South Carolina's 53 percent. During the final campaign of the War of 1812, the British sent a force of 11,000 in a
I-10 in Baton Rouge
I-10 / I-59 in Slidell
→
LA 3064 (Essen Lane)
LA 1068 (Drusilla Lane) to LA 73 (Jefferson Highway)
US 61 (Airline Highway)
LA 3245 (O'Neal Lane)
LA 3002 – Denham Springs
LA 1026 (Juban Road)
LA 447 – Walker, Port Vincent
PR 45 – Satsuma, Colyell
LA 63 – Livingston, Frost
LA 441 – Holden
LA 43 – Albany, Springfield
LA 1249 – Baptist, Pumpkin Center
I-55 – New Orleans, Jackson
US 51 Bus. – Hammond, Ponchatoula
LA 3158 north (Airport Road)
LA 445 – Robert
LA 1077 – Goodbee, Madisonville
LA 21 – Covington, Madisonville
US 190 – Covington, Mandeville
LA 59 – Abita Springs, Mandeville
LA 1088 to LA 36 – Mandeville
LA 434 – Lacombe, St. Tammany
US 11 – Slidell, Pearl River
Media related to Interstate 12 at Wikimedia Commons
Primary Interstate Highways
