High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! La Balize, Louisiana, was the first French fort and settlement near the mouth of the Mississippi River in what became Plaquemines Parish. The village`s name (also spelled La Balise) meant "seamark". Inhabited by 1699, La Balize was one of the oldest French settlements within the current boundaries of Louisiana. Historically and economically important for overseeing the river, it was rebuilt several times because of hurricane damage. The active delta lobe of the river`s mouth is called the Balize Delta, after the settlement, or the Birdfoot Delta, because of its shape.