Torras is the name of a former town in the extreme northeastern corner of
Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana
Pointe Coupee Parish ( or ; ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,758. The parish seat is New Roads.
Pointe Coupee Parish is part of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana Metropolitan Sta ...
, United States. The town was located along either side of the Texas & Pacific Railroad at its juncture with Lower
Old River. The
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
is located just to the east and the juncture of the
Red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
and
Atchafalaya River
The Atchafalaya River () is a distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River of the South, Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River, and is the fifth largest river in N ...
s just to the west.
The community was founded in 1902 and named after pioneer area planter Joseph Torras. Joseph Torras was born in
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...
in 1820 and was the great-uncle of Fernando Joseph Torras who was famous for building bridges around the world, most notably the
F.J. Torras Causeway in Brunswick, GA. He immigrated to the United States as a young man. Before settling in Pointe Coupee in 1845, he had lived in
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...
and
Van Buren, Arkansas
Van Buren ( ) is the second-largest city in the Fort Smith metropolitan area, Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is lo ...
. He and his brother purchased the
plantation of Bennet Barton Simmes and opened the firm of M & J Torras.
The town of Torras was expected to develop into an important shipping and rail center, due to its excellent location. Disaster struck, however, on May 1, 1912, when the levee in front of the town gave way during the great Mississippi River flood of that year. The community was virtually destroyed as the flood waters poured south through Pointe Coupee Parish as well as into
West Baton Rouge,
Iberville and
Assumption Parish
Assumption Parish (, ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,039. Its parish seat is Napoleonville. Assumption Parish was established in 1807, as one of the original parishes of the ...
es. Some 17,000 residents of Pointe Coupee were forced from their homes and at least 28 persons drowned, principally in the
Lettsworth,
Batchelor and Erwinwille communities to the south of Torras.
The community of Torras was moderately rebuilt and withstood the high water of the
Great Flood of 1927, when a levee break occurred nearby at the
McCrea community on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River. With the relocation of the railroad in later years, however, the community of Torras ceased to exist and there are no buildings left to mark its former location.
[Lockhart, John M. "Roadmap to the Westside", ]
The Riverside Reader
', January 21, 2008, p. 10
References
{{Authority control
Baton Rouge metropolitan area
Ghost towns in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana