Did you know? Island No. 33 was located along the eastern bank of the Lower Mississippi River near mile marker 781.5. Early boatmen often called it Flour Island because so many flatboats that carried barrels of flour left their cargo smashed to smithereens on the island. Flatboats could carry from 200 to 400 barrels of flour, and even after the introduction of the steamboat most of the flour produced in the Ohio valley was floated down by flatboat. New Orleans was the point-of-no-return for the awkward craft. It was more practical to break them up there and sell the lumber than it was to attempt to get them back up the river against the current using manual power. Island No. 33 was removed from the main channel of the river in 1935 when Corps of Engineers created Driver’s Cutoff. What was once the island now lies more than a mile inland. I wonder if anyone ever stumbles across some old barrel staves or hoops in that area?
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 18:03:37 +0000
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