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1951 Map of Pecan Island

Name: 1951 Topographic Map of Pecan Island
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1962
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1962

About this map

White Lake and the vast marshlands of Vermilion Parish dominate this early 1950s coastal survey, where narrow ridges provide the only solid ground for settlement and industry. The community of Pecan Island stretches along the central cheniers, featuring a cemetery, a water tank, and several homes situated along Back Ridge and Front Ridge. These elevated shell and sand ridges, including Lambert Ridge and Sweet Bay Ridge, represent a distinctive coastal geomorphology that has historically dictated human habitation in the Louisiana wetlands.

Energy extraction is already a prominent feature of the landscape, with a large oil field established near Schooner Bayou and numerous oil wells scattered throughout the marsh. An intricate network of man-made waterways, such as the Pecan Island Canal and Dewitt Canal, cuts through the terrain to support both drainage and navigation. Near the Gulf of Mexico, isolated ridges like Mulberry Island and Beef Ridge stand as remote landmarks in an area defined by its complex web of bayous and spoil banks.