Natchitoches,
located just off the Interstate 49 corridor between Shreveport and Alexandria,
is Louisiana's original French colony. The historic district of Natchitoches
includes over fifty buildings dating back more than one-hundred years.
It has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department
of the Interior. The shop buildings and houses are laiden with cast iron
grill work, and balconies or galleries which overlook the Cane River Lake.
Visitors to Natchitoches will see a town which is very reminicent of the
days when the grand south and cotton production were of prominence in
the economy. Like most southern cities, Natchitoches residents were religious.
A number of church congregations in the area date back before the Civil
War.
