Westwego Vacations, Westwego Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide

Westwego Vacation Guide

The City developed around the Mississippi River, the Westwego canal that once connected with the river through locks, Bayou Segnette, and the swamp and marshes south of the city that connected it to the rich wildlife and fishing areas of the Barataria basin. Westwego was founded in 1870 by the Texas and Pacific Railroad when it placed a railroad yard and docks on the Mississippi River just above the canal linking the river to Bayou Segnette. It grew to eventually incorporate the village of Salaville, Seven Oaks Plantation, Whitehouse Plantation, and surrounding farmland.

No one is quite sure how the town got its name, though Westwego was the location from which the railroad was compensated by the State to build a railroad to the west. Folklore holds that as travelers departed the station they heard rail workers yell "west we go". A railroad engineer, G. W. R. Bayley, first publicized the name in 1873 when he wrote, "The construction of the railroad west of New Orleans was commenced at Westwego, opposite the Western boundary of the city (New Orleans), in the latter part of May 1870."