Loading map...

1944 Map of Empire

Name: 1944 Topographic Map of Empire
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1944
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1944

About this map

Port Sulphur and the Mississippi River dominate this deltaic landscape of Plaquemines Parish as it appeared in the late 1930s. The region is defined by a thin ribbon of habitable land protected by levees, where settlements like Empire, Buras, and Nairn cling to the river's edge. Beyond the immediate riverbanks, the terrain dissolves into an intricate network of marshes, canals, and bays, including California Bay and Quarantine Bay.

Tracing the river south reveals small clusters of activity at Tropical Bend and Potash, while the Ft Pleasant Cem stands as a quiet landmark near the bend. The map illustrates the region's reliance on waterborne infrastructure, shown by the Ferry to Pt. a la Hache and numerous named waterways like Grand Canal and Gould Canal. This era highlights a period of intense deltaic geography before significant land loss altered the coastal profile.