Columbus Monuments Pages

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Government St. / River Rd.
(Maritime Plaza)

Christopher Columbus

Franco Alessandrini
1992

Description

Statue of white Carrara marble, 3 m tall. Columbus holds a navigation instrument in his right hand; left hand rests on his sword, a symbol of strength and determination.

Inscription(s)

There are several memorial plaques, int.al.:

COLUMBUS PLAZA
dedicated
oct. 10. 1992
mayor president
tom ed mchugh

columbus day festa 2005
statue re-dedicated
...

Annotation

Funded by the Greater Baton Rouge American Italian Association Inc.

The statue is located placed on Maritime Plaza near the USS Kidd, where Government Street comes at the Mississippi River. This part of town is called Beauregard Town, after the owner of the original plantation there, Elias T. Beauregard. In 1806 Beauregard auctioned the first lots of his plantation. On this location Arsene Lacarriere Latour designed a subdivision in a 'formal city' concept. His plan is found on several signs at the entrance of Beauregard Town. Coincidentally, at the river end of Government Street ('Calle del Gobierno') Latour had drawn a 'Plaza de Colomb' - Columbus Square, where is now Marine Plaza.

I visited Baton Rouge in October 2003: the Columbus statue was removed for construction works on Marine Plaza and somewhere in storage. It has been replaced.

Plano de la Villa de Baton Rouge trazada sobre la habitacion del Sr. E. Beauregard por A. Lacarriere Latour en noviembre 1806

Sculptor

Franco Alessandrini (Sansepolcro 1944), American sculptor of New Orleans (Website).

Sources & Information

Photo: Waymarking.com (the photographer wrote me "I want all my photos as public domain, I wish for no credit at all").
Photo (plan): Peter van der Krogt, 22 October 2003.
NIAF, Tributes to Christopher Columbus in the United States.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, SIRIS (Smithsonian Institution Research Information system). .

Locatie (N 30°26'35" - W 91°11'23") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: usla03; Added: 16 January 2007 / Updated: 7 September 2009

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