Chenal (pronounced Sh Nahl) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located in southeastern

Pointe Coupee Parish Pointe Coupee Parish ( or ; french: Paroisse de la Pointe-Coupée) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,802; in 2020, its population was 20,758. The parish seat is New Roads. Pointe ...

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-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, United States. The word "chenal" is the French word for "channel". The community's name is derived from a body of water located just south of it. This body of water, known as "the Chenal" or "le chenal", is a remnant of the Old

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

channel that once flowed through the area. This channel as well as nearby False River were once parts of the main channel of the Mississippi.

History

The first church to be known in this area as Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was established in the area as a mission in 1853. The church later burned down and was relocated to its current site in

Lakeland, Louisiana Lakeland (french: Terre-du-Lac), is a village in southeastern Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana United States. The area is home to several plantation houses such as Alma and Poydras Plantations. Geography Lakeland is located on False River, in the ...

. The site of the original church, in the area still known as Chenal, is the current location of the Chenal Cemetery. A post office was established in Chenal in 1892. This post office closed down in 1951 when a new post office was set up in Rougon, to service both communities.Lockhart, John M. "Roadmap to the Westside",
The Riverside Reader
'', January 21, 2008, p. 1

Geography

Chenal is situated west of the

, along

Louisiana Highway 414 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-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is border ...

. It is nearly due north of the nearby community of

Rougon Rougon (; oc, Rogon) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department The following is a list of the 198 Communes of France, communes ...

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana Baton Rouge metropolitan area Unincorporated communities in Louisiana