Stories tagged "Transportation": 49
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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…
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…
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…
O-K Line: Railroad Collision at Southport, 1926
On the evening of November 18, 1926, a railcar of the Orleans-Kenner Traction Co. (popularly called the "O-K Line") was traveling through Southport when it was hit by the rear end of a Louisiana…
O-K Line: S. Rampart Station & Overview
The headquarters and downtown station of the Orleans-Kenner Electric Railway were located at 127 South Rampart Street between Canal Street and Tulane Avenue. Better known as the "O-K Line," it was…
Dryades Streetcar Line: Urban Transit above St. Charles Avenue
The Dryades Streetcar line opened in 1866 to serve the areas above St. Charles Avenue. Known as the "Banlieu" (outskirts), this area was an economic center even before the Civil War. The Dryades…
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…
O-K Line: Harahan Barn & Ferry Crossing
About midway through Jefferson Parish, the Orleans-Kenner interurban (or O-K Line) passed through the village of Harahan. The company's car barn and power station were located here as well as one of…
O-K Line: Kenner Depot & Felix Park
The town of Kenner was the western (or upper) terminus of the Orleans-Kenner interurban line from 1915 until service was discontinued in 1930.
During this time, the company also operated a "trolley…
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…
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…
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…
The Geological Formation of the Metairie-Gentilly Ridges
The winding nature of the Mississippi not only gave New Orleans its nickname: the Crescent City but also created the land you are standing on today.
Avondale Marine Ways, Inc.
Founded in 1938 as Avondale Marine Ways, Inc., Avondale Shipyard has long been a centerpiece of the economy of New Orleans and much of Southeast Louisiana. From barges to Navy warships, to the oil…
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…
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…
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…
Mules and Modernization
Facing Jackson Square, one should see a line of mules and their drivers ready to take visitors on a trip around the French Quarter. Now a tourist attraction, these animals played a vital role for New…
West Rigolets Lighthouse
From your position in the parking lot, look towards the overpass leading northeast. Underneath the bridge, you can see the point where the Rigolets Pass snakes towards Lake Ponchartrain. West Rigolets…