Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site


Plaquemine Lock
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

A view of the lock on a sunny day.
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Location	U.S. Government Reservation at confluence of Bayou Plaquemine and the Mississippi River, Plaquemine, Louisiana
Coordinates	30°17′37″N 91°13′56″W / 30.29361°N 91.23222°W / 30.29361; -91.23222
Area	14 acres (5.7 ha)
Architect	Goethals, Col. George W.
NRHP reference No.	72000554^[1]
Added to NRHP	May 19, 1972

Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site, located in Plaquemine, Louisiana, commemorates an early example of hydraulic engineering design and the historic significance of Bayou Plaquemine, an important navigable waterway that was once a distributary of the Mississippi River. Bayou Plaquemine promoted settlement beginning in the 18th century and helped the area economically by providing an access route between southwestern Louisiana (and thus Texas) and the Mississippi via the Atchafalaya Basin.^[2]

The lock itself was designed by Colonel George Washington Goethals of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, who later served as chief engineer of the construction of the Panama Canal Lock, and went on to be the Canal Zone's first governor. Plaquemine Lock was opened on April 9, 1909, after 14 years of construction. When it was built, Plaquemine Lock was the highest freshwater lift of any lock in the world. The lock initially utilized a gravity-flow principle until pumps were installed years later.

The lock was closed after 52 years of service in 1961 due to increased river traffic and the demand for a larger lock, which opened thereafter in Port Allen. The Plaquemine Lock structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Today, the Gary James Hebert Memorial Lockhouse serves as an on-site museum and visitors center. It is named for the man who led the way to help preserve the Lock site, which today covers 19 acres (7.7 ha).

References

[edit]

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ "Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site". lastateparks.com. Retrieved January 23, 2023.

External links

[edit]

Media related to Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site at Wikimedia Commons

Plaquemine Lock Historic Site - official site

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Protected areas of Louisiana

Federal

National Historical Parks	Cane River Creole Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve New Orleans Jazz
National Monuments	Poverty Point
National Marine Sanctuary	Flower Garden Banks
National Forests	Kisatchie
National wild and scenic rivers	Saline Bayou
National Wildlife Refuge System	Atchafalaya Bayou Cocodrie Bayou Sauvage Bayou Teche Big Branch Marsh Black Bayou Lake Bogue Chitto Breton Cameron Prairie Cat Island Catahoula D'Arbonne Delta East Cove Grand Cote Handy Brake Lacassine Lake Ophelia Mandalay Red River Sabine Shell Keys Tensas River Upper Ouachita

State

State Parks	Bayou Segnette Bogue Chitto Chemin-A-Haut Chicot Cypremort Point Fairview-Riverside Fontainebleau Grand Isle Hodges Gardens Jimmie Davis Lake Bistineau Lake Bruin Lake Claiborne Lake D-Arbonne Lake Fausse Pointe North Toledo Bend Palmetto Island Poverty Point Reservoir St. Bernard Sam Houston Jones South Toledo Bend Tickfaw
State Historic Sites	Audubon Centenary Fort Jesup Fort Pike Fort St. Jean Baptiste Forts Randolph & Buhlow Locust Grove Longfellow-Evangeline Los Adaes Mansfield Plaquemine Lock Port Hudson Poverty Point Rebel State Rosedown Plantation Winter Quarters
State Preservation Area	Louisiana State Arboretum
State Forests	Alexander Indian Creek
State Wildlife Refuges	Elmer's Island Marsh Island Rockefeller St. Tammany State Terrebonne Barrier Islands White Lake Wetlands
Wildlife management areas	Acadiana Conservation Corridor Atchafalaya Delta Attakapas Barataria Preserve Bayou Macon Bayou Pierre Ben Lilly Conservation Area Ben's Creek Big Colewa Bayou Big Lake Biloxi Bodcau Boeuf Bonnet Carré Spillway Buckhorn Camp Beauregard Catahoula Lake Clear Creek Dewey Wills Elbow Slough Elm Hall Esler Field Floy Ward McElroy Fort Polk Grassy Lake Hutchinson Creek Indian Bayou Jackson Bienville J. C. "Sonny" Gilbert Wildlife Management Area Joyce Lake Boeuf Lake Ramsey Savannah Little River Loggy Bayou Manchac Marsh Bayou Maurepas Swamp Old River Control Ouachita Pass A Loutre Pearl River Peason Ridge Pointe-aux-Chenes Pomme de Terre Richard K. Yancey Russell Sage Sabine Sabine Island Salvador/Timken Sandy Hollow Sherburne (See: Atchafalaya Delta) Soda Lake Spring Bayou Tangipahoa Parish School Board Thistlethwaite Three Rivers Tunica Hills Union Walnut Hill West Bay

Other

Private	Bird City Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary
City	Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center

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