Crossroads, Cutoffs, and Confluences - by Richard Campanella

About the Book

"Richard Campanella's Crossroads, Cutoffs, and Confluences tells the epic story of human settlement in Louisiana, unearthing the original geographical rationales for the formation of hundreds of cities, towns, and villages where most Louisianians live now. Campanella illuminates why these communities formed where they did, be they at river confluences, forks, crossroads, heads of navigation, ferry landings, shortcuts, portages, resource-extraction sites, or railroad stations, and explores other spatial factors that initially attracted settlers. Many of these raisons d'ãetre have faded into the past. People no longer settle in Alexandria, for example, on account of the Red River rapids; nor do they reside in Breaux Bridge because of Breaux's footbridge over Bayou Teche, or in Cut Off because its canal cut off days of arduous travel. Nevertheless, residents of those communities can trace every movement of their lives to those forgotten reckonings, made at a time when history cast those geographies as critical to the comings and goings of their forebears. Readers curious about the origins of Louisiana's cities, towns, and villages can turn to Crossroads, Cutoffs, and Confluences for answers to that most fundamental question of human geography: Why are we here?"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Richard Campanella's Crossroads, Cutoffs, and Confluences tells the epic story of human settlement in Louisiana, unearthing the original geographical rationales for the formation of hundreds of cities, towns, and villages where most Louisianians live now. Campanella illuminates why these communities formed where they did, be they at river confluences, forks, crossroads, heads of navigation, ferry landings, shortcuts, portages, resource-extraction sites, or railroad stations, and explores other spatial factors that initially attracted settlers.

Many of these raisons d'être have faded into the past. People no longer settle in Alexandria, for example, on account of the Red River rapids; nor do they reside in Breaux Bridge because of Breaux's footbridge over Bayou Teche, or in Cut Off because its canal cut off days of arduous travel. Nevertheless, residents of those communities can trace every movement of their lives to those forgotten reckonings, made at a time when history cast those geographies as critical to the comings and goings of their forebears.

Readers curious about the origins of Louisiana's cities, towns, and villages can turn to Crossroads, Cutoffs, and Confluences for answers to that most fundamental question of human geography: Why are we here?

Review Quotes

"Campanella's thorough description of each region includes the layout of the land, historic events and people and evolution through the years. He captures these technical aspects in a clear and engaging voice packed with fascinating facts and historic tidbits. . . . Crossroads, Cutoffs and Confluences functions as a reference text as well as a detailed survey of Louisiana geography and history. Anyone writing about Louisiana should keep this book at the ready for a well-researched resource."--The Advocate

Praise for Crossroads, Cutoffs, and Confluences
"No one has done more than Richard Campanella to enrich our understanding of how geography has sorted New Orleanians across a cityscape once suitable only for seasonal habitation before Europeans re-engineered it into a place of 24/7 permanence. Now, several books into a résumé chock-full of important publications, Campanella has trained his considerable talents on the entirety of Louisiana. . . . Crossroads, Cutoffs, and Confluences is a delight to read, an evergreen book sure to have wide appeal."

--Lawrence N. Powell, author of The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans

Praise for Richard Campanella
"Campanella is a masterful storyteller who makes a technical topic comprehensible through clear, concise writing and by weaving into his narrative juicy political intrigue, rich details, and personal stories of quirky characters, be they settlers, ambitious landowners and investors, engineers, or elected officials."

--New Orleans Times-Picayune/Advocate

About the Author

Richard Campanella is professor of geography and associate dean for research at the Tulane School of Architecture. Recipient of the 2019 Louisiana Writer Award and named Knight in the Order of the Academic Palms by the French government, Campanella has written numerous books and articles about Louisiana history and geography, including Draining New Orleans: The 300-Year Quest to Dewater the Crescent City.