Louisiana - Welcome to U.S. County Courthouses!

Entered Union April 30, 1812 (18^th state)

Louisiana (4,657,785), Baton Rouge (226,916), New Orleans (383,998)

The limestone capitol was originally completed in 1932 using the designs of Leon C. Weiss. It is located on Capitol Drive at 4^th Street. Interstate Highway 110 is six miles east of the capitol. The Capitol is designed in Art Deco style. The major supporting structures are the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals building in New Orleans and four other circuit Court of Appeals buildings in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, and Gretna. The state was officially created as the 18^th state on April 30, 1812 from Native American lands, Louisiana Purchase, and the Orleans Territory. Baton Rouge replaced New Orleans as the capital in 1880. Donaldsonville, Opelousas, and Shreveport also were capitals before New Orleans. The state’s name comes from the French King Louis XIV. Baton Rouge is French for “red stick” probably for local trees. New Orleans is named for the Duke of Orleans, regent to French King Louis XV. Driskell Mountain in Bienville Parish is the highest point and the lowest point is New Orleans in Orleans Parish which is eight feet below sea level.

Louisiana government, in the Executive, consists of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner, Insurance Commissioner, Public Service Commissioner, and Education Commissioner. There are 39 Senators and 105 Representatives in the Legislative. Seven Supreme Court Justices and Forty-one Court of Appeals Justices serve Louisiana in the Judicial. Louisiana is located in the south-central part of the United States. The geographic center is in Avoyelles Parish 6 miles southeast of Marksville. The state is surrounded clockwise by Arkansas, Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico, and Texas.

The area is 52378 square miles. It is 31^st largest state in the country. It is the 25^th most populated state in the country. It has a density of 88.9 persons per square mile making it 27^th in the country. Its major rivers are the Mississippi, the Red, the Sabine, the Pearl, and the Atchafalaya. Baton Rouge is located in the southeast quarter of the state. New Orleans is in the southeast quarter of the state.