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The story of New Orleans is dominated by the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. For the past 100 years it has also been the story of the US Army Corps of Engineers trying to dominate the river.

When French explorers came to the area 300 years ago they faced a dilemma. To gain access to the vast American heartland they needed a port where river traffic could be transfered to ocean going sailing vessels.  They needed a settlement and port facilities where the river met the sea.  Baton Rouge, the first really solid ground up river from the delta, was 200 miles inland. Mobile which they had settled in 1699 was 150 miles to the east. Near the mouth of the river the land was swampy and unstable. The river's current made it difficult for sailing ships to penetrate far inland.

After a twenty year search, the French decided an Indian portage on high ground between the river and Lake Pontchartrain was the best  location for the much needed port.Shallow draft sailing ships could enter Lake Pontchartrain through the Rigolets and then sail into Bayou St. John. The final leg to the Mississippi River was only a two mile portage across high ground providing access to the interior of the continent.

 
In 1718 the French, operating out of Mobile, established New Orleans on a natural levee of the Mississippi. The location was isolated by swamps to the east, north and west and by the river to the south. They referred to it as the "Isle de Orleans."

The site turned out to be suitable as a deep water port serving the entire Mississippi River basin. It expanded slowly under French and Spanish rule but grew explosively after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. In 1840 New Orleans was America's third largest city trailing only New York and Baltimore. By 2005 it was still the nation's 35th largest metropolitan area but had entered a period of decline and didn't seem likely to emerge without drastic change.

Click the satellite image to see the portage. It starts just left of the Fairgrounds (horse racing and Jazz Fest) and extends for about thirty city blocks on a straight line to the southeast (straight up Esplanade) to the river at Gov. Nicholls. The original portage starts at the intersection of Bell Street and Bayou St. John then follows Bayou Road to the Governor Nicholls wharf. The route runs roughly parallel to Esplanade Avenue from the Fairgrounds to the River.



  • Geological Time : The geology of the Mississippi River's Upper Basin :: Continue reading...
  • 10,000 Years at the Mouth of the River : :: Continue reading...
  • 300 Years of flooding : New Orleans floods. People adapt to the flooding, prepare for it, resist it and :: Continue reading...
  • Climate : It is hot from May through September every year. That means 90's during :: Continue reading...
  • Corps of Engineers : Over the past hundred years the role of the Corps of Engineers :: Continue reading...
  • High Ground and Back Swamps : As the city grew, the high ground along the :: Continue reading...
  • Levees and Pumps : Levees were built along the river from the earliest days to :: Continue reading...
  • Oil and Gas : Louisiana has some of the nation's richest oil and gas reserves and has :: Continue reading...
  • Port : New Orleans is one of America's leading general cargo ports. If you :: Continue reading...
  • Stable or Sinking? : 1/2 inch per year average sinking across the region, 1/5th inch per year in the most stable parts of town, more than an inch in some areas including the levees themselves, this is a formula for disaster. :: Continue reading...
  • Waterways : The river made New Orleans great. Drainage made it livable. Before the :: Continue reading...
  • Wetlands : The coastal wetlands provide a buffer between the city and the sea. A couple of :: Continue reading...

  • 100 years ago the US Army Corps of Engineers took over the responsibility for controlling river flooding and enhancing navigation. In 1965, after Hurricane Betsy flooded parts of the city, the Corps assumed the mission of establishing a hurricane protection system.


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    Created : 11/1/2005 2:15:38 AM Updated: 9/8/2013 7:17:44 PM

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