Author’s note: This is the third in a series exploring the coastal communities that once surrounded greater New Orleans, principally along the brackish waters of the tidal lagoon known as Lake Pontchartrain. In previous months, we looked at Spanish Fort and Milneburg; today, we examine their neighbor to the west. Though utterly transformed today, these hamlets remind us that New Orleans, a riverine and deltaic city, may also be considered a coastal city.

To most New Orleanians of the 1800s, Lake Pontchartrain represented two things. First, it abounded in natural resources, including fish and game, oysters and rangia shells, as well as timber, firewood and clay from the piney woods on the other side. Second, the brackish bay was a recreational destination, where fresh breezes

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