Maritime Museum Louisiana — Historic Madisonville

Madisonville sits two miles above Lake Pontchartrain on the Tchefuncte River, which delivers fresh water into the estuary. Founded in 1817, it became one of Louisiana's earliest wooden-boat-building centers. The estuary itself — 630 square miles of water connected to the Gulf of Mexico via the Rigolets and Chef Menteur Pass — receives water from the Tangipahoa, Tchefuncte, Tickfaw, Amite, and Bogue Falaya rivers, plus Bayou Lacombe and Bayou Chinchuba. The Maritime Museum Louisiana now hosts the annual Wooden Boat Festival each October, the largest gathering of wooden watercraft on the Gulf Coast. Plan a weekend around the festival for boatbuilder demonstrations and tall-ship visits.