Called "the town two miles long and two yards wide" because it was developed atop a narrow ridge overlooking the Mississippi River, it was the commercial and cultural center of the surrounding plantation country.

It was at one time the largest antebellum Mississippi River port between New Orleans and Memphis, but was superseded by Natchez.

The settlement was gradually destroyed by repeated flooding and fires, and nothing exists of Bayou Sara today.

[citation needed] This area and other former French-controlled territories east of the Mississippi River was taken over by Great Britain after it defeated France in the Seven Years' War in 1763.

At the end of the American Revolutionary War, Great Britain ceded what it called West Florida to Spain in 1783, as part of the Treaty of Paris.

Spain continued to claim territory on the eastern side of the Mississippi River until it and the United States settled this issue in the Pinckney Treaty.

In 1810, St. Francisville served as the capital of the Republic of West Florida, when area planters ousted the Spanish government of the Baton Rouge District and set up their own independent republic for 74 days, before being annexed to the Territory of Orleans, as a possession of the United States.

In June 1863, Confederate Army officer William Walter Leake arranged for the burial here of Union Navy officer John E. Hart, who had died aboard his ship while taking part in the Union blockade of the Mississippi River.

"[5] After the American Civil War, some Jewish emigrants fleeing religious persecution in Germany settled here.

Becoming successful merchants, they provided credit when the banks failed and built impressive Victorian homes, such as the Wolf-Schlessinger House.

[citation needed] In recent years, community efforts have focused on restoration and preservation of the town's historic homes.

[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2), all land.

[15] West Feliciana Parish is in the service area of Baton Rouge Community College.