In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Bayou Terrebonne was Houma's busiest thoroughfare. Hunters, trappers, and fisherman brought seafood and animal hides to market there, boatmen hauled crops to inland railroad hubs, and profiteers used the bayous to reach the burgeoning oil fields. Canals were eventually dug to connect bayous and shorten trade routes. By the 1930s, the Intracoastal Waterway and paved roads provided more efficient travel. The bayou is no longer navigable, but it remains a reminder of Houma's early boom years.