Louisiana Highway 54

In the original Louisiana Highway system in use between 1921 and 1955, the modern LA 54 corridor was designated as State Route 1121.[5]

Route 1121. A certain road at Garyville starting from the Jefferson Highway, U. S. Route 61, thence proceeding towards the Y. & M. V. R. R.[,] crossing same, and continuing as far as the intersection of Park Street, thence over Park Street, back to the Y. & M. V. R. R. along Main Street, and thence along the Y. & M. V. R. R. to the above described road crossing; all located in the town of Hopeville, which road is commonly known as the Hopeville road.

— 1930 legislative route description[6]

Route 1121 was created in 1930 by an act of the state legislature.[6] It originally existed as a spur off of Route 1 serving Garyville, which was situated around a lumber mill. At the time, the main route between New Orleans and Baton Rouge was the Jefferson Highway, an auto trail which followed the modern River Road past Garyville. This had become part of Route 1 in 1921[6] and the original route of US 61 in 1926.[7][8] Route 1121 followed a parallel alignment to the modern LA 54, running through the center of Garyville to the north side of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley (now the Canadian National) railroad tracks. It then made a loop back across the tracks to an intersection with itself.[6]

Airline Highway, the relocation of US 61, opened through the area in July 1932.[9] Around this time, Route 1121 was extended north to intersect it, becoming a more linear route between the old and new highways.[10][11] The route remained in this form until the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering.[5]

LA 54 was created in 1955 as a direct renumbering of State Route 1121.[12]

La 54—From a junction with La 44 at or near Garyville to a junction with La-US 61.

— 1955 legislative route description[12]

At this time, the route still ran through the center of Garyville. From an intersection with LA 44 and South Church Street, 0.8 miles (1.3 km) east of the present southern terminus, LA 54 proceeded north to Anthony F. Monica Street. It then made a jog onto North Church Street and continued to Museums Street immediately north of the Canadian National (formerly the Illinois Central) railroad crossing. Here it made a second jog onto Garyville Northern Street (also known as Old Highway 54), joining the current alignment 0.7 miles (1.1 km) south of US 61.[3][13]

In 1991, LA 54 was relocated onto its current route, a newly constructed highway just to the west of the original route. This removed truck traffic serving the nearby industrial plants from the largely residential area traversed by the old route, which was also narrow and contained several right-angle turns. Large trucks carrying chemicals would reportedly become stuck while navigating the route, creating obstructions to traffic and potential safety hazards.[14]