1893 Map of La Fortuna

About this map

Isle Au Breton Sound dominates this late-nineteenth-century coastal survey of the St. Bernard Parish wetlands, illustrating a precarious and shifting landscape before the coastal erosion of the modern era. Compiled by H.L. Baldwin Jr. of the U.S. Public Land Office, the map details a labyrinth of brackish waterways and marshy points that defined the maritime economy of southeast Louisiana. Navigation routes are etched through narrow openings like Pass Fernandea and the winding Bayou Frenne Picant, which connect larger water bodies such as Lake Athanasio and Lake La Fortuna. This cartography documents the specific coastal geometry of the 1890s, including landforms like Pt. Chicot and Pt. La Fortuna that served as vital landmarks for local fishermen and coastal traders navigating between Eloi Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.