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1962 Map of Donaldsonville

Name: 1962 Topographic Map of Donaldsonville
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1963
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1963

About this map

The Mississippi River creates a deep, winding corridor through this section of Louisiana, anchoring the historic river parishes of Ascension, St. James, and Assumption. During the early 1960s, the landscape was a complex mosaic of sugarcane-producing settlements like Lemannville, Welcome, and Romeville clustered along the high ground of the river's levees. Inland, the rising terrain of McElroy Ridge and Lake Ridge transitions into the swampy lowlands of the Blind River and Amite River basins.

Industrial development is clearly visible through the extensive Sorrento Gas and Oil Field and the Darrow Oil Field, while the Illinois Central Railroad and Kansas City Southern Railway indicate the importance of transportation to the region's economy. Local history is preserved in the numerous named landmarks, from the St Michael Cem in Convent to the Donaldsonville High Sch near the river bend. The map illustrates a period when traditional riverfront life met the growing petroleum and transit infrastructure of the mid-century.