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Louisiana
Fun Facts
 

Architecture...

• Louisiana has the tallest state capitol in the nation, at 450 feet high.
• The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans is the largest enclosed stadium in the world.
• The Lake Charles Charpentier District's Victorian-era homes are examples of "Lake Charles architecture."
• An example of Gothic Revivial architecture can be found at the Old State Capital in Baton Rouge.

Attractions...

• The American Rose Center, located in Shreveport, boasts 20,000 rose bushes.
• The world's most complete collection of camellias is at the Jungle Gardens in Avery Island.
• The Louisiana Memorial to peace in Lake Charles is home to more than 5,000 purple martins.
• Louisiana hosts more than 600 festivals each year.
• Napoleon's death mask belongs to the Louisiana State Museum and is on display at the Cabildo in New Orleans.
• The world's largest heliport is located in Morgan City.
• Louisiana has 15 State Historic Sites and 17 State Parks AND 1 State Preservation Area.
• The U.S. Mint houses the New Orleans Jazz Museum, Carnival Exhibit and Historical Center.
• The St. Charles Avenue streetcar has been operating since 1835, the oldest line in the world.
• The U.S.S. Kidd in Baton Rouge is the only ship on exhibit in wartime camouflage paint.
• Nottoway Plantation is the largest plantation home in the South.
• Sci-Port Discovery Center in Shreveport is 67,000 square feet of excitement in a hands-on children's science museum.
• Jazzland Theme Park is Louisiana's first Disney-style theme park full of spectacular rides and the type of shows, music and food for which Louisiana is famous.

Geography...

• Louisiana, shaped like a boot with the toe pointed eastward, is bordered by Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.
• Louisiana is the only state in the nation divided into parishes, not counties.
• Features include pine hills, bluffs, prairies, coastal marshes and alluvial plains. Rolling hill country, with longleaf and shortleaf pine, is found in the upland regions.
• The Tunica Swamp, near St. Francisville, boasts the nation's largest bald cypress.
• Louisiana has the largest variety of plant and animal species of any of the Gulf states.
• The " longest main street" in the world is Bayou Lafourche, stretching about 100 miles.
• Orleans Parish is the lowest point in Louisiana, five feet below sea level.
• The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is the longest over-water bridge in the world at 23.87 miles.
• Louisiana's 6.5 million acres of wetlands are the greatest in the nation.
• Archaeologists found remains of a giant whale with 4-foot-long skull in Montgomery Landing.
• The highest point in Louisiana is Driskill Mountain, 535 feet above sea level.
• Redwing, In West Carroll Parish, has a cherry tree that sprouts from a cedar tree trunk.
• Transylvania is located in East Carroll Parish.
• Zwolle was named after a Dutch town of the same name.
• The Feliciana Parishes (Spanish for "happy land") were once a part of Spanish West Florida.

History...

• Louisiana was named by French explorer Robert de LaSalle for Louis XIV, King of France.
• The first four Acadian Families arrived in Louisiana in April 1764.
• The oldest city in the Louisiana Purchase Territory is Natchitoches, founded in 1714.
• Tangipahoa is the only town known to be founded by a woman, Ms. Rhoda Holly Singleton Mixon.
• The nation's oldest community theater is Le Petit Theatre de Vieux Carre, dating from 1919.
• The first bottler of Coca-Cola, Joseph Biedenharn, lived in Monroe.
• Delta Airlines got its start in Monroe.
• Southern University is the largest predominately black university in the nation.
• Baton Rouge was the site of the only American Revolution battle outside the 13 Colonies.
• Winn was the only parish in the state that did not secede from the Union.
• After the Louisiana Purchase, the formal transfer of Louisiana was made at the Cabildo in New Orleans.
• P.B.S. Pinchback, the nation's first black governor, was Louisiana's governor during Reconstruction.
• Chalmette Battlefield is the site of the January 8, 1815 Battle of New Orleans.
• Mound is one of the smallest incorporated towns in the nation.
• Bogalusa is a derivative of the Indians words for " black water."
• Opelousas is a derivative of the Indian words for " black leg."
• Ponchatoula is a derivative of the Indian words for " falling hair."
• Every Letter of the alphabet, except X, begins the name of at least one Louisiana city.
• Louisiana was admitted to the Union on April 30, 1812.
• Grambling's Eddie Robinson is the "winningest" football coach in college history.
• Many St. Bernard Parish natives descend from Canary Islanders sent by Spain in the 1700s.
• Monroe was originally the Spanish outpost of Miro, named for Spanish Governor General Miro.
• DeSoto Parish is named for Hernando DeSoto, Spanish explorer of Louisiana in the mid-1500s.
• Lake Charles is named for Spaniard Carlos Sallier, credited for building the first home there.

Movies...

• Faust was the first film made in Louisiana, in 1908.
• The first Tarzan movie, Tarzan of the Apes , was filmed in St. Mary Parish .
• Streetcar Named Desire was filmed in New Orleans.
• The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman was filmed in Clinton.
• The staircase at Chretien Point, in Sunset, was copied for Tara in Gone With the Wind
• Steel Magnolias was filmed in Natchitoches.
• JFK was filmed in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
• Interview with a Vampire was filmed in Shreveport and New Orleans.
• Lolita was filmed in Covington, Hammond and New Orleans.
• Anne Rice's Rag and Bone was filmed in New Orleans.

Music...

• The nation's first opera was performed in New Orleans in 1796.
• The name "jazz" was first given to the music of New Orleans about 100 years ago.
• Elvis got his start playing at the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport.
• Zydeco music grew out of black Creole music.
• Daniel Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong is credited with making jazz popular worldwide.
• Mahalia Jackson, a native of New Orleans, was known worldwide for her soulful gospel music.
• Beau Jocque, native of Kinder, was a legendary zydeco artist.
• Alton Ruben, also known as " Rockin' Dopsie," was among the first to gain fame playing zydeco music.
• Britney Spears, biggest selling female teen artist in history, is from Kentwood.
• Shreveport artists Kenny Wayne Shepard, Kix Brooks (of Brooks and Dunn) and country mega-star Tim McGraw are currently certified with multi million sales.
• Sammy Kershaw, Better Than Ezra, Harry Connick Jr., Aaron Neville and Wynton Marsalis are all natives of Louisiana.

Natural Resources/Products...

• Louisiana is the number one producer of crawfish, alligators and shallots in the nation.
• Louisiana produces 24% of the nation's salt, the most in the country.
• There are 117,518 oyster reefs in Louisiana waters.
• The salt mine at Avery Island, the oldest salt mine in the Western Hemisphere, was discovered in 1862.
• Tabasco holds the second oldest food trademark in the U.S. Patent Office.
• The nation's first sulphur deposit was discovered in Calcasieu Parish in 1869.
• Steen's Syrup Mill is the world's largest syrup plant, producing sugarcane syrup.
• America's oldest rice mill is located in New Iberia at KONRIKO Co.
• St. James Parish is the only place where perique tobacco is grown.
• The world's largest manufacturer of ties is Wemco, Inc. in New Orleans.

Recreation...

• Grand Isle's Tarpon Rodeo, established in 1928, is the oldest fishing tournament in the U.S.
• Toledo Bend Reservoir offers 185,000 acres of bass fishing paradise.
• Louisiana is the only state that offers tax-free shopping to its foreign visitors.
• The International Joke Telling Contest is held annually in Opleousas.
• BASS MASTERS Classic fishing tournament comes to Shreveport May 15-20 with approximately 300 of the nation's top pros competing in the final qualifying event for the world championship of bass fishing.

Emblems...

• Capitol- Completed in January, 1932, after 14 months of construction, the current State Capitol Building cost $5 million. It is 34 stories high and provides 250,000 square feet of floor space. The Capitol is surrounded by 27 acres of formally landscaped gardens.
• Flag- Louisiana's flag, although used since the 1800s, was not officially adopted until 1912. The design consists of the pelican group from the state seal in white and gold, and a white ribbon bearing the state motto on a field of solid blue.
• Motto- "Union, Justice and Confidence"
• Seal- The state seal was a adopted in 1902 and features a pelican tearing flesh from its own breast to feed its young. The pelicans are surrounded by the state motto.
• Songs- Louisiana has two state songs, one of which is known worldwide, " You Are My Sunshine," written by former govenor Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell. The other song was written by Doralice Fontane and is called " Give Me Louisiana."
• Bird- The brown pelican is Louisiana's official bird. Pelicans are famous for their large bills, the lower portion of which has a pouch that can be greatly extended. One of Louisiana's nicknames is the "Pelican State."
• Colors- Gold, white and blue
• Dog- The Catahoula Leopard Dog- often called the Catahoula Hound- is the official state dog. It is the only breed native to Louisiana and is a cross between a breed of domestic dogs raised by the Indians of the Catahoula Lake region and the Spanish "war dog" that came to Louisiana in the sixteenth century.
• Flower- The large, creamy-white bloom of the magnolia tree was designated the state flower in 1900 because of its abundance throughout the state. The magnolia is an evergreen, and the flower has an especially rich fragrance.
• Fossil- Petrified palmwood.
• Gemstone- Agate
• Insect- Honeybee
• Tree- The bald cypress is a beautiful hardwood that grows all over the state, especially in swampy areas.

Some Travel information courtesy of  Louisiana Office of Tourism

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