Spanish Town, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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Spanish Town
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| Location | Bounded by State Capitol Dr., 5th, 9th and North Sts., Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
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| Area | 49.4 acres (20.0 ha) |
| Built | 1862 |
| Architectural style | Bungalow/craftsman, Greek Revival, Late Victorian |
| NRHP Reference # | 78001422 |
| Added to NRHP | August 31, 1978 |
Spanish Town is a historic district anchored by Spanish Town Road in Baton Rouge, the capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is well-known for its annual Mardi Gras parade, which is the largest in Baton Rouge.
Spanish Town was commissioned in 1805. Spanish Town holds the title of the oldest neighborhood in Baton Rouge and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The community has gone through many developmental changes since its inception, and serves as a "living history" by hosting an assemblage of surviving structures ranging in date from 1823 to 1975. The oldest structure is the Pino House (built 1823).
Home to a virtual hodgepodge of people hailing from many different social classes, this diverse community is home to artists, writers, musicians, actors, students, teachers, physicians, politicians, and attorneys. Spanish Town was at one time particularly renowned for possessing a higher-than-average proportion of gay residents, though this has waned over the years with urban gentrification. However, despite all of these differences, the neighborhood somehow manages to maintain a unique sense of community.
Spanish Town annually hosts the largest Mardi Gras parade in Baton Rouge.
The neighborhood of Spanish town was commissioned in 1805 by the governor of West Florida, Don Carlos de Grandpre. According to the Baton Rouge State Times (Oct. 18, 1980) "When Galvez Town, twenty miles southeast of Baton Rouge, was ceded in the Louisiana Purchase to the United States in 1803, the Canary Islanders who lived there asked to come to Baton Rouge in order to continue living on Spanish soil. In 1805, Don Carlos de Grandpre (Charles Grandpre), governor of West Florida drew up the layout of an area east of the fort 'out of cannon shot' that became known as Spanish Town." Its original inhabitants were mostly Spanish families who had previously been living in Galvez Town, which was one of the original Spanish settlements in West Florida. Much of the West Florida area, though owned by Spain, was actually inhabited by people of English descent, who disliked being under Spanish rule. The city of Baton Rouge was a mainly Anglo area, but the settling of Spanish Town allowed the Spanish citizens of West Florida a place for their culture and language to thrive. The Civil War brought destruction to the area and left only a few homes and buildings standing, and the area was mostly abandoned.
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