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Gordon Plaza Residents' Present Day Political Activism
For decades, residents of Gordon Plaza engaged (and continue to engage) in political activism to spread public awareness about toxic contamination in their neighborhood. Residents hope to achieve fair…
The Lalaurie Mansion
Madame Delphine MacCarthy Lalaurie was a wealthy New Orleans socialite and notorious enslaver. In 1832, Madame Lalaurie moved into a neoclassical mansion at the intersection of today’s Royal and…
Algiers Folk Art Zone & Blues Museum
The Algiers Folk Art Zone & Blues Museum, which is located directly across from the Mississippi River levee at 207 Leboeuf Street, was founded by Charles Gillam in 2000. A self-taught sculptor,…
Hotel Monteleone
In 1886, Antonio Monteleone purchased what was to become the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. Since 1886, four generations of the Monteleone family have owned the hotel, making it one of the last…
Boston Club
The Boston Club was a social club founded in 1841 through which rich, white men could enjoy the popular card game called “Boston.” [1] Members of The Boston Club organized and rented rooms in their…
Metro Film Exchange
In the early years of the film industry, few aspects of the industry were more important than distribution. Film exchanges handled the repair, rental, and advertisement of motion pictures both locally…
Young Men’s Hebrew Association's Athenaeum
“One of the handsomest structures in the city will be the new building of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association,” [1] said an article from the New Orleans States when the Athenaeum opened in 1896. With…
Leeds Iron Foundry
The Leeds Iron Foundry was owned and operated by Charles Leeds. It was located at Delord and Constance Streets during the Antebellum period of the nineteenth century. The foundry was opened in 1824.…
Dryades Street Library and YMCA
Today home to the Dryades YMCA, this beautiful building, erected in 1915, was the first New Orleans Public Library created to serve black New Orleanians and had the capacity to hold 10,000 books.
Palmer Park: The Name
Hamilton Square was renamed Palmer Park as a “testimony to the honor of the late B. M. Palmer” through a city ordinance on July 1902. Benjamin Morgan Palmer was pastor of New Orleans First…
Hamilton Square: The Original Palmer Park
In 1831, McCarty Plantation, located upriver from the central hub of New Orleans, was bought by several investors including the New Orleans Canal and Banking Company and Senator John Slidell. Two…
Waldo Burton Memorial Home
The Waldo Burton Memorial Home was a boy's home operated by the Society for the Relief of Destitute Orphan Boys (a Presbyterian organization dating to 1824). The building itself was built and donated…
Napoleon House
Built upon the lot bequeathed to him by his brother, Mayor Nicolas Girod built the “Napoleon House” as a safe haven for Napoleon Bonaparte during his exile. Not being successful, the house eventually…
French Opera House
The fabulous French Opera House dominated a vastly different Bourbon Street than the gaudy strip of today. Designed by James Gallier Jr. and erected in 1859, the Opera House became the cultural…
Fort Macomb
Constructed in 1822 under the direction of architect Simon Bernard, Fort Wood was thought to be impregnable to enemy troops attacking in the narrow straits of lakes Borgne and St. Catherine. In 1851,…
Origins of New Orleans City Park
Before the French colonized Louisiana, Native Americans lived on the land that is now City Park. Bayou St. John, which runs through the park today, was part of a trade route commonly used by the…
Toxic Chemicals Deposited at Agriculture Street Landfill
In 1948, facing increased public health concerns, the Louisiana State Legislature passed a law prohibiting open-air landfills in highly populated areas. [1] However, New Orleans city officials…
Local Residents Demand Closure of Agriculture Street Landfill
Throughout the 1950s, the local community suffered from horrible stenches, pest infestations, and smoke emanating from Agriculture Street Landfill (ASL). Spontaneous combustion commonly occurred at…
Agriculture Street Landfill Opening and Operations
In 1909, Agriculture Street Landfill (ASL) opened to accommodate trash produced by half of New Orleans residents. ASL occupied 95 acres of previously undeveloped swampland surrounded by Abundance…
Civil Rights Activists Protest Woolworth’s Department Store
On September 9, 1960, seven local university students staged a sit-in at Woolworth’s department store located at 1031 Canal Street to protest the store’s refusal to serve Black people at the lunch…
Segregation in Palmer Park
Though designated for public use, Palmer Park was segregated until the 1970s. The park’s namesake, Benjamin Palmer, was a staunch defender of slavery and leading segregationist, set a tone of…
Political Rallies in Palmer Park
Political rallies were an important part of Palmer Park’s early history. Local political organizations held numerous rallies and speeches in the park in the first half of the 20th century. The 1919…
Huey P. Long Bridge: The Kingfish and Public Works Projects in Louisiana
The Huey P. Long Bridge spans the Mississippi River in Jefferson Parish, a few miles upstream of New Orleans itself, and features a central 4.4-mile rail track. At the time of its construction, the…
Joan of Arc Statue: Joanie on the Pony: Home at Last
Each year on January 6th, the Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc honors St. Joan and the French heritage of New Orleans with a celebration.
"As the first day of the carnival season, that date suggests…