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1972 Map of Lake Providence

Name: 1972 Topographic Map of Lake Providence
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1972
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1972

About this map

The Mississippi River dominates this 1972 survey, defining the winding boundary between East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, and Issaquena County, Mississippi. The landscape is a complex record of hydraulic engineering and river migration, marked by historical bypasses like the Bunchs Cutoff (1830) and the more recent Sarah Cutoff (1936). These cutoffs created isolated landmasses such as Pittman Island, which remains largely agricultural and is accessed via the Pittman Island Log.

The town of Lake Providence serves as the regional hub, situated on the banks of its namesake oxbow lake. The map documents a dense network of rural community landmarks, from the Briarfield Academy and Lake Providence School to numerous country churches like Cane Ridge Church No 2 and Sweet Canaan Ch. Transportation patterns are dictated by the river's path and the Missouri Pacific railroad, while extensive revetments and dikes, such as the Baleshed Dikes, illustrate the ongoing effort to manage the river's power in a fertile delta environment.