Donaldsonville

The capital came here after a quarrel. Historians say Anglo-Americans found New Orleans too noisy and wanted the seat of government farther north, while French Creoles wanted it kept in a historically French area. Donaldsonville served from 1829 to 1831, and the legislature met here from January 4 to March 16, 1830. Lawmakers went back to New Orleans because the building leaked and the town lacked comforts. During those sessions a small river town governed the state.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• E. D. White Historic Site — 20 mi
  A National Historic Landmark house of about 1790 on Bayou Lafourche, built by enslaved people and home to two Whites, a governor and a Chief Justice, with an exhibit on the bayou's history.
• Whitney Plantation — 21 mi
  A museum on a former sugar plantation along the River Road that tells its story through the people who were enslaved there, with memorials to 107,000 enslaved Louisianans and 2,200 children.
• LSU Rural Life Museum — 22 mi
  Four slave cabins moved from Welham Plantation and a working-plantation row of more than twenty saved buildings, on land the Burden family held as Windrush plantation since the 1830s.
• Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center — 24 mi
  A Jean Lafitte National Historical Park center on Bayou Lafourche with Acadian and bayou-life exhibits, a 200-seat theater and ranger-guided boat tours to the E. D. White house.

More markers nearby

• Louisiana Square — steps away
• Francis T. Nicholls — steps away
• All Roads Lead to Donaldsonville — 0.2 mi
• Bicentennial Jazz Plaza — 0.2 mi