Lakefront Airport
One of the world's most advanced airports when it opened in the 1930s, Lakefront Airport retains many of its landmark buildings and hangars.
Access: Hybrid driving and walking
Distance: ~.5 miles, ~5 minutes driving
Tips: The terminal building has a restaurant that serves brunch and lunch.
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Creating Shushan Airport
All of the land now occupied by the Lakefront Airport was once marshland home to numerous fishing camps. In 1922, Abraham Shushan, President of the Board of Commissioners of the Orleans Levee…
The Buildings of Shushan Airport
You are currently standing in front of the Lindbergh/Williams hangar. This hangar, the administration building behind you, and the Moffett hangar across the driveway were the airport’s original three…
The 1934 Pan-American Air Races
On February 9, 1934, the first Mardi Gras after Prohibition was repealed, hundreds of people crowded around the airport to see the Pan-American Air Races. Abraham Shushan, the Henderson brothers (air…
A Thing of Beauty: Shushan Airport's Administration Building
The art deco administration building epitomized a fine combination of form and function. Not simply a place for travelers to wait for their flights, the airport allowed white New Orleanians to relax…
The Works Progress Administration Renovations and the Fall of Abe Shushan
In 1936, a $250,000 Works Progress Administration beautification project took place at the airport and included extensive landscaping, paving roads and runways, and this fountain. Enrique Alférez…
New Orleans Lakefront Airport: The End of an Era
In the 1930s Shushan Airport was one of the most advanced airports in the country. During the airport's heyday, the Orleans Levee Board extended the airports' runways numerous times to accommodate the…Tour curated by: Teresa Thessen