Top 10 to know about the city of Port Allen

• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Jun 14, 2009

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PORT ALLEN –  Located across the Mississippi River bridge from Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge Parish is Louisiana’s smallest parish in land area at 191.2 square miles. But despite its small size, the parish is experiencing a surge in residential and commercial development. Here are some reasons:

The port

West Baton Rouge Parish is home to the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, one of the 10 busiest ports in the country. That’s not surprising considering it is located on one of the world’s busiest waterways, serving ocean-going ships and boats traveling the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

Plantations

River Road, which runs alongside the Mississippi River levee, is a popular route for driving tours. Several historic homes and plantations — some on the National Register of Historic Places — are along River Road.

West Baton Rouge Museum

The museum, located in Port Allen, displays rural life in south Louisiana, with a special focus on how people lived on the parish’s large sugar plantations. The museum includes a Creole cottage built in 1830, slave cabins, a “shotgun” house and a recently acquired plantation mercantile store built in the late 1800s.

Festivals

The Oldies but Goodies Fest, which includes a championship barbecue cook-off; SugarFest, celebrating the annual sugar cane harvest; Kite Festival Louisiane and Lagniappe Dulcimer Get Festival are attracting more visitors each year.

Old Ferry Landing

Offering a panoramic view of Baton Rouge, the Old Ferry Landing in Port Allen features a gazebo, ornamental street lighting and a pedestrian promenade for strolls along the river.

Scott’s Cemetery

The burial place for black people dating back to the 1850s is something of a tourist attraction located near the Old Ferry Landing riverfront development.