Louisiana Trivia & Tidbits

Looking for Louisiana trivia? Try our list Louisiana little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

In 1824, lifelong bachelor Julien Poydras died and left a provision in his will for the Poydras Dowry for indigent brides, which still is distributed in West Baton Rouge Parish (pop. 21,601). According to legend, Poydras couldn't marry his true love because her impoverished parents lacked the necessary dowry. Today, money is provided as a gift to all brides who have been parish residents for at least five years.

first appeared: 11/1/2009

In the early 1900s, Czechoslovakian settlers established the towns of Libuse and Kolin near Alexandria (pop. 46,342). Libuse is named after a legendary queen and Kolin after a town in the Old Country and a song by the same name.

first appeared: 10/18/2009

Established in 1884, LeJeune's Bakery in Jeanerette (pop. 5,997) is a fifth-generation business, and the bakery's original recipes and methods are used to make French bread and ginger cakes.

first appeared: 10/4/2009

Organized in 1993, the Celadrin Tigerettes of Baton Rouge is a game-winning group of women basketball players in their 60s and 70s, who've won more than 50 state and regional medals, and five gold medals in national Senior Olympics competitions.

first appeared: 9/20/2009

Children and adults get a first-hand taste of life aboard a World War II U.S. Navy destroyer when they stay overnight on the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge.

first appeared: 9/6/2009

Heavenly Hash Eggs, Gold Brick Eggs and Pecan Eggs are among classic candies made by Elmer Candy Corp. in Ponchatoula (pop. 5,180). The company began in 1855 as Miller Candy Co. in New Orleans.

first appeared: 8/23/2009

Built about 1840, two single-story slave cabins, known as the Cherie Quarters Cabins, remain on the historic River Lake Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish (pop. 22,763) and are rare surviving examples of slave quarters.

first appeared: 8/9/2009

In 1938, residents of Vidalia (pop. 4,543) packed up and moved their town, building by building, from the banks of the Mississippi River one mile inland to alleviate flooding problems.

first appeared: 7/26/2009

—Jockey Calvin Borel, born in 1966 in St. Martin Parish (pop. 48,583), rode to a long-shot victory at the 135th Kentucky Derby in May on Mine that Bird, a horse with 50-1 odds.

first appeared: 7/12/2009

—A primitive boardwalk, the "Swamp Walk," leads into the heart of the Joyce Wildlife Management Area Swamp between Ponchatoula (pop. 5,180) and Manchac.

first appeared: 6/28/2009

—One of the state's oldest towns, Madisonville (pop. 677) originally was named Cokie, from the French word for shell, coquille, because of the abundance of shells in the area. The town was renamed in 1811 to honor President James Madison.

first appeared: 6/14/2009

—The Louisiana Art and Science Museum's Irene W. Pennington Planetarium in Baton Rouge features a 60-foot domed theater bedecked in the light of 15,000 stars.

first appeared: 5/31/2009

—Light sculpture by artist Rockne Krebs, neon lights, and fiber-optic cables transform the Texas Street Bridge each night into a work of public art connecting Shreveport and Bossier City (pop. 56,461) across the Red River.

first appeared: 5/17/2009

—The only port in the nation capable of offloading the world's largest supertankers is the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, a deepwater port in the Gulf of Mexico 18 miles south of Grand Isle (pop. 1,541).

first appeared: 5/3/2009

–Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge was the site of the "Earthquake Game" in 1988 when Louisiana State University beat Auburn University 7–6 in the waning seconds of the football game. The crowd's ground–shaking reaction registered as an earthquake on the seismograph in the Louisiana Geological Survey office on campus.

first appeared: 4/19/2009

—The first Vietnamese-American elected to the U.S. Congress is Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, 41, who won election last December. Cao fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon when he was 8.

first appeared: 4/5/2009

—Completed in 1935, the Huey P. Long Bridge across the Mississippi River at New Orleans is the nation's longest railroad bridge, stretching about 4.35 miles from abutment to abutment.

first appeared: 3/22/2009

—Arborist Bob Thibodeaux, owner of Bob’s Tree Preservation in Church Point (pop. 4,756), founded Acorns of Hope in 2007, a tree planting and education program with a mission of planting 10,000 saplings in five years to replace oaks destroyed by hurricanes.

first appeared: 3/8/2009

—Big Al, a 14-foot-long stuffed alligator, is the dining room centerpiece at the popular Prejean’s Restaurant in Lafayette.

first appeared: 2/22/2009

—Cankton (pop. 362) was named for Dr. L.A. “Cank” Guidry, a beloved doctor and avid duck hunter. According to lore, after each hunt as he neared his home, Guidry would signal his return by using the duck call, “cank, cank, cank,” which earned him his nickname.

first appeared: 2/8/2009

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