Shadow Steeds of the Crescent City
Explore the history of New Orleans' early “penny farthing” cycling clubs and bicycle races on this bikeable tour covering the highwheel bicycle era, 1881-1891.
Access: Biking
Distance: ~12 miles, ~1-1.5 hours (includes all stops)
~6 miles, ~30-45 minutes (excludes final stops)
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Stories 10
Founding of New Orleans Bicycle Club, 1881
In 1881, the New Orleans Bicycle Club formed in a building at Commercial Street and St. Charles, inside the jewelry and pen shop of A. M. Hill. A. M. Hill arrived in New Orleans at nineteen years…
1886 Cycling Tour: New Orleans to Boston
Early on Easter morning 1886, around a hundred people gathered at the Henry Clay Statue outside A. M. Hill Jewelers at St. Charles and Canal. Hill, captain of the New Orleans Bicycle Club, stood…
1887 Thanksgiving Day Bicycle Road Race
On a crisp Thanksgiving Day in 1887, a crowd gathered beneath the bare branches of the sycamore trees in the center of Canal Street. Bisected by multiple street railway beds and flanked by the…
Carnival on Wheels 1887
On the evening of February 23, 1887, a crowd lined St. Charles Avenue to witness a procession of lanterns floating like a swarm of fireflies through the darkened street. First came the bandwagon,…
New Orleans Bicycle Club: 1892 Clubhouse
In 1892, the New Orleans Bicycle Club celebrated the opening of their new clubhouse in the Garden District, at the corner of General Taylor and Baronne. The plans were drafted by W.C. Williams and…
The Clubhouse of the Louisiana Cycling Club: Completed 1890
In August of 1890, work was completed on the clubhouse of the Louisiana Cycling Club (LCC) at 1637 Octavia Street. The Queen Anne-style building still stands at that address. The party celebrating its…
Cycling Races at Audubon Driving Park Race Track 1887-1890
The Audubon Driving Park Track was used in the late 1880s as a horse racing track. ("Driving" referred to horse riding.) Audubon Park, built in 1879, had been the site of the World's Industrial Cotton…
First Cycling Races Held on a Track in New Orleans 1887
In the 1880s, along with the rise of spectator and participatory sports, cycling races appeared in New Orleans. The city's first bicycle club, the New Orleans Bicycle Club, formed in 1881. All members…
Audubon Park Race Track, Cyclists hold League meet in 1887
In September of 1887, New Orleans cyclists held the 3rd annual meet of the League of American Wheelmen (LAW), Louisiana Division, at the Audubon Park Race Track. Originally a horse racing track, it…
State Cycling Championship of 1891 at the Fair Grounds
In the late nineteenth century, bicycles appeared on city streets, country roads, and race tracks. Cycle racing in New Orleans rose with a tide of interest in sports—recreational and spectator—among…Tour curated by: Lacar Musgrove, University of New Orleans