The development and evolution of islands along the lower Mississippi River were examined over a 50 year period, between 1965 and 2015. Fluvial islands were historically a fundamental component of the riparian corridor, serving as important ecological habitat for aquatic and terrestrial species. Their degradation was associated with channel engineering, leading to a pronounced single thread channel. Continued channel engineering in the latter twentieth century, however, is associated with a rapid increase in channel islands along the lower Mississippi River.The study utilizes a GIS framework to examine and analyze a range of geospatial data sets, including (i) lidar DEMs, (ii) historic aerial photos, (iii) historic and recent satellite imagery, (iv) historic topographic maps, and (vi) hydrologic data from gauging stations along the lower Mississippi River. Islands were digitized in Google Earth Pro and ArcGIS by identification of vegetation lines. Spatial data (polygons) were used to extract (clip) the LiDAR DEM data for subsequent analysis. The island data was statistically analyzed using a MANOVA and two-way t-test to examine the association of dikes with the morphologic characteristics of islands.The number of islands (>1 ha) significantly increased over the five decade study period, from 105 in 1965, 206 in 1995, to 295 in 2015. The average size of islands decreased from 101 ha (hectare) to 63 ha, because so many new (small) islands formed within the dike fields. The total area of islands (within the river channel) increased from 103 km2 in 1965, 169 km2 in 1995, to 206 km2 in 2015. The total sediment storage within fluvial islands above the average low water surface is 1.81 billion m3.The lower Mississippi has sufficient coarse sediment to construct new riparian lands, despite the large historic decline in sediment load and overall channel bed degradation that occurred in response to large-scale engineering projects over much of the twentieth century. The new rapid growth and development of fluvial lands within the riparian corridor of the lower Mississippi is a positive outcome of an unintended geomorphic consequence, but one that requires additional management considerations.