Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site

Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site or Fort des Natchitoches, in Natchitoches, Louisiana, is a replica of an original French fort settlement; Based on the original fort blueprints, established in 1716 by Sieur Charles Claude Dutisné and company. Natchitoches itself was founded in 1714 by French Canadian Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis as the first permanent European settlement in the territory later known as the Louisiana Purchase. St. Denis would become commandant of Fort St. Jean Baptiste des Natchitoches in 1722. Originally, Fort St. Jean Baptiste was devised as an outpost to counter the Spanish from advancing into French territory but it soon became a center of economic significance, particularly with neighboring Caddo tribes.

The fort was both a trading and military post and was abandoned after 1764. The fort was rebuilt, but the actual location is unknown.

Today, Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site is a point of interest within the Cane River National Heritage Area. It is also host to Living History and reenactments of what Life in the fort was like in the 1750s