Bayou Teche

The Bayou Teche is a 125-mile long waterway of great cultural significance in south central Louisiana. The Teche begins in Porte Barre were it takes water from Bayou Courtableau and then flows southward to meet the Lower Atchafalaya River at Patterson. During the time of the Acadian's migration to what was then known as the Attakapas region, the Teche was the primary means of transportation. After the levees were built along the Atachafalaya River in the 1930s the Teche, and the rice farms located along the bayou, suffered a drastic reduction in fresh water. Between 1976 and 1982, the United States Army Corps of Engineers built a pumping station at Krotz Springs, Louisiana to pump water from the Atchafalaya River into Bayou Courtableu.

Towns along the Teche include:

• St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
  • Port Barre, Louisiana
  • Leonville, Louisiana
  • Arnaudville, Louisiana
• St. Martin Parish, Louisiana
  • Cecilia, Louisiana
  • Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
  • Parks, Louisiana
  • St. Martinville, Louisiana
• Iberia Parish, Louisiana
  • Loreauville, Louisiana
  • New Iberia, Louisiana
  • Jeanerette, Louisiana
• St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
  • Charenton, Louisiana
  • Baldwin, Louisiana
  • Franklin, Louisiana
  • Patterson, Louisiana