Avoca Island

Last updated

Avoca Island is an island located off the Intracoastal Waterway in the Morgan City Bayous near Morgan City, Louisiana, United States. It is home to many wildlife species. Part of the island is industrialized following the slow expansion of the city. Over 400 head of cattle reside on the island and Jim Bowie once herded cattle here in the nineteenth century. John Thompson received Avoca Island as a land bounty in 1870. The federal government gave no bounty land for service after 1855, but Union veterans of the Civil War received special homestead rights in 1870, when an amendment to the 1862 Homestead Act gave them the right to claim 160 acres within railroad grant areas (other homesteaders got only 80). Thompson and his family worked the land as fishers, hunters, and trappers until his death in 1915. His widow, unable to pay the taxes on the land,lost the land shortly thereafter. [1]

The island is also home to the Avoca Duck Club, founded in 1937. [2]

After the discovery of oil, the African American residents of Avoca Island were kicked off by officials and their houses dozed. Oil companies were then allowed to drill for oil on the island. The island today is home to only one resident with one ferry that brings people on and off the island. Alongside oil companies, a few private hunting clubs also have interests there. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bossier City, Louisiana</span> City in Louisiana, United States

Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a total population of 62,701 up from 61,315 in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prudence Island</span>

Prudence Island is the third-largest island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island and part of the town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, United States. It is located near the geographic center of the bay. It is defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block Group 3, Census Tract 401.03 of Newport County, Rhode Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 278 people living on a land area of 14.43 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Ranch</span> Largest ranch in Texas

King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some 825,000 acres it is larger than the state of Rhode Island and country of Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the Triple Crown winning racehorse Assault.

This is a broad outline history of the state of Montana in the United States.

Pecan Island is an unincorporated community with a population of about 300 located in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located directly under the southern peak of White Lake and two ridges comprise the island, which are actually cheniers or "ridges of high ground" in the coast marsh. There is minimal land in the region, with the island being "an old Gulf beach, composed of crushed shells and sand".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter French</span>

Peter French was a rancher in the western United States in the late 19th century. The community of Frenchglen, Oregon was partially named for him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Juan (1985)</span> Category 1 Atlantic hurricane in 1985

Hurricane Juan was a large and erratic tropical cyclone that looped twice near the Louisiana coast, causing widespread flooding. It was the tenth named storm of the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season, forming in the central Gulf of Mexico in late October. Juan moved northward after its formation, and was subtropical in nature with its large size. On October 27, the storm became a hurricane, reaching maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h). Due to the influence of an upper-level low, Juan looped just off southern Louisiana before making landfall near Morgan City on October 29. Weakening to tropical storm status over land, Juan turned back to the southeast over open waters, crossing the Mississippi River Delta. After turning to the northeast, the storm made its final landfall just west of Pensacola, Florida, late on October 31. Juan continued quickly to the north and was absorbed by an approaching cold front, although its moisture contributed to a deadly flood event in the Mid-Atlantic states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atchafalaya Basin</span> Largest wetland and swamp in the United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heffley Creek</span>

Heffley Creek is a neighbourhood of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada along Highway 5. The city's northernmost community, it is bordered by the North Thompson River to the west, Sun Peaks to the east, Rayleigh to the south, and Vinsulla to the north. It contains a general store, community hall and elementary school. Along with the Rayleigh neighborhood, it is physically separated from the rest of Kamloops by the Thompson River and by the Kamloops Indian Reserve; Heffley Creek is located within the limits of the City of Kamloops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knotts Island, North Carolina</span>

Knotts Island is a marshy island and a small unincorporated community. The island is shared by Currituck County, North Carolina and Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States, bounded by the Currituck Sound, North Landing River, Back Bay, and Knotts Island Bay. Knotts Island is home to Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge. Knotts Island is accessible overland from Virginia Beach using Princess Anne Road, or by water from the Currituck County mainland; the North Carolina Department of Transportation operates a free ferry between Knotts Island and Currituck on the mainland. The ZIP Code for Knotts Island is 27950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical Storm Cindy (1963)</span> Atlantic tropical storm in 1963

Tropical Storm Cindy was a strong tropical storm which impacted portions of the United States Gulf Coast in September 1963. The third named storm of the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season, Cindy developed within a trough as a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico on 16 September. The disturbance quickly intensified, with a distinct eye becoming visible on satellite imagery as it drifted north-northwestwards toward the Texas coastline. After peaking with 1-minute maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h), it made landfall at High Island on the morning of 17 September at peak strength with an atmospheric pressure of 997 mbar. Cindy remained nearly stationary for almost a day, dropping copious rainfall over the Texas coastal plain, before finally turning west-southwestward and dissipating west of Corpus Christi on 20 September.

Mockhorn Island Wildlife Management Area is a 7,356-acre (29.77 km2) Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Northampton County on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The larger of its two tracts is Mockhorn Island, a 7,000-acre (28 km2) island separated from the mainland Eastern Shore and the Virginia Barrier Islands by shallow bays and consisting mainly of tidal marshland along the Atlantic coast; in addition, the area contains a 356-acre (1.44 km2) tract of marsh and upland areas on the mainland. Much of Mockhorn Island is submerged except at low tide. Although much of the island is composed of periodically inundated cordgrass, several hummocks that remain above water host loblolly pine, eastern redcedar, southern wax myrtle, greenbriar, honeysuckle, and poison ivy. The area intends to preserve the natural state of the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">False River (Louisiana)</span>

False River is an oxbow lake located in southeastern Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana centered at 30°38′19″N91°29′04″W This lake was once the main channel of the Mississippi River in this area, but was cut off in about 1722 when seasonal flooding cut a shorter channel to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wax Lake</span>

Wax Lake was a lake in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana that was converted into an outlet channel, the Wax Lake outlet, to divert water from the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of Mexico.

William Plutarch Vandevert was a western adventurer, cattleman, and Central Oregon pioneer. After travels in California, Texas, and Arizona, he established a cattle ranch fifteen miles (24 km) south of present-day Bend, Oregon, before the founding of Bend or surrounding Deschutes County. He blazed trails through the Cascade Mountains and was a renowned bear hunter. He fathered eight children, including three doctors, and was a leading citizen of Central Oregon for many years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Andrew</span> Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 1992

Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged or destroyed, and remained the costliest in financial terms until Hurricane Irma surpassed it 25 years later. Andrew was also the strongest landfalling hurricane in the United States in decades and the costliest hurricane to strike anywhere in the country, until it was surpassed by Katrina in 2005. In addition, Andrew is one of only four tropical cyclones to make landfall in the continental United States as a Category 5, alongside the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, 1969's Camille, and 2018's Michael. While the storm also caused major damage in the Bahamas and Louisiana, the greatest impact was felt in South Florida, where the storm made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, with 1-minute sustained wind speeds as high as 165 mph (265 km/h) and a gust as high as 174 mph (280 km/h). Passing directly through the city of Homestead in Dade County, the hurricane stripped many homes of all but their concrete foundations. In total, Andrew destroyed more than 63,500 houses, damaged more than 124,000 others, caused $27.3 billion in damage, and left 65 people dead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Robertson</span> American professional hunter, businessman and reality television star

Phil Alexander Robertson is an American professional hunter, businessman, and reality television star on the popular television series Duck Dynasty. He is also featured on the television show Duck Commander, a hunting program on the Outdoor Channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauna of Louisiana</span> State ecology

The fauna of Louisiana is characterized by the region's low swamplands, bayous, creeks, woodlands, coastal marshlands and beaches, and barrier islands covering an estimated 20,000 square miles, corresponding to 40 percent of Louisiana's total land area. Southern Louisiana contains up to fifty percent of the wetlands found in the Continental United States, and are made up of countless bayous and creeks.

Lake Palourde, or Palourde Lake is an 11,520-acre (4,660 ha) lake in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, adjacent to Morgan City, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford Island</span> Island in California

Bradford Island is a 2,172-acre (879 ha) island of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, in Contra Costa County, California, United States. Bradford Island is inaccessible by roads, and is served by a ferry across the False River from nearby Jersey Island. Approximately 48 people lived on the island as of 2020; other uses of land include wheat farming, cattle grazing, and natural gas extraction.

References

  1. Pacetti, Godwin (25 December 2022). (Interview). Interviewed by V Pacetti-Donelson. pending verification NARA records request=.{{cite interview}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. Kemp, John. Vanishing Paradise: Duck Hunting in the Louisiana Marsh. p. 15. ISBN   9781455613526 . Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  3. STAFF (2008-12-03). "At $270,000 per year to operate, ferry is a drain on parish". The Times of Houma/Thibodaux. Retrieved 2022-09-12.

Coordinates: 29°39′23″N91°08′45″W / 29.65639°N 91.14583°W / 29.65639; -91.14583