Pontchartrain Resort Hotel alongside ruins of Spanish Fort from across Bayou St. John.

Harvey Elkins erected the Pontchartrain Hotel in 1823.

The property changed hands several times, but John Slidell eventually acquired the building and renamed it the Spanish Fort Hotel.

Another owner was the Canal Street, City Park, and Lake Railroad Company which provided transportation from downtown New Orleans to the hotel on a steam train built in 1877.

When the enterprising Moses Schwartz bought the property in 1878, he turned it into a splendid resort with a casino, pavilion, theater, restaurants, gardens, bathing piers, and picnic facilities for families.

Steam train service was discontinued in 1903, and a fire in 1906 destroyed many of the buildings. The property was then bought by the New Orleans Railway and Light Company.

The company built an electrified rail line to the site and rebuilt the resort as an amusement park, complete with a roller coaster and Ferris wheel.

The park was unable to compete with the popular West End Amusement Park, and closed in 1926.

Courtesy of Louisiana Division/City Archives, New Orleans Public Library