Military Vehicle Preservation Association’s Jefferson Highway Convoy travels through Baton Rouge

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association-Historical Archive (MVPA-HA) Jefferson Highway Convoy

Command will be passing through Baton Rouge on October 28th, with a scheduled stop at the Louisiana

State Capital as part of their transcontinental convoy taking place October 1-31.

The convoy will retrace the historic 1918 Jefferson Highway route from the Minnesota border to New

Orleans, Louisiana, in 30 days, driving over 2,500 miles. This is the eighth long-distance trip conducted by

the MVPA-HA Convoy and includes 34 World War II and Korean War era vintage military vehicles.

The Jefferson Highway began in 1915 and was the nation’s first modern-day international highway

traveling from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to its end at St. Charles Ave. and Common St. in New

Orleans.

On October 28th, the convoy will leave the West Baton Rouge Convention Center at 8:00 a.m., cross the

Huey P. Long Bridge, meet a Baton Rouge City Police escort, travel down Scenic Highway and make a

brief stop at the Louisiana State Capital approximately at 8:30 a.m. We are planning to have a State of

Louisiana official give a welcome to this group of preservationists.

Leaving the State Capital grounds at approximately 9:15 a.m., the convoy will begin to travel the historic

route of Jefferson Highway in East Baton Rouge Parish proceeding south on N. 4th St., to Main St., North

19th St., Government St. (originally a part of the Jefferson Highway), and onto Jefferson Highway until

the East Baton Rouge/Ascension Parish line. The convoy will end the day at Houmas House and

conclude their north/south cross-country trip in New Orleans.

The Jefferson Highway 2024 (JH’24) convoy has been designed to encompass American history along the

route with multiple stops at historic sites such as: the headwaters of the Mississippi River, parts of the

Red River Trail (voyageurs’ oxcart trail) from Winnipeg to St. Paul, the Pony Express Museum, Old Fort

Leavenworth, National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, the old Army Road along the frontier

to Fort Scott and southward to the old Spanish Road, the Louisiana “Patton” maneuvers area, Fort Polk,

and ending with the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

Follow the Convoy on Facebook: hƩps://www.facebook.com/MVPAConvoy