Published by the Mississippi River Commission in 1977, Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River has become a much sought after reference. Now out of print and scarce, this on-line reference provides the complete text as PDF format and offers added value of scanned photos and maps as additional scanned separates.

The Mississippi River is the third largest river in the world. It is the fabled river of Native Americans, Marquette and Joliet, Mark Twain, and steamboat pilots. Man's modern relationship with the Mississippi River began by using the river as the focal point for commerce, trade, and transportation. From the 1700's by canoes and then by ferrys and steam boats into the 1930's.

The river has played and will continue to play an essential role in our nation's past, present, and future. Some favorable locations along the river, such as landings and river confluences grew into settlements, which grew into towns, which grew into cities. Other locations fell into disuse and were relegated into becoming place names and named landmarks with lost purpose and meaning.

This publication traces the lower Mississippi River from its beginning at Mile 953.8 Above Head of Passes (AHP) below Cairo, Illinois at the confluence of the much smaller upper Mississippi and the larger Ohio River to the Head of Passes where the Mississippi divides into smaller passes to the Gulf some twenty miles further south. Along the way, the facts, tales, and stories of places are combined to tell the formative events for locations along the river.

The Mississippi River has played and will continue to play an essential role in our nation's past, present, and future.

The National Cemetery at Port Hudson, LA contains the graves of 3,804 Union soldiers. Only 582 of the remains were identified; the rest are buried in graves marked "Unknown." Read more about Port Hudson, in the publication, page 204.