Cultural Resources Survey and Testing for Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion, St.Charles Parish, Louisiana. Volume 2

摘要

The Pump Canal site (16SC27) is located within the western portion of LakeCataouatche. The site was included in the investigations of the Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion Project. The actual site location is not shown on any maps in this report in order to avoid facilitating illegal northern bank of the Pump Canal, and east-west channel excavated during the second decade of the twentieth century to drain marshland west of Lake Cataouatche. Material from the canal was placed on top of the in situ archeological deposits at the site. The first documented activity at the site began in 1911 when a group of investors from Holland started the Winter Garden Experimental Farm. Maps and Photographs of the area once occupied by the farm show clearly the square layout of the village and fields that were drained but are now completely flooded by Lake Cataouatche. The farms was located on the west shore of Lake Netherlands in recognition of the newly arrived Dutch farmers promotional literature provided glowing descriptions of the area and of the farming experiment in an attempt to recruit farmers, investors, and businessmen. The demise of the farming experiment was hastened by flooding and hurricanes, culminating in a rather severe storm in 1914. The farm was not a successful venture. In less than three years, the Winter Garden Experimental Farm was defunct. A potential cause of the farm's demise may have been the difficulty of keeping the land dry. The pumps seemingly could not keep the lake waters from seeping into the farmland.