Old Maps
The more you look at a map, the more it tells you. Old maps are the best because they serve as modern-day, date-stamps giving valuable time and space information that carries details necessary to reconstruct the past. Maps can provide clues about where your ancestors lived and where to start your own sankofa. Many of the towns in NW LA were actually established after the plantations that once thrived in those communities. Places were plantations flourished like Hayti, Plain Dealing, Willowchute, Cashpoint and Coushatta still exist as towns/villages on maps today. It is not uncommon to find many of the streets in the area where plantations once stood baring namesakes like Kingston Rd., Foxwood Rd., Southside Rd., Buckhall Rd., Brownleed Rd., Palmetto Ave., and many others. (see http://www.redriversankofa.org/plantationlocations.html) .
Maps can also helps us understand who lived next door to our ancestors which oftentimes led to the discovery of more ancestors. Understanding the land and possessing maps in an age where modern day landmen knock on your door with contracts promising questionable rewards for your minerals and oil are simply invaluable. I’ve updated the map page with thumbnails, see link below.
Additional maps are located below:
http://www.redriversankofa.org/maps.html