Floods Threaten Historic Sites, Not Tourist Favorites

Liz Halloran -

There has been good news over the past 24 hours for Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Diversion of rising Mississippi River waters though the Morganza Spillway northwest of the cities and into the Atchafalaya River basin appears to have helped lower the chances that the urban areas will be swamped.

Major tourist attractions and historic sites seem likely to be spared, including a necklace of antebellum-era plantations along the Great River Road. A few, including the white-pillared Nottoway Plantation, posted assurances of their dryness online, along with photos of nearby levees keeping water contained.

But what's good for Plantation Country and the Big Easy has required sacrifice in the rural, swampy area west of the Mississippi. And the toll includes not just homes, displaced residents and the swamping of vast acres of cropland.

It also includes historic and archaeological sites that are likely to be underwater for weeks to come. And state officials are bracing for damage that the diverted water could wreak on those sites.

"The primary concern for damage is relatively close to the spillway and near the channels, where silt could harm sites," says Chip McGimzie, Louisiana's state archaeologist.

Louisiana's Historic Preservation office has also been compiling a list of which of the state's more than 1,200 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places — ranging from buildings to designated districts and landscapes — may be affected.

State officials, however, have noted that the area affected by floodwaters released through the spillway is sparsely populated and, while important, is not chockablock with properties on the National Register. The Morganza release is the first in 38 years.

The vast majority of the area has not been surveyed, McGimzie says, and there's little development in the basin because, bottom line, it's a swamp.

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