Donaldsonville Louisiana
Donaldsonville Louisiana |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Just the FactsNOTE: The data that follows derives primarily from the 1990 U.S. census and as such is a decade out of date. Comparative data for the U.S. at large and for the St. Louis metro area are presented to establish perspective. St. Louis was chosen because it is the largest city on the river as well as smack dab in the middle.
Donaldsonville is geographically significant as the starting point of Bayou Lafourche. This bayou extends down into the heart of southern Louisiana and eventually reaches the Gulf of Mexico at Grand Isle. In times very long past Bayou Lafourche was the Mississippi. The Mississippi's channel jumps around every couple of millennia, and Donaldsonville is located at the point of an earlier jump. The natural swamps and high water table of the region have long made road construction difficult. A bayou on the other hand is the regions ideal way to get around. Because of it's length and strategic location, Bayou LaFourche has long been a principle thoroughfare here in southern Louisiana. From the Mississippi to the Gulf, Bayou Lafourche is 168 kilometers (104 miles) long and connects Donaldsonville with Thibodaux and Houma. With homes, small towns and businesses along it's entire length, its nickname is "the longest main street in America."
As I understand it, Donaldsonville's apparent poverty is at least in part the result of a nearby WallMart. It would seem that in a small town such as Donaldsonville, the opening of a WallMart can have catastrophic effects. In addition to the bayou, Donaldsonville has a magnificent bridge crossing the Mississippi. The Mississippi river bridges in the deep south are unique because they must be high enough over the water to allow ocean going ships to pass under. Some of these bridges are high enough to actually be frightening. Two of the more impressive ones are named after former Louisiana governors: the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans and the Sunshine Bridge here in Donaldsonville. The Sunshine Bridge is named for Louisiana's Singing Governor, Jimmie Davis who served his terms in 1944 and again in 1960. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Governor Davis recorded his hit song, "You are my Sunshine" in 1940. The river in Donaldsonville is hidden behind the levee. From Donaldsonville on now all the way to the Gulf, the only way to see the river is to climb the levee. There is no more natural high ground as there was in Baton Rouge twenty miles up river. During high water, all the surrounding countryside would flood were it not for the levees. Climb the levee and you'll see a massive expanse of blue grey water; you may also see ships on the river. By ships I mean real ocean-going ships that stand 12 stories off the water -- huge ships with anchors as big as a bus. Donaldsonville is in Cancer Alley and the ships carry cargo to and from the industries that line the river banks. Donaldsonville is an old city, preparing to celebrate it's 200th birthday in 2006, it's one of the oldest cities in Louisiana. There is an historic district near the center of town where homes and buildings well over one hundred years old have aged gracefully and are well cared for. I found a tour through Donaldsonville's historic center especially pleasing. The homes and buildings that have been preserved are lived in and used and are integrated into the city at large. This is very different than say Natchez, for example, where showing off their antebellum homes and plantations is a big-money tourist business. Nobody's charging admission in Donaldsonville, and a walk down one of the streets in the city's historic district is likely to earn you an interesting and enjoyable chat with one of the local residents. |
Located on the river about 30 miles south of Baton Rouge, Donaldsonville Louisiana has seen better days, but then so have I. As such I prefer to think that I still have something to contribute, and likewise I'm sure the folks in Donaldsonville still find much about their city to cherish. It's a poor city with only half the per capita income of the national average and more than double the national unemployment rate. Located in Louisiana's Cancer Alley Donaldsonville is right next door to a huge chemical plant of some kind which overshadows the town. Donaldsonville is the county seat, or rather the parish seat (Louisiana has parishes not counties), and in 1830 it served as the state capitol.
Donaldsonville is the heart of sugar cane country. In a mature field of cane, the stalks stand seven to eight feet high and are a rich green grassy color. Isaac and I were fortunate enough on our last visit to arrive during harvest time in early November. Trucks full of cut cane clog the highways and spill pieces of cane as they go until the roadsides are sugar coated. Isaac and I were especially amused at the spilled cane all over the highways since we had just visited the region of the river further north were the roadsides were thoroughly coated with spilled cotton. We wondered if all the spilled cotton and cane could be measured in tons, were it gleaned from the roadsides. We drove past a few cane processing plants where we could catch the smell of molasses in the air.
Donaldsonville's WallMart opened in 1983, and since then fifty downtown shops have closed up and over 200 businesses have failed--a loss of 300 jobs and $400,000.00 in tax revenue to the city. Was it WallMart or some other variable that caused this devastation, for, to a small city like Donaldsonville, the above losses are indeed devastating. In the ten years prior to WallMarts arrival less than four businesses a year failed in Donaldsonville, in the ten years after WallMart, more than twenty businesses a year have failed.
It's a real shame that stopping on the Sunshine Bridge is prohibited, the view from the top (and I do mean top) is a breath stealer. I wonder how many accidents they have a year do to gawkers slowing down on the bridge.