Jourdan River

Jourdan River
Location
Country United States
State Mississippi
Physical characteristics
MouthBay of St. Louis
 • coordinates
30°20′N 89°22′W / 30.34°N 89.36°W / 30.34; -89.36

The Jourdan River is a tidal river in the U.S. state of Mississippi.

Etymology

The Jourdan River is named after Noel Jourdan, who received a land grant in the area from the Spanish Empire.

Hydrology

The river is tidally influenced and contains freshwater. There is 0.1 ppt of dissolved salts in the water. The water is also classed as blackwater.

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.

History

The first inhabitants around the river were Choctaw and Muscogee before the French settled the area. 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.

The Jourdan River is prone to flooding. In 1969, due to Hurricane Camille, floods occurred 20 miles (32 km) upstream of the river. As a result of Tropical Storm Arthur in 2026, floods blocked Mississippi Highway 603 and infiltrated Kiln.

Environment

The mouth of the Jourdan River is a salt marsh. Phragmites australis is found near in this area. The upper reaches of the river have a cypress dome biome.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Early History of the Kiln". Hancock County Historical Society and Museum. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Jourdan River" (PDF). Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  3. 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.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ Heaster, Cody (June 19, 2026). "Jourdan River flooding forces evacuations, cuts off Hwy. 603 access near Kiln". WLOX-TV. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Jourdan River Preserve". Mississippi Land Conservation Assistance Network. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  7. ↑ 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.