Plaquemine in Iberville Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)
Bayou Plaquemine
Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site
— Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail —
Photographed By Cajun Scrambler, December 9, 2017
1. Bayou Plaquemine Marker
Inscription.
Bayou Plaquemine. Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site. , Upon completion in 1909, The Plaquemine Lock was an engineering marvel thanks to the unique gravity of water flow system that operated the highest fresh water lock in the world.
As a distributary of the Mississippi River and an inland route to the heart of Louisiana through the Atchafalaya Basin, Bayou Plaquemine was used by American Indians as a navigable course centuries before European exploration of the area. From the early 1700s, the bayou served as a commercial transport route, promoting settlement and economic prosperity throughout Louisiana via the Atchafalaya, Red and other rivers.
By the 1800s, a lively steamboat trade had fueled significant growth of the town of Plaquemine. But severe flooding from the Mississippi threatened the area, and eventually a levee was built to separate the bayou from the river. As levee construction caused the river’s water level to grow higher, boats needed a lift to get in and out of lower inland bayous. The Plaquemine Lock solved this shipping problem and reconnected Bayou Plaquemine to the Mississippi.
It took 14 years to build the Plaquemine Lock, which was designed by Colonel George Washington Goethals (who later became chief engineer for the famous Panama Canal). Upon completion in 1909, the structure was an engineering marvel thanks to a unique gravity water flow system that operated the highest fresh water lock in the world at 51 feet. Since there were no lighthouses along the Mississippi River to help guide ships, the “Dutch Castle on the Hill” (as the Plaquemine Lock House was nicknamed) was constructed with reflective white glazed ceramic tiles to make it more visible to river traffic. Once the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was built, the lock served as the northern-most terminal, allowing cargo to be transported from the Mississippi River to the Atchafalaya Basin and then on to Texas.
Increased use during and after World War II eventually put a strain on the Plaquemine Lock, however, and in 1961, a larger lock was completed upriver in Port Allen. The Plaquemine Lock was decommissioned after 52 years of operation. Thirteen years later the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a levee across the mouth of Bayou Plaquemine, permanently closing its access to the Mississippi River.
Once Bayou Plaquemine was separated from the Mississippi, its water quality began to suffer due to low flow capacity. In 2006 the Fresh Water Pump Project began pumping fresh water from the river back into the bayou to improve and support commercial and recreational use, including fishing and boating.
Today the Plaquemine Lock and surrounding 14-acre area is a state historic site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This site’s geology/geomorphology: Holocene natural levee deposits of distributary course of Mississippi River
Upon completion in 1909, The Plaquemine Lock was an engineering marvel thanks to the unique gravity of water flow system that operated the highest fresh water lock in the world.
As a distributary of the Mississippi River and an inland route to the heart of Louisiana through the Atchafalaya Basin, Bayou Plaquemine was used by American Indians as a navigable course centuries before European exploration of the area. From the early 1700s, the bayou served as a commercial transport route, promoting settlement and economic prosperity throughout Louisiana via the Atchafalaya, Red and other rivers.
By the 1800s, a lively steamboat trade had fueled significant growth of the town of Plaquemine. But severe flooding from the Mississippi threatened the area, and eventually a levee was built to separate the bayou from the river. As levee construction caused the river’s water level to grow higher, boats needed a lift to get in and out of lower inland bayous. The Plaquemine Lock solved this shipping problem and reconnected Bayou Plaquemine to the Mississippi.
It took 14 years to build the Plaquemine Lock, which was designed by Colonel George Washington Goethals (who later became chief engineer for the famous Panama Canal). Upon completion in 1909, the structure was an engineering marvel thanks to a unique gravity water flow system
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that operated the highest fresh water lock in the world at 51 feet. Since there were no lighthouses along the Mississippi River to help guide ships, the “Dutch Castle on the Hill” (as the Plaquemine Lock House was nicknamed) was constructed with reflective white glazed ceramic tiles to make it more visible to river traffic. Once the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was built, the lock served as the northern-most terminal, allowing cargo to be transported from the Mississippi River to the Atchafalaya Basin and then on to Texas.
Increased use during and after World War II eventually put a strain on the Plaquemine Lock, however, and in 1961, a larger lock was completed upriver in Port Allen. The Plaquemine Lock was decommissioned after 52 years of operation. Thirteen years later the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a levee across the mouth of Bayou Plaquemine, permanently closing its access to the Mississippi River.
Once Bayou Plaquemine was separated from the Mississippi, its water quality began to suffer due to low flow capacity. In 2006 the Fresh Water Pump Project began pumping fresh water from the river back into the bayou to improve and support commercial and recreational use, including fishing and boating.
Today the Plaquemine Lock and surrounding 14-acre area is a state historic site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This
Photographed By Cajun Scrambler, December 9, 2017
2. Bayou Plaquemine Marker
site’s geology/geomorphology: Holocene natural levee deposits of distributary course of Mississippi River
Erected by State of Louisiana and National Park Service.
Location. 30° 17.548′ N, 91° 14.074′ W. Marker is in Plaquemine, Louisiana, in Iberville Parish. Marker can be reached from Main Street west of Church Street, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 57730 Main Street, Plaquemine LA 70764, United States of America. Touch for directions.
3. Bayou Plaquemine was called Piakemines River in 1775
Bayou Plaquemine was a Chetimachas Indian Settlement in 1775
Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
Also see . . . 1. Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site. (Submitted on February 6, 2018, by Kenneth Ramagost of Unknown, Louisiana.) 2. LCV Cities Tour - Baton Rouge: Preserving Plaquemine Lock. (Submitted on February 20, 2018, by Kenneth Ramagost of Unknown, Louisiana.) 3. Why Maps?. Pictures of Bayou Plaquemine and the Locks.
Also Fort Plaquemine in Plaquemine, La. on slide 24 and many other old Iberville Parish pictures. So far this is the only picture of the fort that could be found which is a drawing. After the Plaquemine pictures, next set of slides have White Castle pictures, other towns and Churches, etc.
Heartbreaking to see several blocks of grand houses and mansions a few feet south of the bayou in Plaquemine disappear into the Mississippi River. (Submitted on April 30, 2018, by Kenneth Ramagost of Unknown, Louisiana.)
December 9, 2017
4. Bayou Plaquemine Lock structure
Photographed By Kenneth Ramagost
5. Bayou Plaquemine and Mississippi, where the American Revolution was declared by Bernardo De Galvez
Bayou Plaquemine intersection with the Mississippi River (considering the Mississippi River moved over the years) is where an historic event took place in 1779, Bernardo de Gálvez informed his troops of the Spanish Declaration of War against the English and they cheered, attacking the English a few miles upstream at Fort Bute (Fort Manchac). Fourteen hundred and thirty men including 80 free Blacks and 160 Indians marched with Gálvez. These troops marched on both sides of the river with Gálvez on the east bank and were accompanied by one schooner with three gunboats. Next, they moved north to the Battle of Baton Rouge and this march was the Western Front of the American Revolution in the Mississippi River Valley including 5 states of the Northwest Territories bordering the Great Lakes. His troops were fed with 10,000 cattle driven from Texas and there is a strong indication many were penned a few miles south of what is now known as Bayou Goula, then called Cow Pen as shown in a 1775 map. See historical marker Bayou Goula (item 4) map showing the original name of Bayou Goula. Also Continental Congress Agent Oliver Pollock joined with Gálvez before his attack of Fort Manchac and planned with Gálvez many of his military attacks. See Oliver Pollock Historical Marker item 5 showing he contributed nearly $1 billion in today's money to help fight in the Northwest Territories with him becoming financially broke and jailed in a Caribbean island. A must-read very sad story of this American Revolutionary hero, Gálvez paid to release Mr. Pollock out of Jail.
Credits. This page was last revised on November 23, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 9, 2017, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 1,049 times since then and 62 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on December 9, 2017. 3. submitted on January 3, 2019, by Kenneth Ramagost of Unknown, Louisiana. 4. submitted on December 9, 2017. 5. submitted on August 3, 2018, by Kenneth Ramagost of Unknown, Louisiana.
