Burrwood was a community located near the far south end of the

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

of the Mississippi River in

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Plaquemines Parish (; French language, French: ''Paroisse de Plaquemine'', Louisiana French: ''Paroisse des Plaquemines'', es, Parroquia de Caquis) is a Parish (subnational entity), parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a populat ...

, United States. At one time the town had an estimated population of 1,000, but today it is uninhabited, with most of its territory fully or partially submerged by coastal erosion. The site of this former community is located at the following coordinates:

History

Burrwood was established and maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers on Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River to serve as a base for dredging operations, jetty work, and other activities required to maintain navigable conditions along this channel. Later, during World War II, the United States created a naval base known as "Section Burrwood Naval Base" to control the presence of enemy ships and submarines in the Gulf of Mexico and to monitor traffic entering the river mouth. The construction of the base began in 1941 and the base was in committee on December 15, 1941, with Lieutenant Commander N.J. Ashley. The Army Corps of Engineers built a tower about high with a platform above the tank that supported the other tower smaller in height. Ships from New Orleans and

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

were inspected here. In 1942, the U.S. Army created pieces of heavy artillery (mobile

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

s) on both sides of the river in Burrwood. The guns had a range of about . The Army also established a second watchtower in South Pass, near Port Eads. The base was capable of supporting not only civilian pilot boats,

tugs A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

, dredgers, patrol boats, but also

submarine hunter A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...

s, mines, PT boats, and ships as large as

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s. Between 1942 and 1965, Burrwood was a United States Weather Bureau and Hurricane Warning Office. There were a row of officer houses for the families, a barracks complex for the unmarried men and a two-room school house for the children of the people who manned the station, as well as local fishermen who lived nearby.

References

{{coord, 28, 58, 05, N, 89, 22, 39, W, type:city, display=title Geography of the New Orleans metropolitan area Ghost towns in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana