West Baton Rouge Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States, on the west bank of the Mississippi River across from the state capital. It had a population of 27,199 at the 2020 census and covers 204 square miles (530 km2), of which 192 square miles (500 km2) is land, centred near 30°28′N 91°19′W.
Port Allen is the county seat, and its postal code is 70767. The parish has one city and two towns — Port Allen, Addis and Brusly — plus a scatter of unincorporated communities along the river and the old rail line. It sits in the Central time zone.
Towns & Villages in West Baton Rouge Parish
Most of the parish’s population lives in its three incorporated municipalities, all within a few miles of the Mississippi River levee.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addis | Town | 6,731 | — |
| Port Allen | City · seat | 4,939 | 70767 |
| Brusly | Town | 2,578 | 70719 |
| Bueche | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Chamberlin | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Devalls | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Ithra | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Kahns | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lobdell | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lukeville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Walls | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Winterville | Unincorp. | — | — |
ZIP Codes
- 70767 — Port Allen (also serves Devalls, Ithra and the river landings north of town)
- 70719 — Brusly
Addis and the smaller unincorporated settlements share ZIP codes with a neighboring post office town; the parish confirms no dedicated code for those places.
Geography
West Baton Rouge Parish sits on the alluvial floodplain of the Mississippi River, protected by levees that run the length of its eastern boundary. The land is flat, low-lying, and given over largely to sugarcane fields and industrial river frontage, with cypress-tupelo swamp in the low ground toward Bayou Grosse Tete. It borders East Baton Rouge Parish to the east across the river, East Feliciana Parish to the northeast, West Feliciana Parish to the north, Pointe Coupee Parish to the northwest, and Iberville Parish to the southwest.
- East Baton Rouge Parish — east, across the Mississippi River
- East Feliciana Parish — northeast
- West Feliciana Parish — north
- Pointe Coupee Parish — northwest
- Iberville Parish — southwest
Demographics
West Baton Rouge Parish counted 27,199 residents at the 2020 census. Addis is now the parish’s largest municipality at 6,731 people, having grown 87 percent since 2010; Port Allen, the seat, follows at 4,939, and Brusly at 2,578. Median household income in Addis was reported at $81,681 at the 2020 census, well above the Louisiana state figure of $58,229 (2023 ACS). Outside the three towns, density thins quickly toward the parish’s sugarcane fields and batture land along the river.
Economy & Local Life
Maritime commerce anchors the parish economy. The Port of Greater Baton Rouge, headquartered in Port Allen, ranks among the ten busiest ports in the country by tonnage and handles roughly 61 million short tons of cargo a year, much of it petrochemical and agricultural freight moving off the Mississippi River. Sugarcane farming remains active on the parish’s rural land, a legacy of the plantation-era Cinclare mill north of Brusly, and light industry and warehousing have grown along the Interstate 10 corridor near Addis. Brusly High School’s football season is the parish’s biggest recurring community draw each fall.
History
The parish was created on March 31, 1807, originally named Baton Rouge Parish before being renamed West Baton Rouge in 1812 to distinguish it from the growing settlement across the river. Its name comes from the French bâton rouge, “red stick,” after a reddened boundary post early French explorers recorded on the riverbank. Port Allen, platted in 1878 and incorporated in 1916, took its name from Henry Watkins Allen, a Confederate general and Louisiana governor who had owned the Allendale Plantation on the site. During the Second World War the parish held Prisoner of War Sub-Camp 7, housing German prisoners who worked as plantation labor from 1943 to 1946. The Huey P. Long Bridge, opened in 1940, gave the parish its first fixed river crossing to Baton Rouge and drove its shift from a farming economy toward industry through the 1950s.
Getting There
Interstate 10 crosses the parish east–west over the Mississippi River Bridge, with US Highway 190 and Louisiana Highways 1 and 415 serving local traffic between the river towns.
- Baton Rouge — 5 miles east
- New Orleans — 75 miles southeast
- Plaquemine — 15 miles south
- New Roads — 20 miles northwest
Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport is the nearest commercial airport, a short drive across the river. Amtrak’s nearest station is in New Orleans; no line runs through the parish itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Port Allen postcode?
70767.
Which town is the parish seat of West Baton Rouge Parish?
Port Allen is the county seat.
What is the largest town in West Baton Rouge Parish?
Addis, with 6,731 residents at the 2020 census, overtook Port Allen as the parish’s largest municipality during the 2010s.
How big is West Baton Rouge Parish?
It covers 204 square miles (530 km2), most of it flat Mississippi River floodplain given over to sugarcane and river industry.
What is West Baton Rouge Parish’s population?
27,199 at the 2020 census.
Where does the parish’s name come from?
From the French bâton rouge, “red stick,” referring to a reddened post early explorers found marking a boundary along the river.
What port serves the parish?
The Port of Greater Baton Rouge, based in Port Allen, one of the ten busiest ports in the United States by cargo tonnage.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Louisiana.