The campus housing two cannons captured at Fort Sumter

Louisiana State University (LSU) began in 1860 near Pineville as the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy. Known today as The Ole War Skule, the institution was modeled after the Virginia Military Institute and opened with five professors and nineteen cadets. It closed in 1861 during the American Civil War and faced heavy losses during the Union Army's Red River Campaign. After the war, General William Tecumseh Sherman donated two cannons to the institution, which were captured from Confederate forces and used during the initial firing upon Fort Sumter. These cannons are still displayed in front of the Military Science/Aerospace Studies Building.

Following a fire in 1869, the institution moved to Baton Rouge, where it has remained since 1870. The current main campus was dedicated in 1926 on a 650-acre plateau on the banks of the Mississippi River. The campus consists of more than 250 buildings constructed in the style of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. While originally designed for 3,000 students, the campus underwent expansion as student numbers increased and new programs were added to the curriculum.

LSU is currently the flagship university of the state of Louisiana and is classified among R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity. In 2021, the university enrolled over 28,000 undergraduate and more than 4,500 graduate students across 14 schools and colleges. The university's athletics department is a member of the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and the institution is represented by its mascot, Mike the Tiger.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons