1949 Map of Dog Lake

About this map

The intricate coastal marshlands of Terrebonne Parish are documented here with striking detail, revealing an environment defined entirely by water and silt. This landscape is a complex labyrinth of bays and narrow channels, where Grand Caillou Bayou and Quitman Bayou wind through the delta. Notable open water bodies like Dog Lake and Hackberry Lake punctuate the landscape, illustrating the fragile geography of southern Louisiana before late-twentieth-century coastal erosion accelerated. This survey, compiled from aerial photography by the Army Air Corps, captures the area during a period of transition for the Gulf Coast's hydraulic network. Smaller features such as China Island Bayou and Lake Becasse show the fine-grained nature of the coastal interior, providing a foundational record for researchers tracking the shifting shorelines of Charleys Bay and Misale Bay.