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1967 Map of Batchelor

Name: 1967 Topographic Map of Batchelor
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1969
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1969

About this map

The Louisiana State Penitentiary Farm dominates the northern landscape of this Mississippi River bend, marking a site deeply intertwined with the region's agricultural and penal history. The river's dramatic evolution is visible through documented engineering shifts like Shreves Cutoff (1831) and Raccourci Cutoff (1848), which transformed the active channel and left behind oxbows like Raccourci Old River. These cutoffs isolated Raccourci Island, creating a landscape of sloughs and lakes such as Lake Killarney and Sawmill Lake.

Settlements like Batchelor, Innis, and Lettsworth follow the path of the Texas and Pacific RR and the protective levees. Local heritage is preserved in numerous family and community landmarks, including Chinnis Chapel, St Marys Cem, and an Indian Mound near the riverbank. To the south, the massive Morganza Control Structure stands as a primary piece of flood control infrastructure within the Morganza Floodway.