Bayou Sara, Louisiana

Extinct settlement, West Feliciana
Louisiana in the American Civil War: Map of course of the Mississippi River from Bayou Sara to Baton Rouge

Bayou Sara was a town in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States until the Mississippi River washed it away in 1927. In the early 1800s it was the most important landing between New Orleans and Natchez, Mississippi.[1] According to the American Guide to Louisiana, Bayou Sara was "founded in 1790 by John H. Mills and Christopher Stewart, who established a trading post on the river which grew into one of the most flourishing ports between Natchez and New Orleans. With the advent of the railroad, trade diminished and the town gradually declined, so that now all that remains of Bayou Sara are a few wooden shacks and a tall, uninscribed monument, and these have been absorbed by St. Francisville."[2] John James Aububon came to Bayou Sara in 1821 and began the nature studies that became the Birds of America.[3]

The town had its own newspaper, the Bayou Sara Sun, prior to the American Civil War.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Bayou Sara Booklet" (PDF). crt.state.la.us.
  2. ^ "Louisiana; a guide to the state, compiled by workers of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Louisiana ... sponsored ..." HathiTrust. 1941. p. 464. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  3. ^ "John James Audubon Bicentennial". WEST FELICIANA TOURIST COMMISSION. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  4. ^ "Bayou Sara Ledger (Bayou Sara, La.) 1842-185?". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2024-08-29.

Further reading

  • Dufrene, Dennis J. (2012). Civil War Baton Rouge, Port Hudson and Bayou Sara: capturing the Mississippi. The History Press Civil War sesquicentennial series. Charleston: The History Press. ISBN 978-1-60949-351-6.


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