1893 Map of Chandeleur

About this map

Chandeleur Sound dominates this late-nineteenth-century coastal survey, capturing the ephemeral marshlands and islands of St. Bernard Parish before modern subsidence and storm events reshaped the Louisiana shoreline. The landscape is a labyrinth of salt spray and brackish water, characterized by low-lying features such as Mitchell Key and the isolated Barrel Key. Surveying by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey reveals a complex network of maritime passages like Elephant Point Pass and Keelboat Pass, which were essential for navigating the shallow waters between the gulf and the mainland basins. The cartography highlights a fragile coastal ecology where land and water merge at Live Oak Bayou and Redfish Bend. This document serves as a primary record of the deltaic islands as they existed in the 1890s, offering a baseline for studying coastal erosion and the shifting geography of the eastern Louisiana marshes.