1971 Map of Taylor Pass

About this map

Breton Sound dominates this coastal orthophotomap, showing the delicate marine environment of Plaquemines Parish in the early 1970s. The landscape is defined by the transition from open water to marshy fragments, with Bird Island sitting as a lonely landmark within the tidal expanse. As an orthophotomap, this sheet provides a photographic record of the shifting silt and shallows of the Mississippi River Delta, where the entire land area is noted as being below five feet in elevation. Significant industrial activity is visible through the presence of an Oil Well and various Platforms scattered across the water, marking the intersection of the Gulf's natural ecology and Louisiana's energy economy. Navigational channels like Taylor Pass and the sheltered waters of Grand Bay illustrate the hydraulic complexity of this subsiding shoreline.