Ready to brush up on some fun facts about Louisiana? You wouldn’t think it, but some of these weird facts about Louisiana don’t seem real, but they are! Test your Pelican State knowledge and see how many of these facts you already knew, and share it with your friends! Who knows, you very well could find this information handy at your next local trivia night! In no particular order, here are some of our favorite interesting facts about Louisiana.

1. The Louisiana State Capitol is the tallest state capitol building in the United States.

David Brossard/Wikimedia
Standing tall at 450 feet and containing 34 floors, it was completed in 1930 and replaced the Old State Capitol. And to add another Louisiana fun fact to this one, the Old State Capitol is believed to be one of the most haunted places in Baton Rouge!

2. The highest elevation point in Louisiana is 535 feet.

Konrad Borys/Google
That’s Driskill Mountain, the tallest natural summit in the state. Visitors can hike up Driskill Mountain fairly easily, and the view from the top is lovely!

3. On the flip side, the lowest elevation point is eight feet below sea level.

Nowhereman86/Wikimedia
And that’s New Orleans.

4. The first female self-made millionaire in America was from Louisiana.

Scurlock Studio/Wikimedia
Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919) made her fortune by developing and selling a line of cosmetics for Black women. She spent most of her adult life living in St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Colorado, and New York, but was born in Delta, Louisiana.

5. Louisiana invented the cocktail.

Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr
The Sazerac is often considered the first-ever cocktail, and it was invented by Antoine Amadie Peychaud in New Orleans in 1850. Yep, the same gentlemen who invented Peychaud’s bitters, the key ingredient needed to make this cocktail authentic.

Read on to discover even more Louisiana inventions.

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6. The first opera in the United States took place in New Orleans in 1796.

Louis Antoine Godey/Wikimedia
André Grétry's "Sylvain" was performed at the Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre on May 22, 1796. 

7. Caesar’s Superdome is the largest fixed dome structure in the world.

Tsaon Lieu/Google
The 13-acre steel frame boasts a 273-foot dome with a 680-foot diameter.

8. Louisiana has a lot of “capitals of the world.”

Leonce Lionnet/Google
Part town pride, part political flare... here are just a few of the towns in Louisiana that received a "world title" in the 1960s and 70s:

Breaux Bridge: Crawfish Capital of the World
Dubach: Dogtrot Capital of the World
Ponchatoula: Strawberry Capital of the World
Rayne: Frog Capital of the World
Scott: Boudin Capital of the World
Mamou: Cajun Music Capital of the World
Gonzales: Jambalaya Capital of the World
Des Allemands: Catfish Capital of the World, later the Catfish Capital of the Universe

Fun fact: After Gov. Edwin Edwards proclaimed Des Allemands the Catfish Capital of the World in 1970, the Mississippi governor decided to give the same title to Belzoni, Mississippi the very next year. Not to be outdone, Louisiana gave Des Allemands a promotion to "Catfish Capital of the Universe." Since Mississippi is responsible for 50% of the nation's farm-raised catfish, we may have to reevaluate that title...

9. Louisiana's biggest exports are natural gas, soybeans, and corn. In that order.

United Soybean Board/Flickr
Natural gas makes up 18% of Louisiana’s total exports, soybeans are just behind that with 15%, and coming in with the bronze medal is corn, accounting for almost 13% of Louisiana’s total exports.

10. The Atchafalaya Basin is the largest wetland swamp in the United States.

Derek T./Google
It’s almost a million acres and it’s larger than the Florida Everglades! And while the most common animal associated with the Atchafalaya is the alligator (or maybe crawfish), the basin contains the largest nesting concentration of bald eagles in the south-central United States.

Ok, be honest, how many of these fun facts about Louisiana did you already know? Share your interesting facts about Louisiana with us in the comments!

 

For more state pride, check out the origin story of how these Louisiana towns got their names.

Most People Don’t Know The Meaning Behind These 11 Louisiana Town Names

 

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