News release
Public Information Office
SLU 10880 Hammond,
LA 70402 phone:
985-549-2341 fax:
985-549-2061publicinfo@selu.edu
www.selu.edu/news
Contact: Christina Chapple
Date: 11/12/03
| SIGNS TO DESIGNATE I-12 AS “REPUBLIC OF WEST FLORIDA
PARKWAY”
HAMMOND -- New highway signs will go up on November 18 designating Interstate 12, which travels through Louisiana’s Florida Parishes, as the “Republic of West Florida Parkway.” The signs will be unveiled at a 2 p.m. reception hosted by Southeastern Louisiana University. The reception, which will be attended by Florida Parish legislators and parish and university officials, will be held at the Southeastern Alumni Center on University Ave. The public is invited. Immediately following the reception and unveiling, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development crews will install the signs along the interstate in Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Livingston and East Baton Rouge Parishes, said Samuel Hyde Jr., director of Southeastern’s Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies. “It is hoped that the signs will offer tourism development incentives for the region,” Hyde said. Hyde, who holds Southeastern’s Ford Chair in Regional Studies, said the purpose of the Republic of West Florida designation “is to highlight the unique identity of the Florida Parishes and to educate the public about the region's curious connection to the Louisiana Purchase and the rest of Louisiana.” The Florida Parishes were not a part of the Louisiana Purchase, Hyde said. The region remained under Spanish control until a bloody revolt in September of 1810. “The West Florida Revolt involved a mini-Civil War,” Hyde said. “It pitted established residents, many of whom opposed American annexation and cherished their Spanish land grants, against disgruntled residents and factions from the neighboring Mississippi Territory, who sought to overthrow Spanish governance.” After storming the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge and launching a military expedition that suppressed counter-revolutionary elements in the eastern Florida Parishes, the rebels established the Independent Republic of West Florida with its capital at St. Francisville. “Known as the original Lone Star Republic because its flag included a single white star on a field of blue, the fledgling nation endured for 74 days before being forcibly annexed by the United States,” Hyde said. He said the six foot square highway signs bear an image of the republic’s flag. Four signs will be placed along the interstate, one in each parish. Although the Louisiana Legislature renamed the interstate with the passage of RS 1842 in 1993, Hyde said nothing was done to officially mark the highway or publicize the name change. The Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies, however, revived the project as part of its year-long effort to highlight the Florida Parishes’ dramatic history and unique connection to the Louisiana Purchase, Hyde said. Activities have included an exhibit, "The West Florida Revolution: 1804-1810: Fulfilling Jefferson's Mandate, Furthering a Distinctive Regional Identity" and a docu-drama, “Reluctant Americans: The West Florida Revolt, Completing the Louisiana Purchase.” The exhibit, on display at the center through 2003, was presented in cooperation with Secretary of State Fox McKeithen and the State Archives. It centers on the only known surviving copy of the constitution of the Republic of West Florida and supporting documents describing the Baton Rouge battle and efforts to establish the republic. “Reluctant Americans” debuted on September 25 at Southeastern’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts. The docu-drama was underwritten by a consortium of five regional parishes -- Tangipahoa, Washington, St. Helena, Livingston, and West Feliciana -- and through an independent grant from the Lieutenant Governor’s office. For additional information, contact the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies, 985-549-2151. |
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