u/LouisianaPassport

Born on Avery Island, Louisiana, in 1868, TABASCO® Sauce grew from a small family operation into one of the world's most recognizable hot sauces.

Made from peppers, salt, and vinegar, this Louisiana original has traveled from the bayous to dinner tables around the globe, becoming a symbol of the state's rich culinary heritage.

From a small Louisiana island to kitchens around the world, TABASCO proves that a little Louisiana flavor can go a long way!

Read Now

Before the first shots of the Civil War were fired, decades of conflict over slavery, political power, westward expansion, and the future of the Union had pushed the nation toward crisis. Louisiana stood at the center of that struggle, with an economy deeply tied to enslaved labor, the Mississippi River, and the powerful port of New Orleans.

Beginning October 8, Louisiana Passport presents a four-part journey through Louisiana and the Civil War. We begin with the forces that divided the nation and Louisiana’s decision to secede, then follow the war as it reaches the state—bringing invasion, occupation, major military campaigns, emancipation, and profound change. Along the way, we will examine the experiences of soldiers, enslaved people, Black troops, and civilians whose lives were transformed by the conflict.

To understand Louisiana during the Civil War, we must first understand why the war happened—and how decades of unresolved conflict ultimately became a struggle that changed Louisiana and the United States forever.

Read Now

https://www.louisianapassport.com/slavery/before-the-cannons-fired-understanding-the-root-causes-of-the-civil-war

Louisiana entered the Civil War deeply divided—not only by armies and political loyalties, but by the fundamental struggle over slavery, freedom, and the future of the nation.

Beginning October 8, join Louisiana Passport for a new four-part historical series exploring Louisiana during the Civil War.

From secession and the fall of New Orleans to the fighting at Port Hudson and along the Red River, the series follows a state transformed by war. It also examines the experiences of enslaved people seeking freedom and African American Louisianans who entered Union service.

What happens when getting medical care depends on the prison system?

Health Behind Bars examines the challenges surrounding healthcare in Louisiana prisons—from access to doctors and treatment delays to chronic illness, mental health services, and the responsibilities of the state toward people in its custody.

A closer look at an often-overlooked part of Louisiana’s prison system.

Read Now

https://www.louisianapassport.com/prison/health-behind-bars-the-struggle-for-medical-care-in-louisiana-prisons

For generations, Louisiana has depended on levees and spillways to hold back powerful waters. From the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, history has repeatedly shown both the importance—and the limits—of these defenses.

Explore the floods, failures, and engineering efforts that continue to shape Louisiana’s relationship with water.

Read Now

https://www.louisianapassport.com/weather/river-amp-levee-failures-louisianas-continuing-battle-with-the-water

For generations, D. H. Holmes was more than a department store—it was part of everyday life in New Orleans.

Founded in 1842, Holmes eventually became one of the city’s best-known shopping destinations. This photograph captures its Canal Street entrance and the famous Holmes clock, a landmark so familiar that New Orleanians simply said:

“Meet me under the clock at Holmes.”

Families shopped here, friends met here, and countless memories were made along Canal Street. D. H. Holmes remained a New Orleans institution until 1989, but its place in the city’s history lives on.

Before it became the Louisiana State Penitentiary, the land known today as Angola was part of a plantation worked by enslaved people. Its transformation into one of America’s most infamous prisons reveals a complicated history connecting slavery, forced labor, punishment, and incarceration.

Explore the history of Angola—and how its past continues to shape its story today.

Read Now

https://www.louisianapassport.com/prison/angola-from-plantation-to-prison

Behind Louisiana’s grand plantation homes and oak-lined roads was a world built through the forced labor of enslaved men, women, and children.

In this two-part series, Part One explores plantation labor, family, culture, and the human cost behind Louisiana’s agricultural wealth. Part Two examines resistance, escape, the 1811 German Coast uprising, survival, and the long struggle toward emancipation and freedom.

Go beyond the big house and discover the stories of the people whose lives, labor, resistance, and determination helped shape Louisiana history.

Read Now

https://www.louisianapassport.com/slavery/behind-the-big-house-slavery-on-louisiana-plantations

This historic home reflects Louisiana’s distinctive French Creole architecture, with its broad roof, deep gallery, and design adapted to the Louisiana climate.

Associated with the Maison Chenal collection in Pointe Coupee Parish, it offers a window into Louisiana’s rich architectural and cultural heritage.
Explore Louisiana. Discover its history.

#LouisianaPassport #LouisianaHistory #CreoleLouisiana #LouisianaArchitecture

The final installment of Louisiana in Chains examines how slavery’s legacy continued long after emancipation, leaving its mark on Louisiana’s society, economy, laws, and communities for generations.

This is the tenth and final part of our series.

We close this series, but we do not close the history. Behind every law, plantation, record, and statistic were human beings—people who endured, resisted, survived, built families, and fought to claim their freedom.

Their lives mattered. Their stories matter. And as long as we remember them, their voices will not be lost to history.

Read Now

www.louisianapassport.com

A New Orleans bakery shut its doors 25 years ago — so why is its name still on signs, recipes, and Carnival tables across the city today? The story of McKenzie's is a lesson in how hard some traditions are to kill.

Read Now

www.louisianapassport.com

Journey across Louisiana’s historic highways and discover the stories embedded in the landscapes they traverse. From River Road and the Great River Road to the Jefferson Highway, Old Spanish Trail, and Blues Highway, these routes reveal centuries of culture, commerce, migration, music, and change—transforming Louisiana’s roadways into living pathways through the state’s past.

www.louisianapassport.com