The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 miles (3,770 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 thirteenth-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.
West Baton Rouge Parish is one of the sixty-four parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Established in 1807, its parish seat is Port Allen. With a 2020 census population of 27,199 residents, West Baton Rouge Parish is part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area.
Pointe Coupee Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,758. The parish seat is New Roads.
Morganza is an incorporated village near the Mississippi River in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 610 at the 2010 census, down from 659 in 2000. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village's zip code is 70759. The Morganza Spillway, a flood control structure between the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya Basin, is located nearby.
New Roads is a city in and the parish seat of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The center of population of Louisiana was located in New Roads in 2000. The population was 4,831 at the 2010 census, down from 4,966 in 2000. The city's ZIP code is 70760. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Waterloo is the name of a former town at the upriver juncture of the False River oxbow on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. Founded circa 1820, the community grew as a bustling export center for cotton and sugar cane produced in Pointe Coupee Parish.
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.
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.
Louisiana Highway 10 (LA 10) is a state highway located in southern Louisiana. It runs 255.51 miles (411.20 km) in an east–west direction from U.S. Highway 171 (US 171) south of Leesville to the Mississippi state line east of Bogalusa.
The Morganza Spillway or Morganza Control Structure is a flood-control structure in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located along the western bank of the Lower Mississippi River at river mile 280, near Morganza in Pointe Coupee Parish. The spillway stands between the Mississippi and the Morganza Floodway, which leads to the Atchafalaya Basin and the Atchafalaya River in south-central Louisiana. Its purpose is to divert water from the Mississippi River during major flood events by flooding the Atchafalaya Basin, including the Atchafalaya River and the Atchafalaya Swamp. The spillway and adjacent levees also help prevent the Mississippi from changing its present course through the major port cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans to a new course down the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of Mexico. The Morganza Spillway, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was opened during the 1973 and 2011 Mississippi River floods.
Elliot City is a ghost town that was located in Pointe Coupee Parish's 10th Ward, approximately 6 miles west of Livonia, Louisiana United States. The site of the town itself is located at coordinates 30.555942, -91.662475, and is covered or partially covered by the current U.S. Route 190 roadway.
East Krotz Springs is a ghost town that was located in Pointe Coupee Parish's 1st Ward, approximately 12 miles west of Livonia, Louisiana, United States. The site of the town itself is located at coordinates 30°32'12.87"N, 91°44'24.59"W, and is abandoned. United States Geological Survey maps from 1948 show the town to be located on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River at the mouth of Bayou Sherman, directly across from Krotz Springs, south of the railroad bridge.
McCrea is an unincorporated community on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River in the northwestern portion of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located along Louisiana Highway 417, some distance north of East Krotz Springs. A post office opened here in 1902 but was discontinued in 1954.
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, adjacent to the current location of Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Point Coupee is the name of an unincorporated community located in Pointe Coupée Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the home of St. Francis Chapel and is located along Louisiana Highway 420, north of New Roads.
The Sherburne Complex is a joint land management venture of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that began in 1983. The area consists of 44,000 acres (180 km2), and is managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The complex is located in the Morganza Flood way system of the Atchafalaya Basin about 30 miles (48 km) west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and actually extends a little south of the I-10 Atchafalaya Basin Bridge at Whiskey Bay, Louisiana. The bridge crosses the Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel. Located on the graveled LA 975, the west boundary is on the east side of the Atchafalaya River with the east boundary being the East Protection Levee. The complex stretches just north of old highway 190, and a short distance to the south of I-10. The nearest town is Krotz Springs to the north off US 190.
Louisiana Highway 975 (LA 975) is a gravel state highway in central Louisiana. It runs north–south for 18.4 miles (29.6 km). The southern terminus is at Whiskey Bay in Iberville Parish, and the northern terminus is east of Krotz Springs at a junction with U.S. Route 190 (US 190) and the north, south LA 973, in Pointe Coupee Parish. The entire route traverses the Sherburne Complex WMA, which is a combined Sherburne WMA, Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge, and Bayou Des Ourse, managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The road runs between the Atchafalaya River and Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel on the west and the East Protection Levee on the east.
Atchafalaya is a ghost town that was located in St. Martin Parish, approximately 6 miles north of Butte La Rose, Louisiana, United States and just north of I-10 on the Atchafalaya River. The site of the town itself is located at coordinates 30°20'40.9"N 91°43'26.8"W, and is abandoned. United States Geological Survey maps from 1935 show the town to be located on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River at the Southern Pacific Railroad crossing, which was built in 1908. After the bridge was damaged due to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the railroad from Lafayette to Baton Rouge was abandoned a few years later. With no transportation in and out, the town population began to dwindle, with the last resident leaving in 1959. There is no visible trace of the town left today.
Red Cross is a ghost town that was located in Pointe Coupee Parish's 1st Ward, approximately 12 miles west of Morganza, Louisiana, United States. The site of the town itself is located at coordinates 30°32'12.87"N, 91°44'24.59"W, at the intersection of the southern terminus of Louisiana Highway 417 and Louisiana Highway 10. The town is now abandoned. United States Geological Survey maps from 1948 show the town to be located on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River, directly across from Melville, Louisiana, slightly north of the railroad bridge.
