Lake Providence, Louisiana/Stack Island

Lake Providence, Louisiana/Stack Island. Panel #35 Mississippi Riverwalk. , A) Lake Providence, Louisiana , Mile 487.3 AHP , To guide a boat past this point without falling prey to murderous pirates of the area was considered an “act of providence” in the early 1800’s. Both the ancient oxbow lake to the west and the town that grew up on the river bank were named for this divine intervention. The town of Lake Providence became the area’s shipping center during the steamboat era The Union army built a canal between the lake and the Mississippi River as part of the futile project to bypass Confederate batteries at Vicksburg. After the Civil War, the river began to cut into Lake Providence’s waterfront. By 1894, most of the original town had been washed away, and only the newer eastern section remained. When Stack Island joined the Louisiana shore Lake Providence became landlocked almost a mile from the river. A new harbor has since been constructed behind the island, and the town is again an active port. , B) Stack Island , Mile 487.54 AHP
Natchez VII, said to be the finest in the long line of boats of that name, ran aground and sank a the Island in 1889. In 1962, a Corps of Engineers dredge boat scooped up pieces of the Natchez VII, which was lying nine feet deep in the main channel. The channel was dredged to the east to avoid the old wreck. The old Stack Island has joined the Louisiana Shore, and a relatively new sandbar in the channel goes by its name., Photo Credit: Lake Providence Harbor, Louisiana - courtesy of USACE