Stories tagged "Public Works": 53
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1984 World's Fair Monorail
When planning the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition (LWE), fair and city officials decided to build a monorail system. This project had two objectives. First, it was intended to move many visitors so as…
Prytania Streetcar Line
The Prytania Streetcar began operation in 1861 as a mule-drawn car line. It was called the "Silk Stocking" line because its route included the streets of the "Garden District," an uptown area of the…
Margaret Haughery: "Friend of the Orphans"
Nineteenth-century New Orleanians knew Margaret (nee Gaffney) Haughery by several endearing names including the "Bread Woman," "Friend of the Orphans," "Mother of the Orphans," "Our Margaret," and…
Nix Library
Throughout the 1920s, Carrollton residents and New Orleans Public (NOPL) Library officials lobbied the city to build a facility in the Carrollton neighborhood. In 1928, the Council appropriated…
Carrollton's First Ferry
Earliest ferry service from Carrollton across the Mississippi River to the West Bank area known as Nine Mile Point was operating by 1845. Rowers powered these skiff ferries. In the mid- and late…
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…
Carondelet Canal or Old Basin Canal
The site of New Orleans first appealed to the city's founder, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in 1699. Native Americans had informed him about Bayou St. John, a shortcut from Lake Pontchartrain…
Rigolets Bridge
The Rigolets Bridge opened on June 9, 1930, as one of the first public bridges crossing Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. It spanned almost 3,900 feet and carried U.S. Highway 90 connecting New Orleans…
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…
Carrollton Station: Building the Barn
The neutral ground transformed as tracks appeared on Carrollton Avenue. The Berlin Iron Bridge Company began construction on a ten-track streetcar barn one block off Carrollton Avenue to the tune of…
Early Ferry Service across the Mississippi River
Since the founding of New Orleans in 1718, the Mississippi River proved crucial in the city's development as a colonial French and Spanish port. Crossing the river was essential from the outset. The…
Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (Industrial Canal) and the Lower Ninth Ward
Now known as the historic Lower Ninth Ward, this area orginated as a cypress swamp featuring many bayous. In this rural setting, residents enjoyed ready access to fishing grounds and grew okra and…
Lower Ninth Ward Levee Breaches in 2005
Pre-Katrina, the area immediately in front of the east breaches of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (a.k.a. the Industrial Canal) was a dense, thriving neighborhood of primarily African American…
Desire Neighborhood: Destroyed to build Desire Housing Development: A perspective from a former Desire neighborhood resident.
As a former resident of the Desire neighborhood, I am taking the opportunity to defend the integrity of our African-American community in the Upper Ninth Ward. These photographs depict our…
New Orleans & Carrollton Rail Road
The New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad began in 1835 as a mule and horse driven line that ran from the city of Carrollton to Lee Circle. The line served to bring commuters to the city of New Orleans…
London Avenue Canal Levee Breach in 2005
In 1965, Hurricane Betsy demonstrated that a major hurricane could overtop the earthen levees of the London Avenue Canal. So the Army Corps of Engineers recommended two plans -- raising the height of…
17th Street Canal Levee Breach in 2005
In 1965, Hurricane Betsy demonstrated that a major hurricane could overtop the earthen levees of the 17th Street Canal. So the Army Corps of Engineers recommended two cost-effective plans which were…
Building Charity Hospital, Architect Leon Weiss
Leon C. Weiss was a well-known Louisiana architect whose firm Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth designed many significant public buildings and other structures throughout Louisiana.
Governor Huey P.…
Magnolia Bridge
Magnolia Bridge was built in 1908, when Bayou St. John was still a commercial waterway. It is a Pratt Truss bridge that originally pivoted at the center to allow commercial vessels and barges to pass…
St. Louis Cemetery No. 3
An 1848 city legislature act allowed the Catholic wardens to establish a new cemetery. Land along Bayou St. John, purchased from Evariste Blanc for $15,000, became St. Louis Cemetery #3. The cemetery…
Termites and Historic Preservation
While termites have lived and thrived in the world for over two hundred million years, the truly destructive subterranean Formosan termites did not arrive in New Orleans until after World War II,…
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…
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…