City: Baton Rouge, LA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Description: Stroll through this district’s narrow streets and imagine life here in the early 1800s. One of Baton Rouge’s first formally planned communities, Spanish Town was commissioned in 1805 by Don Carlos de Grandpre, governor of Spanish West Florida. During the city’s early years, Canary Islanders and some of the Spanish population settled in this area. The major thoroughfare has always been Spanish Town Road. Stroll through the streets on a quiet day and view the array of architectural styles in this neighborhood, from antebellum to American bungalow. Residents are fiercely loyal and protective of the district. The Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade has become the most famous of any Baton Rouge parade. Thousands attend it every year to see Louisiana’s politics and politicians spoofed and roasted. Everywhere is the parade’s symbol, the pink flamingo.