Pearl River

Pearl River is the easternmost city in Louisiana, located on the banks of the waterway that shares its name and adjacent to the remote, mysterious Honey Island Swamp.

The river was known by local American Indian tribes for the abundant shells found within it. When French explorers arrived in the 1600s, they renamed the river for the contents of those shells — pearls.

Pearl River (the city) began as a railroad town in the 1850s. Originally known as Halloo, for the exclamations of loggers shouting to each other from the banks of the Pearl River, it's best known these days for its proximity to the Honey Island Swamp (in fact, Pearl River's nickname is The Home of the Honey Island Swamp). Nurmerous kayak and swamp tour operators can be found in Pearl River and its neighboring cities.