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1891 Map of New Orleans

Name: 1891 Topographic Map of New Orleans
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1912
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1912

About this map

The crescent-shaped bend of the Mississippi River dominates this late-nineteenth-century survey, revealing the dense grid of New Orleans as it was situated before modern urban expansion. Across the river, the West Bank settlements of Gretna, Algiers, and Macdonoughville are clearly defined, showing their early reliance on the river and emerging rail lines. The landscape south of the city is a complex network of wetlands and waterways, including the Harveys Canal and the vast Lake Salvador.

Evidence of the region's precarious relationship with the water is captured at Bell Crevasse, a site indicating a breach in the levee. Major infrastructure projects of the era are present through several competing rail lines, such as the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Texas and Pacific Railroad, which cut through the cypress swamps and plantations. Smaller settlements like Amesville, Oakville, and Jesuit Bend trace the high ground along the river’s winding course toward the gulf.