Development on Bayou Road: McDonogh (Bricolage Academy) Senior High School

John McDonogh Senior High School (now Bricolage Academy) suffered damages from Hurricane Katrina. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that funded the repairs also funded archaeological excavations. These excavations were along Bayou Road, one of the oldest roads of the city, and home to a handful of early settlers. Archaeologists combed through records including early maps, historical census records, diaries, and other documents that describe a small collection of habitations or homesteads along Bayou Road. These properties included homes with barns, stables, wells, outhouses, woodsheds, and other structures arranged on the property. By 1830s, the country-like setting along Bayou Road was eventually replaced by the urban block system, often integrating the old structures into the new square’s arrangement. Other times, these buildings were removed and replaced, like the residence of Paul Capdeville, mayor of New Orleans. For its time, this home on the corner of Rocheblave Street and Esplanade Avenue was a ‘palatial mansion’ with large, landscaped grounds. It remained a residence until its destruction in 1912 when it was replaced with the Esplanade Avenue Girls High School, designed by architect E.A. Christy, that would become John McDonogh Senior High School (Bricolage Academy). Archaeological excavations on the property revealed a wooden well along Bayou Road with few artifacts yet full of unusable construction debris. Unfortunately due to the nature of record keeping in those days, the identity of those residents is not clear, although it is likely that they were part of the Free People of Color community who settled the neighborhood of Tremé. Due to the amount of construction debris in the well, archaeologists could tell that the residents were demolishing the older building mapped on the site. However, because there were primarily broken construction fragments located in the well, it was clear that the demolition occurred by a careful process of deconstruction so that the past residents could reuse all the intact construction material to rebuild. This cycle continued throughout the development of the properties along Bayou Road in the process of Tremé’s eventual urbanization.

Adapted from an exhibit originally published on GNOARCH.com.