US route endpoints in
Baton Rouge/
Port Allen, LA

In the early days, US 71 followed its present route south from Alexandria LA only as far as Lebeau.  From there it followed what are now state highways through Melville and Fordoche to Rosedale; then east via today's LA 76 to the Mississippi River at Port Allen.  Meanwhile, US 190 went west from Slidell LA only as far as Baton Rouge.  There was a ferry that connected the two towns, but originally neither route crossed the river:

US 71 came into Port Allen on Court Street, which back then led to the Baton Rouge ferry landing.  Today it dead-ends at the levee, but the area east of there is now an attractive riverside park, and one can walk up the historic right-of-way:

​It was about 1935 when the US 190 designation was extended westward from Baton Rouge -- it used the ferry to get to this point, and then continued into Texas -- that is the situation described on the sign shown above.  The gazebo beyond there is situated on the old right-of-way; it is shown in this photo:

That was the original south end of US 71.  The Louisiana State Capitol is visible at far left; the two tall buildings near the center of that photo are also shown in this next shot, which shows the original west beginning of US 190, straight across the river:

That would have been the view coming off the ferry on the Baton Rouge side, looking east on North Street, so that was the original west beginning of US 190.  This shot is looking the opposite direction: