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Louisiana Fun Facts

• Louisiana has the tallest state capitol building in the United States; the building is 450 feet tall with 34 floors.
  
  
• Metairie is home to the longest bridge over water in the world, the Lake Pontchartrain causeway. The causeway connects Metairie with St. Tammany Parish on the North Shore. The causeway is 24 miles long.
  
  
• Breaux Bridge is known as the "Crawfish Capital of the World".
  
  
• Rayne is known as the "The Frog Capital of the World".
  
  
• Mamou bills itself as "The Cajun Music Capital of the World." Mamou musicians, in particular the musicians who have perform at Fred's Lounge have been a major force in expanding the audience for Cajun music far beyond Southwest Louisiana.
  
  
• Louisiana is the only state in the union that does not have counties. Its political subdivisions are called parishes.
  
  
• Louisiana was named in honor of King Louis XIV.
  
  
• The Eastern Brown Pelican is the state bird
  
  
• The Magnolia is the state flower
  
  
• The Bald Cypress is the state tree
  
  
• The official song is "Give me Louisiana"
  
  
• The state wildflower is The Louisiana Iris
  
  
• The state insect is the Honeybee
  
  
• The state freshwater fish is the White Perch
  
  
• The state mammal is the Louisiana Black Bear
  
  
• The state crustacean is the Crawfish
  
  
• The state amphibian is the Green Tree Frog
  
  
• The state reptile is the Alligator
  
  
• The state drink is Milk
  
  
• The unofficial state drink is the Hurricane
  
  
• The state dog is the Catahoula Leopard Dog, often called the Catahoula Hound
  
  
• The state musical instrument is the "Cajun Accordion"
  
  
• Mardi Gras colors are Purple (Justice), Gold (Power), and
  Green (Faith)
  
  
• Mardi Gras begins after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany, and ends on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.
  
  
• Nutria is a Large semi-aquatic rodent. Nutria are smaller than a beaver but larger than a muskrat
  
  
• Boudin is a type of sausage link that is used in Cajun and Creole dishes. It includes rice and other ingredients like crawfish, pork, alligator, etc. Boudin Noir is with pig blood
  
  
• Turducken is a partially deboned turkey with a deboned duck inside and a deboned chicken inside that. Each has a different stuffing as well.

• In Louisiana, biting someone with your natural teeth is considered a simple assault, but biting someone with your false teeth is considered an aggravated assault.
  
  
• The Saint Charles streetcar line in New Orleans is one of two of the nation's only mobile national monuments
  
  
• Jennings is called the "Garden Spot of Louisiana" for it's rich and productive farmland.
  
  
• Bayou: \BUY-you\ n. a French name for slow-moving "river"
  
  
• The oldest town in Louisiana is Natchitoches which was established in 1714.
  
  
• Gueydan is known as the "Duck Capital of America" in recognition of its abundance of waterfowl.
  
  
• Mamou bills itself as "The Cajun Music Capital of the World."
  
  
• Louisiana Nicknames: Pelican State; Bayou State; Sportsman’s Paradise
  
  
• Louisiana State Colors: Gold, white and blue
  
  
• The state fossil: Petrified palmwood
  
  
• The state gemstone: Agate
  
  
• The state motto: “Union, Justice, Confidence”
  
  
• The highest elevation is Driskill Mountain in Bienville Parish at 535 feet above sea level
  
  
• The lowest elevation is New Orleans at eight feet below sea level
  
  
• The first opera performed in America was in 1796 in New Orleans
  
  
• The oldest salt dome in the Western Hemisphere was discovered in Avery Island in 1862
  

Louisiana State
Capital Building

 

 

 

 

Louisiana State Bird:
The Eastern Brown Pelican

 

 

 

 

 

Louisiana State
Musical Instrument:
The Cajun Accordion

 

 

 

 

 

World Famous Mardi Gras