The Angola Ferry was a small and little-known ferry service that crossed the Mississippi River connecting Lettsworth, Louisiana with the Louisiana State Penitentiary, otherwise known as the Angola Prison. [1] It was considered difficult to access, requiring drivers to branch off the Louisiana Highway 418 on an unmarked gravel road and traveling several hundred yards thereafter. A good portion of the area's population was unaware of its existence because it serves mainly prison personnel traveling to and from work. [2]
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. Its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2,320 miles (3,730 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth-longest and fifteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Lettsworth is an unincorporated community located in the extreme northern tip of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River near its intersection with the Mississippi and Red rivers at the Old River Control Structure. As of 2005, the population is 202. The town's zip code is 70753.
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is named "Angola" after the former plantation that occupied this territory. The plantation was named for the African country that was the origin of many slaves brought to Louisiana.
The ferry was featured prominently in the 2001 film Monster's Ball .
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series, the first of The Fast and the Furious franchise, the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the first of the Ocean's Trilogy, and the first of the Shrek franchise. Significant non-English language films released included Monsoon Wedding and Amélie.
Monster's Ball is a 2001 American romantic drama film directed by Marc Forster and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, who also appear in the film. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, Halle Berry, and Peter Boyle, with Sean Combs, Mos Def, and Coronji Calhoun in supporting roles. Thornton portrays a widowed corrections officer who begins a relationship with a woman (Berry), unaware that she is the widow of a man (Combs) he executed.
Until 1940, a railroad car float crossed the river nearby, operated first by the Angola Transfer Company and then by the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway. [3]
The Angola Transfer Company, organized in November 1906, was a railroad car float operation that primarily ferried cars of the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company across the Mississippi River between Angola and Naples, Louisiana. The route was shortened to Angola-Torras in 1928, when a joint highway-rail bridge was built across the Atchafalaya River at Simmesport, and the LR&N took over the Angola Transfer Company's property in 1929, concurrently with its lease to the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway. The L&A took absorbed the LR&N in 1934, and abandoned the car float in 1940 after the Huey P. Long Bridge opened at Baton Rouge.
The Louisiana and Arkansas Railway was a railroad that operated in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The railroad's main line extended 332 miles, from Hope, Arkansas to Shreveport and New Orleans. Branch lines served Vidalia, Louisiana, and Dallas, Texas.
As of 2016, the Angola Ferry was not operational.[ citation needed ]
West Feliciana Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,625. The parish seat is St. Francisville. The parish was established in 1824.
West Baton Rouge Parish is one of the sixty-four parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,788. The parish seat is Port Allen. The parish was created in 1807.
The Atchafalaya River is a 137-mile-long (220 km) distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River, and is the fifth largest river in North America, by discharge. The name "Atchafalaya" comes from Choctaw for "long river", from hachcha, "river", and falaya, "long".
The Mississippi River Alluvial Plain is an alluvial plain created by the Mississippi River on which lie parts of seven U.S. states, from southern Louisiana to southern Illinois.
The Natchez District was one of two areas established in the Kingdom of Great Britain's West Florida colony during the 1770s – the other being the Tombigbee District. The first Anglo settlers in the district came primarily from other parts of British America. The district was recognized to be the area east of the Mississippi River from Bayou Sara in the south and Bayou Pierre in the north.
The Old River Control Structure is a floodgate system in a branch of the Mississippi River in central Louisiana. It regulates the flow of water from the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya River, thereby preventing the Mississippi River from changing course. Completed in 1963, the complex was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a side channel of the Mississippi known as "Old River", between the Mississippi's current channel and the Atchafalaya Basin, a former channel of the Mississippi. The Old River Control Structure is a complex containing the original low-sill and overbank structures, as well as the auxiliary structure that was constructed after the low-sill structure was damaged during the Mississippi River Flood of 1973. The complex also contains a navigation lock and the Sidney A. Murray Jr. Hydroelectric Station.
The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp, is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atchafalaya River and the Gulf of Mexico converge. The river stretches from near Simmesport in the north through parts of eight parishes to the Morgan City southern area.
Louisiana's 6th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located in south-central Louisiana, the district contains most of the state capital of Baton Rouge, the bulk of Baton Rouge's suburbs, and continues south to Houma. It also includes the western shores of Lake Pontchartrain.
The New Roads–St. Francisville Ferry was a ferry service that connected Louisiana Highway 10 across the Mississippi River between New Roads and St. Francisville, Louisiana, United States. The normal operating hours for the 35-car ferry were 5 am to 9 pm, daily.
The Canal Street Ferry, also known as the Algiers Ferry, is a ferry across the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana, connecting the foot of Canal Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans with Algiers on the West Bank. It carries pedestrians only for $2.00 one way. This increase in price from (formerly) free took effect February 23, 2014. The Crescent City Connection Division of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development operates the ferry. Ferries depart daily from the West Bank on the hour and half hour, beginning at 6 a.m. (06:00) Departures from the East Bank are on the quarter-hour and three quarters hour, the last leaving at 12:15 a.m. (00:15).
The Chalmette–Lower Algiers Ferry is a ferry across the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana, connecting Chalmette and Algiers.
The Edgard–Reserve Ferry was a ferry across the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana, connecting Edgard and Reserve. The ferry was one of three routes then operated by the Louisiana Department of Highways, District 2. The others were the vehicle Luling–Destrehan Ferry and the pedestrian Taft–Norco Ferry. The ferry ceased operation on July 31, 2013.
The Plaquemine Ferry is a ferry across the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana, connecting Plaquemine and Sunshine. The ferry has a current capacity of 35 standard vehicles and operates on the half hour schedule.
Red River Landing was the name of a community located in northern Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The community was located near the Red River and the Mississippi River.
Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW) is a prison for women located in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. It is the only female correctional facility of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Elayn Hunt Correctional Center is immediately west of LCIW. LCIW includes the state's female death row. As of 2017 the prison is temporarily closed due to flooding that occurred in August 2016, and its prisoners are housed in other prisons.
Dixon Correctional Institute (DCI) is a prison facility in Jackson, Louisiana. DCI, a facility of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, is approximately 30 miles (48 km) from Baton Rouge. Dixon is located about 34 miles (55 km) from the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola).
Louisiana Highway 66 (LA 66) is a state highway located in southeastern Louisiana. It runs 19.62 miles (31.58 km) in a general east–west direction from the main entrance of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola to a junction with U.S. Highway 61 (US 61) north of St. Francisville.
C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center (PCC) was a Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections prison for men, located in unincorporated Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of DeQuincy and 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Lake Charles. The center was located on Louisiana Highway 27. It had a capacity of 942 prisoners and was a medium security facility.
Coordinates: 30°56′37″N91°39′12″W / 30.9436°N 91.6534°W
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.
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