1893 Map of Forts

About this map

Fort Jackson and Fort St. Phillip stand as the primary human sentinels on this map, guarding a strategic bend in the Mississippi River deep within the Mississippi Delta. Based on surveys from 1891, the landscape is a complex labyrinth of coastal marshes, bayous, and sounds, where the river's path is carved through an intricate network of waterways like Lucas Canal and the Salt Works Canal. These man-made cuts, alongside natural features like Grand Bayou Carrion Crow and Bayou Grand Liard, illustrate the historic efforts to navigate and utilize the soft alluvial terrain of Plaquemines Parish.