Then and now – Baton Rouge 100 years ago

Left: 300 block of Third Street downtown, taken in 1914 (courtesy East Baton Rouge Parish Library). Right: Same block, taken in 2014 by Collin Richie.

When we saw the image above of downtown Baton Rouge 100 years ago—housed in the East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s digital archives—we thought it would be fun to photograph that same spot today. But heading to Third Street to recreate the 1914 shot, we forgot about all the current construction. Of course this process of revitalization isn’t all that much different from 100 years ago.

The parade marching down Third Street in the original image is passing in front of the Louisiana Theater, constructed in the summer of the year before. The Roumain Building across the street (with the old Guarantee Shoe Store sign) and many others in the area were built around that time, too.

While our “hayburners” have gotten bigger in the past century, and Third Street has since become the place to get “half-seas over” on “giggle water,” we’re clearly still taking an interest in reshaping downtown 100 years later.

According to Melissa Eastin, archivist for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, this photo was one of many taken by Frank C. Read, who moved from Ohio to Baton Rouge to work as a chemist with Standard Oil.