Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. The university was founded in 1860 near Pineville, Louisiana, under the name Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy. The current LSU main campus was dedicated in 1926 and consists of more than 250 buildings constructed in the style of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, occupying a 650-acre (260 ha) plateau on the banks of the Mississippi River. LSU is the flagship university of the state of Louisiana, as well as the flagship institution of the Louisiana State University System.