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1985 Map of Crowley

Name: 1985 Topographic Map of Crowley
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1988
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1988

About this map

The rice-farming prairies of Southwest Louisiana are documented here in the mid-1980s, centered on the hub of Crowley and the surrounding Acadiana region. The landscape is defined by an intricate network of waterways, including Bayou Plaquemine Brule and the Mermentau River, which feed into the expansive Lake Arthur to the south. This era shows a region balanced between its agricultural roots and industrial transport, with both the Southern Pacific RR and Missouri Pacific RR traversing the territory to connect towns like Jennings and Welsh.

Small settlements such as Iota, Basile, and Eunice anchor the rural parishes, while the southwestern corner is dominated by the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge. The transition from the coastal marshlands to the inland bluffs is marked by features like Phillips Bluff and Nevils Bluff, providing a detailed look at the hydrology of the Calcasieu and Vermilion river basins before late 20th-century development altered the local drainage patterns.