DOTD Building named for La'.s first Black Governor P.B.S Pinchback
Before becoming governor, Pinchback served as one of the Union Army’s few commissioned officers of African descent and, later, helped establish Southern University in Baton Rouge.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development headquarters has been named for Pinckney Benton Stewart “P. B. S.” Pinchback, Louisiana’s sole Black governor who served for thirty-six days from December 1872 to January 1873.
Born in Macon, Georgia, in 1837, Pinchback was the son of a white southern planter and a formerly enslaved woman, who began his political career during the Reconstruction period. He served as one of the Union Army’s few commissioned officers of African descent during the Civil War, and later helped establish Southern University in Baton Rouge.
Last year, Gonzales Senator Ed Price filed a bill to name the DOTD headquarters after Pinchback. In December, then Gov. John Bel Edwards, DOTD Secretary Eric Kalivoda, elected officials, and transportation leaders gathered for the naming ceremony.
A plaque with Pinchback's image and biography will be placed inside the glass door entrance. The building is located downtown near the Governor's mansion and can be seen from Interstate-10.