NewRoadsandOldRiverscapturesthenaturalandculturalvitalityofPointeCoupeeParish,Louisiana,asseeninthestunningphotographsofRichardSexton,withtextbyRandyHarelsonandBrianCostello.PointeCoupeeisoneoftheoldestsettlementsintheMississippiValley,datingtothe1720s.Frenchfor“aplacecutoff,“thenamereferstothearea’sthreeoxbowlakes,separatedfromtheMississippiovercenturies.EdgedbytheMississippiandAtchafalayarivers,PointeCoupeeremainsalandrichinCreoleheritage,distinctingeographicalbeauty,andaboundinginhistorichomesandfarms.In200colorimages,Sextonartisticallyportraystheregion’ssights:NativeAmericanmounds,bayousandlakes,productiveagriculturalfieldsandindustries,slavecabinsandplantationhomes,smalltowns,andfamilyandciviccelebrations.PhotographsincludemostofPointeCoupee’sseventysurvivingantebellumstructures,alongwithsomeofitssixty-twomassivetreeslistedontheLiveOakSocietyregister.Atimelineofkeyeventssituatestheparish’shistorywithinthewiderworld.FromthePointeCoupeeCoast--whereintheearly1700sexplorers,soldiers,missionaries,colonists,andenslavedandfreepeopleofcolorbegansettlingthebanksoftheMississippiRiver--totheAcadianaTrail--US-190,theonlyfour-lanehighwayintheparish--NewRoadsandOldRiversilluminatesthehistoryandculturalfoundationsoftheentirestate.ThisarrestingportraitofOldLouisianahonorsPointeCoupeegenerations,pastandpresent.
