Atchafalaya River

Mile 77.2 - RBD Bayou Chene

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

77.2 RBD Bayou Chene

Bayou Chene is a major West Basin distributary leading off the river at the top of Lower Cow Island on the right bank descending at mile 77.2 You could follow an off-main channel route all the way to Morgan City via Bayou Chene. Bayou Chene leads to Alligator Bayou, whihc goes into Little Gonsoulin Bayou, which leads to the Lake Fausse Pointe Cut. Lake Fausse Pointe Cut follows the West Basin Protection levee back the main channel at Grand Lake where you could either rejoin main channel, or dive into Six Mile Lake to exit via the Wax Lake Outlet.

Bayou Chene was a community settled in the 1830s located about 40 miles north of Morgan City. The U.S. post office was established there in 1858. The settlers there ran a church, a school, a merchandise store and the post office, which were all located on the bayou. In the 1920s it had approximately 500 residents, most of whom had lived there for generations after settling there from other communities both within and outside of Louisiana. They were swampers, lumberjacks, trappers, farmers, fishermen and moss pickers. The community thrived despite occasional flooding until the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 destroyed much of the community. The community rebuilt, but declined afterwards as the construction of the Atchafalaya Spillway levees and dredging of river channels caused repeated flooding of the community. The school was relocated to higher ground in 1945, and closed in 1953, shortly after the post office closed in 1952. Most of the residents left at that time. Today the historical community of Bayou Chene lies under approximately 12 feet of silt. (Wikipedia)

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