Continuing downriver, LA 44 begins to follow a generally eastward direction passing through the communities of Convent, Paulina, Lutcher, and Gramercy.

Jefferson Highway, the local name in use beginning in Lutcher, is a vestige of the road being part of that historic auto trail in the 1910s and 1920s.

Continuing along the Mississippi River, LA 44 runs parallel to US 61 (Airline Highway) and passes through the communities of Mt.

The portion of LA 44 running along the Mississippi River was once part of the Jefferson Highway auto trail designated in 1916 and the main traffic route between New Orleans and Baton Rouge prior to the construction of the Airline Highway in the 1930s.

In 1921, it became part of State Route 1 in the pre-1955 Louisiana highway system and the original alignment of US 61 in 1926.