Delacroix Island, Louisiana

Delacroix Island
Unincorporated community
Fire station and water tower, Delacroix
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	St. Bernard
Elevation	3 ft (0.9 m)
Coordinates	29°46′07″N 89°47′20″W / 29.76861°N 89.78889°WCoordinates: 29°46′07″N 89°47′20″W / 29.76861°N 89.78889°W
Area	7.9 sq mi (20.5 km^2)
- land	7.3 sq mi (19 km^2)
- water	0.6 sq mi (2 km^2), 7.59%
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code	504
Location of Delacroix Island in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United States

Delacroix Island or Delacroix is an unincorporated community in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, United States.

History

In the 1780s, Spanish Canary Islanders, or Isleños, settled in the area after being given land grants from Spain. After selling their land grants to the planters, the Isleños frequently worked on the plantations they helped to create. Some began to resettle in the easternmost reaches of St. Bernard parish around the 1820s resulting in the firm establishment of Delacroix Island fishing community before the Civil War.

By the 1900s, Yscloskey, Louisiana and Shell Beach, Louisiana near Lake Borgne were thriving communities. Seafood harvested by these fishermen in the 1800s and 1900s supplied New Orleans restaurants with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of shrimp, fish, crabs, and oysters.^[1]

Previously connected to the outside world by boat, in the 1930s a road was constructed to "the island" (in reality an inland area surrounded by marsh and bayous).

Since the 20th century, Delacroix has been regionally famous for fishing and trapping.

Like much of the region, Delacroix was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and its storm surge in 2005. The entire area was flooded, and the majority of buildings completely destroyed.

By 2010, much of this fishing town had been reconstructed, with most new construction elevated high on piers.

Musical references

Referenced in the Bob Dylan song Tangled Up in Blue.

• 
  Trapper and sons with furs to sell, 1941. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott.
• 
  Parish Government Building (originally Delacroix Island School), one of the few buildings not destroyed by Katrina, still empty 5 years later.
• 
  Elevated post-Katrina construction

References

1. www.losislenos.org "St. Bernard Isleños LOUISIANA'S SPANISH TREASURE"