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1955 Map of Lena Lagoon

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Lena Lagoon
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1959
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1959

About this map

Bayou La Loutre cuts through the expansive marshlands of St. Bernard Parish, flanked by long Spoil Banks that illustrate the dredging and waterway maintenance efforts of the mid-1950s. The landscape is a complex labyrinth of coastal hydrology, where named bodies of water like Lena Lagoon and Pisana Lagoon are interconnected by a network of bayous including Bayou St. Malo and Bayou Musselini. These names often reflect the cultural heritage and family lineages of the coastal fishing and trapping communities that have long navigated these wetlands.

Evidence of human engineering is present in the straight lines of the Engineers Canal and Bakers Canal, which contrast with the meandering natural courses of Little Halfmoon Bay and Greene Bayou. To the north, the terrain opens into the broad waters of Lake Borgne. This survey provides a baseline of the Louisiana coastline before decades of erosion and subsidence altered the intricate geometry of bays and passes such as Halfmoon Pass.