Bayou Lafourche ( ), originally called Chetimachas River or La Fourche des Chetimaches, (the fork of the

Chitimacha The Chitimacha ( ; or ) are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans who live in the U.S. state of Louisiana, mainly on their reservation in St. Mary Parish near Charenton on Bayou Teche. They are the only Indigenous people in the st ...

), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed June 20, 2011

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

in southeastern

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, that flows into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. The bayou is flanked by Louisiana Highway 1 on the west and Louisiana Highway 308 on the east, and is known as "the longest Main Street in the world." It flows through parts of Ascension,

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Town ...

, and Lafourche parishes. Today, approximately 300,000 Louisiana residents drink water drawn from the bayou.

History

The name Lafourche is from the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for "the fork", and alludes to the bayou's large outflow of Mississippi River water. The first settlements of

Acadians The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

in southern Louisiana were near Bayou Lafourche and Bayou des Écores, which led to a close association of the bayou with

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

culture. It was formerly a

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

outlet (

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...

), but was dammed at Donaldsonville in 1905. The dam cut off nourishment and replenishment of a huge wetland area of central Louisiana. It changed the formerly flowing bayou into a stagnant ditch. The

Bollinger Shipyards Bollinger Shipyards is an American constructor of ships, workboats and patrol vessels. Its thirteen shipyards and forty drydocks are located in Louisiana and Texas. Its drydocks range in capacity from vessels of 100 tons displacement to 22,000 to ...

, founded by Donald G. Bollinger, was launched on Bayou Lafourche in 1946. On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Lafourche parish. Dam walls at the end of the bayou were closed to prevent a

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

of salt water from entering.

Mississippi River reintroduction

A long-term project to revitalize Bayou Lafourche with an increased flow of fresh water from the Mississippi River and halt the accelerated loss of land down the bayou is currently in progress. In 2016, Bayou Lafourche was dredged from Donaldsonville to

Napoleonville Napoleonville is a village and the parish seat of Assumption Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 660 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area. The village is best known as the lo ...

of vegetation and sediment that constricted the surface area of the water. In Lockport, a water gate was constructed on Bayou Lafourche to mitigate the amount of salt water invading the bayou during periods of low tide. In 2021, a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

was removed in

Thibodaux Thibodaux ( ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 15,948 at the 2020 census. Thibodaux is a principal cit ...

, allowing recreational boating passage through the entire bayou. By 2025, a $96 million pumping station is set to be completed in Donaldsonville, next to the original that was constructed in 1950. The new station will be able to pump three times the amount of fresh water from the Mississippi River than the original and, in turn, return the flow of water throughout the bayou during low tides.

Crossings

From north to south, the following roads and railroads cross the bayou (almost all connecting LA 1 to LA 308): * LA 3089 (Albert Street) in Donaldsonville *

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

Livonia Subdivision in Donaldsonville *Rondinaud Road in Donaldsonville * LA 943 * LA 998 at Belle Rose * LA 70 * LA 403 at Paincourtville * LA 70 Spur *Bridge Street at Plattenville * LA 402, Hospital Rd. at

*former

Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. History Under the influence of ...

(now open to non-motorized traffic) * LA 1008 at

* LA 1010 at Ingleside * LA 1011 at Supreme * LA 1247 at Labadieville * St. John Bridge * LA 3185 *Tiger Drive *former railroad in

* LA 20 (St. Patrick Street) in Thibodaux *Canal Boulevard in Thibodaux *Banker Drive (no motor vehicles) in Thibodaux *Audubon Avenue * LA 648 *Lafourche Crossing,

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

Lafayette Subdivision The Sunset Route is a main line of the Union Pacific Railroad running between Southern California and New Orleans, Louisiana. The name traces its origins to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, a Southern Pacific Railway subsid ...

at Lafourche * LA 649 ( St. Charles Swing Bridge) at St. Charles * Raceland Lift Span Bridge * LA 182 ( Raceland Lift Bridge) at Raceland *

US 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. With the exception of a short-live ...

*former LA 364 * LA 654 ( Champagne-Harrelson Memorial Bridge) * LA 655 ( Rita Bridge) at Lockport * LA 3220 ( Bollinger Bridge) * Valentine Bridge at Valentine * T-Bois Bridge *Former LA 310 Pontoon Bridge at Larose * LA 657 Vertical Lift Bridge at Larose * Le Pont D'or Bridge at Larose * Cote Blanche Bridge at Cut Off * LA 3162 ( South Lafourche Bridge) at Galliano, southern terminus of LA-308 * Galliano Pontoon Bridge at Galliano * LA 308 ( Golden Meadow Lift Bridge) in Golden Meadow * LA 1 ( Gateway to the Gulf Expressway) at Leeville

In popular culture

The film ''

Southern Comfort Southern Comfort (often abbreviated SoCo) is an American, naturally fruit-flavored, whiskey liqueur with fruit and spice accents. The brand was created by bartender Martin Wilkes Heron in New Orleans in 1874, using whiskey as the base spirit. W ...

'' is set on Bayou Lafourche. At the end of the novel ''

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

'' by

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his adopted ...

, protagonist Henry Chinaski quits his job at the Los Angeles post office to "pick up 10 or 20 grand for 3 months trapping at Bayou La Fourche. ..

Muskrat The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habita ...

nutria The nutria (''Myocastor coypus''), also known as the coypu, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' is now included within Echimyidae, the family of ...

, mink, otter... coon. All I need is a

pirogue A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small boats, particularly dugouts and native canoes. The word is French and is derived from Spanish , which comes from the Carib '. Description The term 'pirogue' does n ...

." In

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Network's supernatural-fantasy series, '' The Originals'', the Bayou Lafourche is a major setting and has acted as the home of the

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

encampments for decades after the

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

s exiled them from the city of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. In the film Hard Target, the lead character Chance Boudreaux, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Cajun from Bayou Lafourche in Southern Louisiana.

References

{{authority control Wetlands and bayous of Louisiana Dams in Louisiana Rivers of Louisiana Rivers of Ascension Parish, Louisiana Bodies of water of Assumption Parish, Louisiana Bodies of water of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana Donaldsonville, Louisiana Thibodaux, Louisiana

History

Mississippi River reintroduction

Crossings

In popular culture

See also

References