Manchac, Louisiana

Coordinates: 30°17′30″N 90°24′07″W / 30.29167°N 90.40194°W / 30.29167; -90.40194
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Manchac, Louisiana
ZIP code
70421[1]
Area code985
Historical marker in Manchac (Akers), Louisiana
United States Highway 51
. The view is toward the south.

Manchac (also known as Akers) is an unincorporated community in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States.

Etymology

Dr. John R. Swanton, a linguist who worked with Native American languages, suggested that the name Manchac is derived from Imashaka, which is a Choctaw word meaning "the rear entrance."[2][3] An early Choctaw language dictionary written by Cyrus Byington defines the word im as a preposition meaning "place" and ashaka meaning "the back side or rear" [4]

Willie Akers

Willie Akers carried the same name as his father who founded the city of

telegraph operator. The local community became known as "Akers" during this period.[5]

History

Battle of Fort Bute of the American Revolutionary War. Manchac was raided in February 1778 by American forces under the command of James Willing[7]—see related articles, Continental Marines and USS Morris
. Fort Bute/Manchac Post/Mississippi River at Bayou Manchac is 45 miles from Manchac.

The British used Manchac as a trading post with which the British agent in 1772 was reported to attempt to recruit a translator of Quapaw to undermine Spanish authority in Spanish Louisiana. Apparently it was a favorite object of deputy Indian agent John Thomas there.[8]

When the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern railroad was commissioned in 1852, Manchac was one of the stations originally planned, which were generally at ten-mile intervals.[9] Willie Akers' father, William Akers, was the founder and first mayor of the town of Ponchatoula, the next station to the north. Manchac straddles the railway, which, at the start of the 21st century, is part of the Canadian National Railway system.

The area was part of the Expedition to Pass Manchac and Ponchatoula during the American Civil War.

Location

Manchac is located on Lake Maurepas on the Pass Manchac waterway, which connects to Lake Pontchartrain. The Manchac Swamp Bridge on Interstate 55 has exit and entrance ramps for Manchac. Also located here is the Port Manchac Distribution Center, with storage facilities and rail, truck, and water links to the east, west, and north.

Manchac is home to the

U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned the light and abandoned the property in 1987.[10]

Hurricane Isaac destroyed the Pass Manchac Light structure in August 2012. However, the lantern room had previously been removed from the tower, for restoration purposes. Since 2008, Pass Manchac Light's lantern room has been located at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville.[11]

Manchac is known for fishing, duck hunting, seafood restaurants such as Middendorf's, and swamp tours.

References

  1. ^ "Akers ZIP Code". zipdatamaps.com. 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  2. ISBN 978-0-8173-5505-0
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0-8071-4738-2
    .
  4. ISBN 9781878592071
  5. ^ "Tennent Family, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana". usgwarchives.net. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  6. ^ Cazorla, Frank (2919). The governor Louis de Unzaga (1717-1793) Pioneer in the Birth of the United States of America and in Liberalism, Foundation Malaga, pages 42-56, 63, 82-83
  7. ^ Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr.: William Dunbar: scientific pioneer of the old Southwest, University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., 2007, pp. 39-44
  8. ISBN 1-55728-839-9
    .
  9. ^ "New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Stations". Confederate Railroads. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  10. ^ Lighthousefriends.com: Pass Manchac, LA, http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=809, accessed 1 Jun 2010.
  11. ^ Pass Manchac at LighthouseFriends.com accessed 25 Mar 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pass Manchac, Louisiana.
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