The Old Town

Founded in 1714, Natchitoches is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory and is older than New Orleans. It began as a small fortification on the Red River and grew into a town influenced by the French and Spanish colonists who settled there. When the Red River changed course in the 1830s, Natchitoches was no longer on the river's main channel and the waterway was renamed after the cane brakes along its shores. After Louisiana became part of the United States in 1803, Natchitoches was a frontier town where pioneer settlers heading west on the Natchez Trace and El Camino Real stopped to collect their land papers. Today, the city's promotional motto is "Destination of Travelers since 1714."