Fort Jesup State Historic Site

The 1803 Louisiana Purchase treaty did not say clearly where Louisiana ended in the west. The United States claimed eastern Texas and Spain claimed western Louisiana, and the strip between became the Neutral Ground, where, Louisiana State Parks says, neither nation's laws were enforced. The Florida Purchase Treaty of 1819 fixed the boundary at the Sabine River. In 1822 Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor established the garrison, first called Cantonment Jesup for his friend Brigadier General Thomas Sidney Jesup.

Taylor's troops restored order in the Neutral Ground, and the fort stayed an important post for nearly 25 years. Soldiers built roads, surveyed the frontier, cleared the Red River and negotiated treaties. The state's account also lists helping to put down uprisings of enslaved people in Alexandria among their duties. In 1845 half of the United States Army passed through on its way to the Mexican War, and the fort was abandoned in 1846. The Department of the Interior designated it a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

The original kitchen is the only historic structure left from the reservation, furnished in the style of the early 1800s. The reconstructed officers' quarters holds visitor information and exhibits, and the museum shows period clothing and textile arts. The site is at 32 Geoghagan Road. The grounds are open Wednesday to Sunday and the museum Friday to Sunday.