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1948 Map of Coushatta

Name: 1948 Topographic Map of Coushatta
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1948
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1948

About this map

Coushatta and the surrounding river bottomlands of Red River Parish are defined by the winding course of the Red River during the late 1940s. The landscape is a dense network of oxbow lakes, including Prudhomme Lake and Crichton Lake, and backwater sloughs that reveal the river's historical shifts. Commercial life and transport follow the Texas and Pacific Railway and the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway, which connect small agrarian settlements like Westdale, Gahagan, and Armistead.

Social and community centers are mapped in detail through numerous country churches and schools, such as Bright and Morning Star Ch and Wilkinson Sch. The eastern hills toward Bienville Parish show a different character, with higher elevations near the Hall Summit Fire Tower and older family cemeteries like Huggins Cem. This survey documents a rural Louisiana landscape where small-scale farming and timber interests were supported by a robust system of localized schools and churches before significant mid-century consolidation.