SHERBURNE

NAME: Sherburne COUNTY: Pointe Coupee Parish (not County) ROADS: 2WD GRID: 6 CLIMATE: Mild moderatley wet winters, moderately hot to hot, humid summers with almost daily afternoon convective showers. BEST TIME TO VISIT: Any time

COMMENTS: Permanent residents: Zero. Town site is now the headquarters site of Sherburne Wildlife Management Area (Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries) since ca. 1983. As with all La. WMAs, Sherburne WMA was formerly open to the public free of charge, but now requires a $2 daily fee or $5 annual wildlife stamp or hunting or fishing license (which may be waived if merely driving through on state highway 975 and perhaps if only visiting the HQ and town site area. Inquire at HQ. Accessible from I-10, ca. 15 miles north of Whiskey Bay Exit (# 127) on LA SR 975; or via US 190 ca. 3 miles South of Krotz Springs onto LA SR 975 to sign for Sherburne WMA HQ on east side of road. Town site extended from road or Atchafalaya River bank to approximate end of clearing behind present-day buildings. REMAINS: Remains: ruins of wooden buildings, steel equipment, and huge sawdust pile were still visible in 1980s; now mostly removed. Some sawdust, concrete, and steel still visible. Majority of former town site still remains cleared and mown. Hq buildings lie in midst of cleared, mown former town site.

Former logging camp and sawmill town founded 1880s along Atchafalaya River deep within the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest freshwater swamp (wooded wetland) in North America. Large, ancient cypress forests were largely logged and removed by 1900; remaining bottomland hardwoods mostly cleared and removed by 1930s. Town site is now the headquarters site of Sherburne Wildlife Management Area (Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries). Submitted by: David B. Crider

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