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Bell Theater
The Bell Theater was originally located at Bell and Dorgenois Streets, where it operated between 1914 and 1921. In the early years, the theater served not only as an entertainment venue, but was…
Imperial Theatre
The Imperial played an important role not only in the history of New Orleans theaters but also in the history of one of the city’s most prominent theater families, the Brunets.
Filming Location: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 Oscar winning film by director David Fincher, filmed primarily in uptown New Orleans. The film was adapted from a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald…
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire is the title of a 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams, adapted in 1951 for the big screen by director Elia Kazan. It is undoubtedly one of the most famous…
Filming Location: The Belle of New Orleans
The Old Jockey Club of New Orleans was a primary filming location of the 1912 silent film "The Belle of New Orleans." The film was created and produced entirely in New Orleans by the Kalem Film…
Maison: Sierra Green Entertains The Entertainer
Frenchmen denizens are known for holding up their homegrown heroes rather than kowtowing to celebrity. (Think Coco Robicheaux, Uncle Lionel, Little Freddie King…) But that doesn’t mean that an…
Bicycle Michael’s: Post-Katrina Chair-Racing on a Freshly-Paved Street
Bicycle Michael’s is the oldest bike shop in New Orleans. As soon as Michael Ferrand opened it--on Royal Street, in 1983--his rent was inflated in anticipation of the 1984 World’s Fair. He was forced…
30/90, Cafe Negril, Spotted Cat: Hannah’s Three-Venue Runaround
In many places where the music industry thrives, bands and businesses are competitive, proprietary, or just plain isolated from one another. Frenchmen Street, on the other hand, has traditionally…
The Vacant Lot: Ashes to Oranges
Coors Underground (or is it Chords Underground? ....Cords?) was an old Frenchmen Street venue that was destroyed in a violent explosion in the mid-70s. It’s exceedingly hard to find any information…
d.b.a.: Margie Perez gets a Wonderful Surprise
Anything can happen on Frenchmen St. when the stars align! Margie Perez recounts a magic night on Frenchmen, capturing a moment in time: shortly after Hurricane Katrina, before smart phones, and…
The Rooftop of Café Brasil: Adé Salgado Surveys The New Millennium
Famed coffeeshop-turned-music-incubator Café Brasil was a fixture on the Frenchmen Street scene between its opening in 1985 and its closure in 2006, the year after Hurricane Katrina. Although the…
The Spotted Cat: Trombone Battle Of The Century
Young musicians on Frenchmen Street have unique opportunities to be inspired by their musical heroes on an up close and personal level. Jeremy Phipps, of the contemporary band People Museum, grew up…
The Bench: The Unofficial Landmark of a Bygone Era
Since the 1970s, Frenchmen has been home to a smorgasbord of music venues that have birthed, incubated, and showcased various facets of the local music scene. We’ve asked hundreds of musicians about…
Singer Sewing Center
In 1930, Signer Sewing Company hired local architects Charles Favrot and Louis A. Livaudais to erect a Neoclassical style storefront at 934 Canal Street to house a flagship Singer Sewing Center. [1,…
Monument to the Immigrant: The Marble is an Immigrant, too!
The “Monument to the Immigrant” was erected in March 1995 and stands along the Mississippi River in Woldenberg Park. The monument depicts an immigrant family on one side and the other side a stylized…
San Malo Maroons
Paper Monuments Project #010: The San Malo Maroons have the most remarkable and extensively documented history of runaway slave communities in the Western Hemisphere. The Spanish authorities were…
K&B Drug Stores
Katz & Besthoff, Ltd., later known as K&B, was a drug store chain headquartered in New Orleans throughout much of the 20th century. 1011 Canal Street was home to one of the chain's 186 storefronts.…
Prytania Theatre
The Prytania Theatre is the oldest operating theater in New Orleans, dating back to 1915. It is the only single-screen, suburban theater in the state of Louisiana. It caters to film buffs and families…
Integrating Ben Franklin High School
In the fall of 1963, Ben Franklin High School became the first New Orleans public high school to integrate. Fourteen African American students, all of whom met Franklin's stringent admissions…
Pontchartrain Causeway Assoc. vs. Watson-Williams & Co.
Two bids were placed to construct the bridge across Lak Pontchartrain. From late 1924 until a decision was made in February 1925, The Times-Picayune reported frequently on construction proposals…
Maestri Bridge
The first bridge built across the Pontchartrain was the Watson-Williams Toll Bridge, also known as the Five-Mile Bridge and now the Maestri Bridge; the Louisiana Highway Commission approved its…
Pontchartrain Railroad
The Pontchartrain Railroad was one of the first lines completed in the United States. First opening in 1831, and remaining opened uninterrupted for over 100 years, it ran the five-mile length of…
Chef Menteur Pass Bridge
The Chef Menteur Pass Bridge offered free access to and from New Orleans, helping to make the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain and the rest of the Gulf Coast more accessible to the city. Political…
Protest and Removal of Battle of Liberty Place Monument
Taken off the street in 1965 because of construction in the area, the Battle of Liberty Place monument returned in time for the anniversary of the battle in 1970. Around this time, the typical…