New Orleans Lakefront
An exploration of some of the historical locations and uses of New Orleans' lakefront, including colonial fortifications, military bases, amusement parks, and the University of New Orleans.
Access: Biking
Distance: ~7 miles, ~30 minutes - 1 hour via Lakeshore Drive and Canal Boulevard (excludes Lincoln Beach).
Tips: Lincoln Beach is closed to the public at this time. There is also no good bike route to reach it along this tour.
Loading Stories
Stories 8
New Canal Lighthouse
In the 1830s, Irish and German immigrants dug the New Basin Canal as a link between New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. The lake end of the canal featured the New Canal Lighthouse, originally an…
New Canal Coast Guard Station
The US Coast Guard's lakefront station was once located at Spanish Fort. By the 1960s, the structure at Spanish Fort had sustained damage from many hurricanes and was in disrepair. The station then…
LaGarde Army/Navy Hospital
LaGarde Hospital was built in 1941 to relieve congestion during the Second World War at other regional Army hospitals such as Camp Beauregard in Pineville, Louisiana, and Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg,…
Spanish Fort at Bayou St. John
A small fort was erected in 1701 before the founding of the city of New Orleans by the French where Bayou St. John empties into Lake Pontchartrain. The settlers sought to protect the important trade…
Naval Air Station & University of New Orleans
In the fall of 1940, the Navy began improving its primary flight training facilities by building up its system of Naval Reserve air bases, including New Orleans. The lakefront base housed a steel…
Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park
Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park was created during the Lakeshore reclamation project of the 1920s. The Orleans Levee Board began the project with the construction of a seawall which was…
Camp Leroy Johnson
During WWII, Camp Leroy Johnson was used along with the New Orleans Airport by the Army and Airforce Bomber Squadron for training. Signal and Quartermaster units were trained on the post, which housed…
Lincoln Beach
Paper Monuments Project #020Tour curated by: Patrick Stephen