page_title: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
section_title: Tourism and recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Baton Rouge, Louisiana / Culture and arts / Tourism and recreation
caption_attribution_description: English: The Fletcher-class destroyer USS Kidd (DD-661) at the Louisiana Veterans Memorial in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 83000502
context_page_description: Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, the most populous parish in Louisiana. It is the 100th most populous city in the United States, and second-largest city in Louisiana after New Orleans. It is also the 16th most populous state capital. As of the U.S. Census Bureau's July 2019 estimate, Baton Rouge had a population of 220,236, down from 229,493 at the 2010 census. Baton Rouge is the center of Greater Baton Rouge, the second-largest metropolitan area in Louisiana, with a population of 834,159 as of 2017, up from 802,484 in 2010 and 829,719 in 2015.
  The city of Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, research, motion picture, and growing technology center of the American South. It is the location of Louisiana State University, the LSU System's flagship university and the largest institution of higher education in the state. It is also the location of Southern University, the flagship institution of the Southern University System, the only historically black college system in the nation.
context_section_description: The many architectural points of interest in Baton Rouge range from antebellum to modern. The neo-gothic Old Louisiana State Capitol was built in the 1850s as the first state house in Baton Rouge. It was later replaced by the 450-ft-tall, art deco New Louisiana State Capitol, which was the tallest building in the South when it was completed. Several plantation homes in the area, such as Magnolia Mound Plantation House, Myrtles Plantation, and Nottoway Plantation, showcase antebellum-era architecture.
  Louisiana State University has more than 250 buildings designed in Italian Renaissance style, one of the nation's largest college stadiums, and is endowed with many live oaks. The downtown has several examples of modern and contemporary buildings, including the Capitol Park Museum. A number of structures, including the Baton Rouge River Center, Louisiana State Library, LSU Student Union, Louisiana Naval Museum, Bluebonnet Swamp Interpretive Center, Louisiana Arts and Sciences Center, Louisiana State Archive and Research Library, and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, were designed by local architect John Desmond. The Pentagon Barracks Museum and Visitors Center is located within the barracks complex and the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Company Depot, currently houses the Louisiana Art and Science Museum.
  Museums around town offer a variety of genres. The Capitol Park Museum and the Old Louisiana State Capitol Museum display information on state history and have many interactive exhibits. The Shaw Center for the Arts  and the Louisiana Art and Science Museum showcase varied arts. LASM also includes science exhibits and a planetarium. Other museums include the LSU Museum of Natural Science and the USS Kidd.  The Odell S. Williams Now And Then African-American Museum chronicles the progression and growth of African-American.
  Other attractions include the Mall of Louisiana and Perkins Rowe, amusement parks of Dixie Landin'/Blue Bayou, and dining at the Louisiana-cuisine restaurants.
caption: USS Kidd, located downtown on the river, is part of the Louisiana Naval Museum.
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