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1998 Map of Chef Menteur

Name: 1998 Topographic Map of Chef Menteur
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1999
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1999

About this map

The Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge dominates this coastal landscape, protecting a complex network of wetlands where the brackish waters of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne meet. At the center of the sheet, the historic Chef Menteur Pass serves as a critical natural waterway, flanked by the archaeological remains of Fort Macomb (Ruins). This site illustrates the strategic military importance of these narrow water passages during the 19th century.

Modern residential development is centered at Venetian Isles, a canal-front community situated near the junction of Sauvage Bayou and the pass. To the south, the massive engineering of the Intracoastal Waterway cuts through the marsh, facilitating industrial transport alongside natural features like Chico Lagoon and Bayou Bienvenue. The map captures the delicate balance between the expanding infrastructure of Orleans Parish and the preserved estuaries of the Louisiana coast in the late 1990s.