1954 Map of Mudpan Bayou

About this map

Southwest Pass defines the slender landform of the Mississippi River Delta on this 1954 advance sheet, where the river meets the Gulf of Mexico. This survey, based on aerial photographs taken by the Air Corps, U. S. Army, and field examinations by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1935, documents the shifting coastal geography of Plaquemines Parish before significant mid-century changes. The landscape is dominated by marshland and tidal channels, most notably Mudpan Bayou and Burrwood Bayou, which snake through the narrow strip of land separating the pass from West Bay. The inclusion of land lines from the General Land Office records offers a glimpse into the legal and navigational partitioning of this maritime environment, providing essential data for those studying the evolution of the Louisiana coastline and its vital waterways.