Red Cross, Louisiana

{{Infobox settlement

|name = Red Cross

|official_name =

|settlement_type = Ghost Town

|nickname =

|motto =

|image_skyline =

|imagesize =

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|image_flag =

|image_seal =

|pushpin_map = USA Louisiana

|pushpin_label_position =

|pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of Louisiana

|pushpin_mapsize =

|image_map =

|map_caption = Location within Pointe Coupee parish

|subdivision_type = Country

|subdivision_name = United States

|subdivision_type1 = State

|subdivision_name1 = Louisiana

|subdivision_type2 = Parish

|subdivision_name2 = Pointe Coupee

|government_footnotes =

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|unit_pref = Imperial

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|population_as_of = 2000

|population_footnotes =

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|population_density_km2 = auto

|timezone = Central (CST)

|utc_offset = -6

|timezone_DST = CDT

|utc_offset_DST = -5

|elevation_footnotes =

|elevation_ft =

|coordinates = {{coord|30|41|33.0|N|91|43|45.6|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}

|postal_code_type = ZIP codes

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}}

Red Cross is a ghost town that was located in Pointe Coupee Parish's 1st Ward, approximately 12 miles west of Morganza, Louisiana, United States. The site of the town itself is located at coordinates 30°32'12.87"N, 91°44'24.59"W, at the intersection of the southern terminus of Louisiana Highway 417 and Louisiana Highway 10. The town is now abandoned. United States Geological Survey maps from 1948 show the town to be located on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River, directly across from Melville, Louisiana, slightly north of the railroad bridge.{{cite web|url=https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/StagedProducts/Maps/HistoricalTopo/GeoTIFF/LA/LA_Fordoche_334544_1939_62500_geo.tif|title=USGS Map Fordoche 1939 – image: LA_Fordoche_334544_1939_62500_geo.tif, (5388 × 6496 px)|website=USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer |publisher=USGS |accessdate=2021-05-25}}

{{Cite web|url=http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=5.11357017167853E-05&lat=30.692503&lon=-91.729330&year=T1948|title = NETRonline: Historic Aerials - Viewer}}

The Post Office application from April 4, 1908 gives the impression that the name of the town was intended to be East Melville, taking the name of Melville, similar to how East Krotz Springs, Louisiana was named. The name was changed at some point to Redcross and the population was somewhere between 100 and 200. {{Cite web|url= https://catalog.archives.gov/id/68407785?objectPage=716 | website = National Archives Catalog | title = Record Group 28: Records of the Post Office Department, Series: Reports of Site Locations, File Unit, Louisiana: Plaquemines - Pointe Coupee | page =716}}

Since 1939, this area has been located within the Morganza Spillway levee system and was entirely underwater again when the floodgates at the Morganza control structure to the northeast were opened in 1973 and 2011 to allow for relief of the high water level on the Mississippi River. Red Cross is subject to being flooded again if the control structure gates are ever opened. There is no visible trace of the town left today.{{cite web |title="USGS Map Melville 1994 – image: LA_Melville_332746_1968_24000_geo.tif, (6592 × 8025 px) |url=https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/StagedProducts/Maps/HistoricalTopo/GeoTIFF/LA/LA_Melville_332746_1968_24000_geo.tif |website=USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer |publisher=USGS |access-date=25 May 2021}}