Bayou Fountain

Bayou Fountain (HM241U)

Location: Baton Rouge, LA 70810 East Baton Rouge Parish
Buy Louisiana State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 30° 20.841', W 91° 4.705'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 482 views
Inscription

Highland Road Community Park

—Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail —

Bayou Fountain was once connected to the Mississippi River when springtime flooding flowed over the natural levees just below downtown Baton Rouge, entering the swamps to the east of the river.Bayou is a word used frequently to describe waterbodies commonly found in Louisiana's Mississippi and Atchafalaya river deltas. Bayous are typically found in flat, low-lying areas and can be slow-moving streams, rivers, marshes or wetlands. Those close to the coast reverse course on a daily basis, responding to tidal influences from the Gulf of Mexico. Bayous are sometimes anabranches, or minor, very slow-moving parts of a braided river—a network of channels separated by small and often temporary islands—and they support a variety of crustaceans, fish, reptiles, birds and mammal life.

Bayou Fountain begins at the foot of the Baton Rouge Lakes just outside of downtown Baton Rouge. The bayou's course flows between the natural levee of the Mississippi River to the west and the Pleistocene terrace to the east. Bayou Fountain was once connected to the Mississippi River when springtime flooding flowed over the natural levees just below downtown Baton Rouge, entering the swamps to the east of the river along Nicholson Drive and continuing on to what is now Old South Baton Rouge. The water would then return to
the Mississippi River through the area where Louisiana State University's main campus is now located, or alternatively, flow southeast through Bayou Fountain and ultimately to Bayou Manchac, Lake Pontchartrain, the Rigolets and the Gulf.

Bayou Fountain was once an important means of transportation for American Indians and early colonial settlers to the area. Its geomorphological position as a waterbody close to a high terrace also made it a favorable location for settlement. In modern times it became a continual victim of urban runoff. Fallen trees and captured debris also made the stream impassable and degraded its flood carrying capacity. Community efforts in recent years have helped to clear several miles of these log and trash jams from Highland Road Park to Bayou Manchac.
Visit Atchafalaya.org for more information about this site.This site's geology/geomorphology: Pleistocene alluvial deposits of coastal plain streams blanketed by Peoria Loess.
Details
HM NumberHM241U
Tags
Placed ByState of Louisiana and National Park Service
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, December 23rd, 2017 at 1:01pm PST -08:00
Pictures
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)15R E 684700 N 3358840
Decimal Degrees30.34735000, -91.07841667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 30° 20.841', W 91° 4.705'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds30° 20' 50.46" N, 91° 4' 42.3" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)225
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling East
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 13600-14098 LA-42, Baton Rouge LA 70810, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. Is this marker part of a series?
  2. What historical period does the marker represent?
  3. What historical place does the marker represent?
  4. What type of marker is it?
  5. What class is the marker?
  6. What style is the marker?
  7. Does the marker have a number?
  8. What year was the marker erected?
  9. This marker could use another picture or two.
  10. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  11. Is the marker in the median?