Spanish Town is one of Baton Rouge's oldest residential neighbourhoods, developed in the early 19th century and named for the Spanish colonial administration that preceded American rule. The neighbourhood sits just north of the downtown core, characterised by shotgun houses, Creole cottages, and modest Victorian homes along narrow streets lined with live oaks.
Today Spanish Town is best known for its Mardi Gras parade, the city's oldest and most politically irreverent — floats carry enormous papier-mâché flamingos, the official krewe mascot, and the humour runs considerably more provocative than the uptown parades. It is also a neighbourhood in transition, with a growing number of bars, restaurants, and galleries mixing with long-established residents. The area around Government Street has the densest concentration of food and drink options in the city.