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1936 Map of Chef Menteur

Name: 1936 Topographic Map of Chef Menteur
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1938
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1938

About this map

Louisville & Nashville RR and the Southern RR dominate the eastern New Orleans wetlands in the mid-1930s, tracing routes through a landscape defined by the Corporate Limits of the City of New Orleans. This survey highlights the era's land reclamation efforts, most notably at the Dead Cypress Swamp (Drained) and Eleven Mile Post, where drainage transformed the marshes of Orleans Parish.

The strategic waterway of Chef Menteur connects Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, guarded by the site of Fort Macomb. Waterfront settlements like Little Woods, Micheaud, and Lee represent pre-war expansion along the bayous. Inland, the map captures the early infrastructure of aviation and communication at the New Orleans Airway Radio Towers and Radio WSMB Towers, alongside long-established navigation markers such as the Pt Aux Herbes Beacon.