Chapter Eight- New Orleans in relation to the Great Lakes and Corn Belt

Mississippi River running through New Orleans (Photo:Sylvia Fischer)



 

The Great Lakes and Corn Belt region of the United States seems about  as different from the area of New Orleans as possible. The Great Lakes and the rivers that are located in this region of the country are central to it's regional identity.The same holds true for New Orleans and its two primary bodies of water: the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain.

The Mississippi River has played a key role in the settlement, growth, economic strength, and importance of New Orleans throughout its long history. The Mississippi enabled New Orleans to become one of the world's greatest ports. As it flows into the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi deposits massive amounts of sediment upon its banks. Over time, the river has shaped much of the waterscape of southeast Louisiana: Lakes Pontchartrain, Borgne, and Maurepas; numerous interconnected brackish bays; and countless secondary rivers, streams, and bayous.

Lake Pontchartrain, the other  notable body of water in the area of New Orleans actually forms the northern border of New Orleans and the surrounding suburbs. A 24 mile long causeway (the longest in the world) skims across the lake, elevated only about 15 feet above the water. The causeway connects Metairie in the south with Mandeville in the north. The lake is about 40 miles long and covers about 600 square miles.

(information sources USA Today and www.hnoc.org)