1935 Map of Grand Bayou

About this map

Coastal marshland and tidewater prongs dominate this 1930s survey of the Louisiana shoreline, where Grand Bayou and its three distinct branches—the North Prong, South Prong, and East Prong—drain into the Calcasieu Lake basin. This environment dictated a settlement pattern restricted to higher ground, primarily along the State Highway and the elevated Front Ridge parallel to the Gulf of Mexico. These narrow corridors of habitable land supported a string of small community centers, including Hartelyou and the parish hub near Creole Ch. The map provides a detailed record of local infrastructure during the Depression era, noting several rural educational and religious sites such as Herbert Sch, Moore Sch, and St Theresa Ch, which served the scattered families living between the inland marshes and the gulf shore.