Morgan City — Where Offshore Oil Was Born

On November 14, 1947, Kerr-McGee brought in the first oil well out of sight of land, 45 miles south of Morgan City. The city that launched the industry that changed the world is not famous. Morgan City was already a hub of shrimping and sugarcane when offshore oil arrived and transformed it faster than almost any small city in America. The town sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River near its intersection with the Intracoastal Waterway. Surveyors appointed by U.S. Secretary of War John Calhoun originally named it Tiger Island, after a particular type of wild cat seen in the area. It was later changed to Brashear City, named after Walter Brashear, a Kentucky physician who had purchased large tracts of land and acquired numerous sugar mills in the area. In 1876, the community took its current name in tribute to Charles Morgan, a rail and steamship magnate who first dredged the Atchafalaya Bay Ship Channel to accommodate ocean-going vessels. The Mr. Charlie, the world's first submersible drilling rig, is moored on the Atchafalaya River at Berwick and open for tours by appointment. The annual Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival — running since 1936 — is one of the oldest harvest festivals in the state. Both industries still define the place. Come see where it began.