Donaldsonville is a jewel in the crown of Louisiana history. Around 1750, from a small trading post at the fork of the Mississippi River and Bayou Lafourche, the Tchitimacha Indians witnessed the arrival of the French, English, German, Spanish, Jewish, Italian, and Irish settlers. Sugar cane plantations and African slaves came shortly after their arrival. The city has played host to Jean Lafitte, Fort Butler, Rebel forces, Union troops, oyster boats, the first black mayor in America, and scores of stories and characters that are all family, as well as serving as the capital of Louisiana. Donaldsonville was the commercial hub for trade up and down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico until Bayou Lafourche was damned in 1903. Today, Donaldsonville is on the threshold of becoming Louisiana's version of Williamsburg, Virginia.
