Donaldsonville Day on the OT (History Thread)

As proof of the concept that every dog has his day, Donaldsonville is getting its day in the sun to highlight its history and culture to the wider world.

Donaldsonville is a river town in South Louisiana that sits at the one-time crucial junction of the Mississippi River and Bayou Lafourche. It lies just upriver from the Sunshine Bridge which runs over the Mississippi River, connecting east and west ascension. The area was first colonized by French traders and then Cajuns fleeing Nova Scotia after the French & Indian War. Islanos from the Canary Islands also settled in the area in the late 18th century and helped to build the Church of the Ascension in 1772. The city was founded in 1806.



In 1830, Donaldsonville was designated as the capitol of the state of Louisiana as a compromise between the french speaking Creoles of New Orleans and the English speaking Anglo-Saxons whose power base was in northern Louisiana and the Florida Parishes. This was soon found to be a terrible idea as Donaldsonville simply did not have enough to do to keep the legislators' attention between votes, so the capitol returned to New Orleans in 1831.


During the Civil War, much of the town, its former capitol, plantations, and posh mansions were destroyed by the Union Fleet in 1862 under Admiral Faragut. He ordered the people of the city to evacuate before shelling it and putting much of it to the torch. Then, with the aid of escaped slaves and slaves commandeered from local plantations, the Union raised Fort Butler there. Many of those freed slaves who helped to build it also died there in defense of the fort when it was attached by the Texas Rangers in 1863. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.


After the Civil War, Donaldsonville boasted the 3rd largest African American community in the state, electing the first black mayor in the history of the U.S. Pierre Caliste Landry in 1868. The city also boasts one of the oldest synagogues still standing in the U.S (now an Ace Hardware). It is also the Parish Seat of Ascension Parish.



The local economy really took a hit with the mechanization of agriculture. Then, following the 1927 Flood, the Mississippi River was levied off from Bayou Lafouche, eliminating Donaldsonville's importance as a naval port. The city went on to miss out on several potential boons to its economy (some self-inflicted). When Louisiana State University was looking to move from Pineville, LA to a more permanent location, Donaldsonville was first chosen. However, the landowners refused to donate the necessary land for the college, forcing them to look to Baton Rouge instead. The campus was eventually built south of the city where we know it today.
Donaldsonville was also considered as a site for ExxonMobil's refinery which ended up being built in North Baton Rouge. Once again, plantation owners refusing to part with their land proved to be the issue. Donaldsonville was also studied as a potential site for what would later become Louie Armstrong International Airport that was built in Kenner, LA.

Despite all of these misses, Donaldsonville still has many job opportunities with nearby chemical plants like CF Industries and Americas Styrenics.



Now, just some random pictures of the town.
Ascension Parish Courthouse


Lemann Building

Victorian on the Avenue

Sunshine Bridge

Landry Grave





St. Emma Plantation