Jourdan River
| Jourdan River | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Mississippi |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | Bay of St. Louis |
• coordinates | 30°20′N 89°22′W / 30.34°N 89.36°W |
The Jourdan River is a tidal river in the U.S. state of Mississippi.
Etymology
[edit]The Jourdan River is named after Noel Jourdan, who received a land grant in the area from the Spanish Empire.[1]
Hydrology
[edit]The river is tidally influenced and contains freshwater.[2] There is 0.1 ppt of dissolved salts in the water.[3] The water is also classed as blackwater.[3]
The river feeds into the Bay of St. Louis; it is one of two main sources of freshwater to the bay along with the Wolf River.[3]
History
[edit]The first inhabitants around the river were Choctaw and Muscogee before the French settled the area.[1] In the nineteenth century, the Jourdan River was used for water transportation around Kiln. A shipyard and sawmill were built on the river in this time period.[1]
The Jourdan River is prone to flooding. In 1969, due to Hurricane Camille, floods occurred 20 miles (32 km) upstream of the river.[4] As a result of Tropical Storm Arthur in 2026, floods blocked Mississippi Highway 603 and infiltrated Kiln.[5]
Environment
[edit]The mouth of the Jourdan River is a salt marsh.[6] Phragmites australis is found near in this area.[7] The upper reaches of the river have a cypress dome biome.[2][6]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Early History of the Kiln". Hancock County Historical Society and Museum. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
- 1 2 "Jourdan River" (PDF). Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Wang, Xuri; Cai, Yihua; Guo, Laodong (April 2010). "Preferential removal of dissolved carbohydrates during estuarine mixing in the Bay of Saint Louis in the northern Gulf of Mexico". Marine Chemistry. 119 (1–4): 130–138. Bibcode:2010MarCh.119..130W. doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2010.01.006.
- ↑ Report on Hurricane Camille August 14-22 1969 (PDF) (Report). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District. May 1970. p. 25. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
- ↑ Heaster, Cody (June 19, 2026). "Jourdan River flooding forces evacuations, cuts off Hwy. 603 access near Kiln". WLOX-TV. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
- 1 2 "Jourdan River Preserve". Mississippi Land Conservation Assistance Network. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
- ↑ Peterson, Mark S.; Partyka, Melissa L. (December 2006). "Baseline Mapping of Phragmites australis (Common Reed) in Three Coastal Mississippi Estuarine Basins". Southeastern Naturalist. 5 (4): 747–756. doi:10.1656/1528-7092(2006)5[747:BMOPAC]2.0.CO;2.