The Rural Life Museum and Burden Center

This is, in our estimation, one in a list of thirty marvelous places, flavors, events, and experiences that anyone who lives in—or loves—our part of the world should experience at least once in his or her lifetime.

“Imagine: 450 acres of prime real estate—never to be built on; never to be developed—in the middle of Baton Rouge.” David Floyd, director of the LSU Rural Life Museum, is fond of saying that. And fair enough. The Burden family’s 1964 decision to donate their family farm to LSU has had a vast impact not just on the university, but on the city and state as well. The Burden Center serves as a working agricultural research facility for LSU students and faculty. The entire site functions as a publicly accessible green space in the center of the Capital City. And in the middle of it all lies the Rural Life Museum. Through a collection of thirty-two buildings and thousands of artifacts ranging from coffins to horse-drawn carriages, this outdoor museum exists to collect, preserve, and interpret the material culture, cultural landscape, and vernacular architecture of Louisiana and the lower Mississippi River Valley. This was the first museum in the state to interpret slavery. In the 1980s—when it was far smaller—The British Museum identified it as one of the top ten outdoor museums in the world. Self-guided and docent-led tours are always available. Public programs such as Harvest Days, a Rural Life Christmas, and a series of summer camps bring the region’s history and heritage to life for generations who would never otherwise know it.

Essen Lane at I-10. (225) 765-2437 or rurallife.lsu.edu.