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1938 Map of La Branche

Name: 1938 Topographic Map of La Branche
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1938
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1938

About this map

Lake Pontchartrain dominates the northern horizon of this 1930s coastal survey, revealing a landscape defined by the intricate management of water and transit in St. Charles and Jefferson Parishes. The settlement of Labranche serves as a focal point where the Illinois Central railroad cuts through the wetlands. This era of mapping highlights the massive infrastructure projects of the time, specifically the Bonnet Carre Floodway and the West Boundary of Kenner Protection Levee, which were engineered to protect the region from the unpredictable rise of the Mississippi River.

A network of drainage and navigation ways, including Bayou Trepagnier, Bayou Labranche, and a series of numbered channels like Canal No 7, shows the systematic alteration of the marsh. These features illustrate the transition from natural bayous to a heavily managed hydraulic environment, a shift essential for the expansion of the regional rail and agricultural economy during the mid-twentieth century.