Dr John R. Swanton, a linguist who worked with Native American languages, suggested that the name Manchac is derived from Imashaka, which is a Choctaw word meaning "the rear entrance.

[7] In March 1699, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville made his way up the Mississippi and came to the area that is now the city of Baton Rouge.

[10] Soon after the British built Fort Bute, the Spanish responded by building a trading post on the opposite side of the river.

[12] For about three months, from April 30 to August 4, 1812, Bayou Manchac was the northern border of eastern Louisiana, until the addition of the Florida Parishes was approved by the state legislature.

Now the bayou is only useful for drainage and recreation, but the area is still regarded by those who live in the vicinity as one of Louisiana's most beautiful examples of nature.