Geography
In The
News™
Neal G.
Lineback
THE PORT OF
NEW ORLEANS
AND ITS
HINTERLAND
Much has been reported recently about
Hurricane Katrina's tragic impacts on
New Orleans and it citizens. Little,
however, has been said about the potential
impacts of the loss of the Port of New
Orleans on the city's hinterland.
Hurricane Katrina devastated New
Orleans' port and the support facilities
associated with it, including the rail
network, storage warehouses, cargo yards
and offices. The Port of New Orleans
serves an incredibly large U.S. hinterland,
particularly for outgoing agricultural
goods and incoming manufactured goods.
Grain, wood products and chemicals are
prevalent exports, but New Orleans
clearly controls the flow of water transportation for the entire Mississippi Valley.
How did the city achieve dominance
among Gulf ports?
handled $325 million in trade, most of
which was cotton. But imports were
increasing exponentially. By the late 1800s,
New Orleans was second only to New
York in the volume of fruits imported.
World War II and its aftermath in the
1940s brought a particular growth spurt to
the Port of New Orleans and the growth
has continued unabatedly. The Port of
New Orleans now owns more than 1,000
acres along the city's industrial canal and
another 450 along the Mississippi River
Gulf outlet. Up until the disaster created
by Hurricane Katrina, the State of Louisiana claimed the Port of New Orleans as
the largest U.S. port and the third largest
in the world. According to the Miami
Herald (Sept 8, 2005), nearly 60 percent of
U.S. exported grain production went
through the Port of New Orleans before
Hurricane Katrina hit the area.
With the U.S. agricultural harvests now
under way, the loss of the Port of New
Orleans, even temporarily, is creating a
major disruption, as export companies
struggle to get their products to international markets. Although the 2005 wheat
harvest has ended, corn and
soybean harvests are just
the Mississippi
beginning.
In
addition,
railroad traffic patterns will
Mississippi River Basin
have to be changed to accomNavigable Heads of Water
modate the flow of agricultural products to other ports,
Minneapolis
if available.
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Since the earliest French settlements
and New Orleans' establishment in 1718,
the city was considered the gateway to the
Mississippi Valley. By the early 1800s,
sugar and cotton were arriving down-
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The term hinterland is a geographic term
that refers to the surrounding area of
interaction, also called a trade
or service area. These are
somewhat imperfect terms,
as it is often difficult to draw
a line around the geographical area served by a city. In
part, this is because cities
serve their surrounding
populations with a large
range of goods and services,
including gasoline sales at
neighborhood
filling
stations, brain surgery at a
regional
hospital
and
international trade opportunities at ports and free trade
zones.
through the Hudson-Mohawk valleys. San
Francisco, likewise, controls an incredible
West Coast harbor at the entrance to San
Francisco and Oakland bays and the
Central Valley of California that makes up
part of its hinterland. New Orleans is in a
similar geographic position on the U.S.
Gulf Coast.
Tulsa
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R iv
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Knoxville
Of equal or greater
concern is the manufacturing
sector of the economy, as
industries accustomed to
utilizing the Port of New
Orleans to export their goods
now must adjust to whatever
new transportation patterns
they can find.
Without even mentioning
the Port of New Orleans' in
situ losses of goods and
0
400 mi
equipment to Katrina, the
0
400 km
New
loss or diminished availabilOrleans
ity of the port through this
©2005
fall may present an extreme
Source: University of Texas
Geography in the News 9/23/05
Department of Geography and the Environment
C. Knoll
economic hardship on all
sectors of the economy across
the South, Midwest and Great
Sources:
Plains. Consequently, special
http://www.portno.com/PortRecord.pdf
emphasis on bringing the port
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12585180.htm
back to full operation will be an
essential part of New Orleans'
recovery from Katrina.
stream by steamboat for shipment to
Most cities are situated in some favorAnd that is Geography in the News™.
Europe and to New England. In 1896, the
able geographic location that allows them
September 23, 2005. #799.
Louisiana Assembly established the Port
advantages over competing cities in
of New Orleans to administer the develop(The author was formerly Dean of the
serving their hinterlands. For example,
ment of wharves and handle trade and
College of Arts & Sciences and is currently
New York City inarguably occupies the
traffic. By the 1860s, the port was visited
Professor Emeritus of Geography at Appalabest harbor and port on the U.S. East Coast
by more than 3,500 steamboats and
chian State University.)
with a convenient route to the Midwest
While citizens won't travel
far to purchase fuel, they
might travel great distances
to receive major medical
procedures or have access to
international trade. Thus, the
ranges of goods and services
vary according to the
demands for them. The
combined total influence of
these goods and services and
the city's competitive advantage over its neighboring cities
help determine its hinterland.
©2005 Maps.com