Beauregard Town - Then and Now
Where most neighborhoods offer little more than a rows and rows of period houses, Beauregard town is much much more than that. While small, our neighborhood encompasses the widest range of homes from modest cottages to the most gracious mansions in Baton Rouge. We once held in our confines the seat of Baton Rouge government. And beyond that we're a business district boasting business of every size including such awesome things as the Belle of Baton Rouge Hotel and Casino, the 13th Gate Haunted House and Escape Room, WBRZ News, historic Frostop Restaurant with the giant rootbeer sign, and a host of law firms in inviting 18th Century buildings or massive modern structures of unequealled architectural evolution.
The wonders never cease as we're a few steps away from the heart of Baton Rouge where city life is ever growing and festivals, parades and fresh-air concerts are a regular joy. And with all of that the residents here enjoy life and serenity with each other as the sun goes down over the river and the people with their children and pets take to the sidewalks and wave cheer to the porch princes as they smoke their cigars and enjoy a little cocktail.
At years turn and in early summer and even as Ash Wednesday approaches you'll find throngs of people from all across the city sitting and enjoying the edges the corners of our neighborhood as they watch the fireworks Blair from the river or as they enjoy their own seat for the parades that pass by and pass through our quaint little confines.
How many neighborhoods can say that they have their own casino, how many can say that they have legal services - the best in the country, how many can say they have an on ramp to the interstate at the foot of the Mississippi River bridge? How many neighborhoods look out on the river? We can and we do! Haha, how many neighborhoods have their own McDonald's?
Our borders encompass two of the most important courthouses in the state of louisiana. Our borders encompass buildings the date back to the very beginning of baton rouge with the oldest first erected circa 1860. And, as we mentioned, within our confines you can find the original seat of Louisiana government, the old Governor's Mansion and the Old State Capitol Building, which is technically government property and not actually part of Beauregard Town. The original plot plan for Beauregard Town was drafted in 1806, three years after the Louisiana Purchase, and squared from North to South Boulevard and from the Mississippi to 10th Street with Government Street running up the middle to the river..
But in truth and as people mostly know it Beauregard Town is a humble and welcoming little neighborhood. So much has been done to arrest the plastic progress so often found in modern building and to save what is historic about this neighborhood. And in fact we are doing our utmost to create a Historic District so that that wonderful quality of this neighborhood will be heralded for the rest of time as it fends off construction mismanagement and preserves the home values we all enjoy.
Where it all began
Beauregard Town is a turn-of-the-century, predominantly residential district, with a small warehouse district known as "Catfish Town" located in the southeast corner along the Mississippi River. The boundaries encompass the surviving historic structures in an area which originated as a grandiose Baroque city plan. In 1806, Elias Toutant Beauregard decided to transform his plantation, at the southernmost edge of old Baton Rouge and along the banks of the Mississippi River, into the heart of a new town in the classical French colonial architectural tradition. This new neighborhood was unique in its layout which featured many open plazas, including a central plaza with a church, approached by four diagonally running streets. The street names, most of which have been kept to this day, reflect the town's Franco-Spanish heritage and its open-mindedness in regard to the outside world.
The plan consisted of a 9 by 12 block area with a central cathedral square, and 4 radiating diagonal streets leading to 4 ancillary public squares, The ancillary squares were never executed and in the early 20th century the central cathedral square was covered with structures and Government Street cut through it. According to the plan, a formal garden was to occupy the eastern end of the principal street (named Government Street, or Calle de Gobierno since Baton Rouge was under Spanish rule at the time). This street was designed to be wider than the other streets to emphasize its importance, and the developers envisioned a cluster of government buildings along this thoroughfare. In the very center was a large square dedicated for use by the church. Beauregard Town was then and continues to be bordered by directional streets North Boulevard, East Boulevard, and South Boulevard in their respective directions, and by the Mississippi River to the West. Although Government Street was never lined with the government building envisioned, the Old State Capitol (1847-49) was constructed within its boundaries, and many current city government facilities lie at the northwest corner of the subdivision. In 1862, Beauregard Town and the rest of Baton Rouge were occupied by the Union Army during the Civil War. Many structures were burned or suffered damage by bombardment.
In 1979, a section of Beauregard Town was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places as an architecturally significant historic district. The residential area and “Catfish Town” were the two large components that made up the district nomination. Government Street, once the “grand rue” of the plan, was largely redeveloped in the post 1950-period with large commercial structures of one or two stories with large parking lots. This area, among other commercial areas, was excluded from the district nomination.
Catfish Town consists of two-story brick warehouses which date from the late 19th or early 20th centuries. The warehouses are closely placed and form an effective barrier between the residential area and the Mississippi River. The buildings are simple, massive, and low, with shallow brick arches above some of the windows.
The district boundary was increased three times, first in March 1983, second in August 1983 and third in December 1999. Today the only major feature of the Beauregard plan which remains is the radiating diagonal streets which cut strong vistas through the district. Alas, the diagonal streets survive to this day, but the open plazas are victims to progress.
The residential area, which is by far the larger of the two principal areas in Beauregard Town, consists of modest one and two-story buildings with four monuments of focal points. The residential buildings are spaced so closely that the distance between the houses is less than the average façade width. They have an average lawn setback of 10-15 feet. The average street width is 22 feet. This makes for intimate streetscapes and spaces. In the 1979 nomination, approximately 80% of the houses had front porches. This creates pockets of space beyond the house fronts which enhances the complexity and interest of the streetscape spaces. Approximately 80% of the houses are one story, the rest two. Although the Beauregard Town project encountered many substantial obstacles not long after it was launched, most of the current buildings in Beauregard Town were constructed between 1900 and 1930. A Structure Survey Report was conducted in 2020 documenting the following dominant architectural styles: Queen Anne Revival (52%), Bungalow (36%), Craftsman (26%), Classical Revival (23%), Mixed (23%), Central Hall (6%), Shotgun (5%), Double Shotgun (4%), Queen Ann Cottage (5%), Creole Cottage (5%), Office Building (5%) and Gable Ell (4%).
From the end of the 1960s until the mid-1980s, Beauregard Town was impacted by the onslaught of modernization. Fortunately, beginning in the 1990s and continuing today, the historic residences are being restored due to the historical authenticity and quiet tranquility of the neighborhood which offers an ideal, walk-able residential location that is close to businesses, public services, and the Mississippi River.
