Along the River Road: Past and Present on Louisiana's Historic Byway

By Mary Ann Sternberg

Book Overview

Few thoroughfares - indeed, few places - in America are as rich in history as Louisiana's River Road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Yet for many travelers, traces of that rich past, veiled by time and change, are frustratingly difficult to discern. No more: in Along the River Road, Mary Ann Sternberg has written the definitive guide to this fabled route, revealing the history that lies hidden all up and down it. The River Road - actually two roads, one on each side of the Mississippi River - dates to the early decades of French colonization. Among the first Europeans to settle the area were hopeful Germans lured in the 1720s by the sheen of John Law's "Mississippi Bubble". Later, the Acadians found a home here after their long diaspora. In the antebellum era, great plantations lined the riverbanks and sugar barons vied in building opulent mansions. Battles were fought here - French against Indian, Spaniard against Briton, American in blue against American in gray. Here too, in 1811, erupted the largest slave uprising in North American history. Catastrophes of other kinds were all too frequent: floods, hurricanes, epidemics of yellow fever and cholera, navigational disasters on the river. In more recent times, a line of giant petro-chemical and other industrial plants has produced the greatest change since settlement, refiguring the landscape and many of the old ways of life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807127310
• ISBN13: 9780807127315
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: LSU Press
• Length: 355 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Speedy delivery in excellent condition - a wealth of information

I think this book must have arrived the day after I ordered it, sold as used but in like new condition. The first half of the book addresses the cultural, political and natural history of the river road district in chapter after chapter before you get to the second section which is set out in geographical order as a handbook for travelers. It is like no other travel book I have ever read. Obviously a labor of love meant to reveal to the traveler more than meets the eye through the windshield of one's car. It will reward those who flip to whichever milepost to learn the historical significance of a church, barn or factory as it will reward those who have the patience and curiosity to read it cover to cover.

The Only Book to Take!

This guide by far is the absolute best novel to use for a reference about Louisiana's River Road. It starts just past New Orleans from the East Bank and goes upriver, crosses at Baton Rouge and then continues back downriver to New Orleans marking points along the way by mile markers. This book will tell you where you will find every plantation, every creole housee - every single place that is or remotely historical in nature. This book is NOT to be left behind when exploring Louisiana's magical River Road.

Along the River Road

This revised and expanded version of Sternberg's previous work makes for fascinating reading for both visitors and Louisiana natives. It is not only a wonderful guidebook, but concise glimpse of the history of the Great River Road. For more from this author I suggest "Winding Through Time" which is her study of the history and influence of Bayou Manchac.

Great resource and fascinating reading

Describing details along both River Roads (one on each bank) from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, this is a great read. From Colonial to Antebellum to the Refineries populating the area now, its a very interesting and informative book. Including both straightforward history about various plantations and local people as well as colorful local stories, it's a great read. I only wish someone would write a guide like this for the area stretching north from Baton Rouge to Natchez to make it dovetail with Persac's map, around which much of the book revolves.