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Located on the river about 30 miles south of Baton Rouge, lies Donaldsonville, LA.  Donaldsonville is the county seat, or rather the parish seat (Louisiana has parishes not counties), and in 1830 it served as the state capitol.

Donaldsonville is geographically significant as the starting point of Bayou Lafourche. This bayou extends down into the heart of southern Louisiana and eventually reaches the Gulf of Mexico at Grand Isle. In times very long past Bayou Lafourche was the Mississippi. The Mississippi's channel jumps around every couple of millennia, and Donaldsonville is located at the point of an earlier jump. The natural swamps and high water table of the region have long made road construction difficult. A bayou on the other hand is the regions ideal way to get around. Because of it's length and strategic location, Bayou LaFourche has long been a principle thoroughfare here in southern Louisiana. From the Mississippi to the Gulf, Bayou Lafourche is 168 kilometers (104 miles) long and connects Donaldsonville with Thibodaux and Houma. With homes, small towns and businesses along it's entire length, its nickname is "the longest main street in America."

Donaldsonville is an old city, which celebrated it's 200th birthday in 2006, it's one of the oldest cities in Louisiana.

 

There is an historic district near the center of town where homes and buildings well over one hundred years old have aged gracefully and are well cared for. The homes and buildings that have been preserved are lived in and used and are integrated into the city at large.