Ruddock, Louisiana

Ruddock, Louisiana
Ghost town
Ruddock, Louisiana
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	St. John the Baptist
Elevation	3 ft (0.9 m)
GNIS feature ID	1628080

Ruddock is a ghost town in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States. Ruddock was located on an isthmus between Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain, 10 miles (16 km) north-northeast of LaPlace.

Although the town was destroyed by a hurricane in 1915, it is still signed as an exit on Interstate 55 and marked on Louisiana state highway maps, as of 2011.

History

In 1892, William Burton and C. H. Ruddock founded the Ruddock Cypress Company. They constructed a sawmill and a town to serve their business; the town became Ruddock. In 1902, the sawmill burned down and was later rebuilt. By 1910, the town had a population of 700.

In September 1915, the 1915 New Orleans Hurricane hit Ruddock, destroying the town and killing 58 residents of Ruddock and the nearby town of Frenier. Ruddock has since become overgrown by vegetation, and all that remains of the settlement is rotted wood from the buildings.