Hamilton Square: The Original Palmer Park

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In 1831, McCarty Plantation, located upriver from the central hub of New Orleans, was bought by several investors including the New Orleans Canal and Banking Company and Senator John Slidell. Two years later, the property was subdivided into squares and lots for residential and commercial use. In 1845, the land became the Village of Carrollton. The original plan for the village, drawn up by engineer Charles Zimpel, included three pieces of property not assigned lot numbers. Designated for public use, these lots included Green Square, Frederick Square, and Hamilton Square. Hamilton Square, bounded by present-day South Carrollton, Sycamore, Dublin, and South Claiborne, was renamed Palmer Park in 1902.

In 1978, a resident named John Paul Bordes recalled in The Town of Carrollton News his impression of Hamilton Square as a five-year-old child in 1899:

“It was a low spot of land, filled with briar bushes. The cows from the surrounding dairies used to get all tangled up in there. I had wandered away from home, which was only 11 blocks away, but I got lost in the high bushes, and I couldn’t find my way out. I kept yelling and crying so loud that my brother finally heard me and came to my rescue.”