New Orleans Public Service, Inc. (NOPSI) began the push to discontinue the Canal Streetcar in 1960.
Canal Street buses
This 1959 photo of Canal Street confused me for a moment. My friend Keith Evans posted it in his Facebook group, “N.O.L.A. – New Orleans Long Ago,” with just the title, “1959.” I thought, no, there are buses in the neutral ground, and that would be post-1964. I said as much in the group. Pop replied that he dated the image by the ad for the movie, “Ben Hur,” which came out in 1959.
So, I looked at that neutral ground a bit closer. It’s so clean! When buses ran in the “Canal Street Zone,” the roadway was streaked with rubber from tires and oil that leaked from the buses. The area in this photo is spotless! So, it’s just too clean to be normal.
Closing the streetcar line
By 1951, NOPSI discontinued streetcar service on all but the St. Charles and Canal lines. They stopped “belt service” on St. Charles and Tulane. Tulane switched to trolley bus service. Instead of running the belt, St. Charles terminated at S. Claiborne and Carrollton Avenues, as it does to this day. That meant the Canal streetcars were next up on the chopping block.
It wasn’t hard to convince Canal riders to switch to buses. If you lived in Lakeview and commuted into the CBD, you rode a bus to Canal Street and City Park Avenue. From there, the streetcar took you down Canal. NOPSI’s strategy was to operate two bus lines from the lakefront into town. One would use West End and Pontchartrain Boulevards, the other Canal Boulevard. Instead of turning around at City Park Avenue, however, they would continue down Canal Street. This offered riders a direct ride to work during the week, shopping on Saturday. No transfer!
Not only would buses make it an easier trip, they were air-conditioned. That was a big deal for men wearing coat and tie and women wearing stockings to work. Rainy day? You were safe until you got to Baronne or Carondelet Street.
Canal Street zone
With no streetcars in the CBD, buses would travel in the Canal neutral ground. After Claiborne Avenue, they would move into the regular auto traffic lanes. This meant commuters avoided cars while downtown. NOPSI airbrushed the streetcars out of several photos from 1959-1960, inserting buses in their place. I have a couple of these images in my book, New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line. This one was new to me.
Red streetcars
Streetcar service on Canal Street returned in 2004. The 2000-series Von Dullen cars featured a smoother ride and…wait for it…air conditioning! Riders coming in from Lakeview have to transfer from the bus, like they did prior to 1964, but hey, streetcars are always more fun.
Recording and PDF of the talk, “The Royal Blue Line” by Edward.
‘The Royal Blue Line” on Napoleon Avenue
Thanks to everyone who came out Tuesday to hear the talk on the Napoleon Streetcar at the Jefferson Parish Library’s East Bank Regional Branch. PDF of the presentation and the recording of the talk are included here.
Streetcars ran on Napoleon Avenue from 1850 to 1953. The New Orleans & Carrollton Railroad (NO&CRR) operated the “Carrollton” line, later the “St. Charles” line, beginning in 1831. They began with steam train service, which morphed into mule-drawn streetcars in 1845. In 1850, NO&CRR extended their operations with a branch line on Napoleon Avenue. Starting at St. Charles Avenue, the line ran down Napoleon, to Tchoupitoulas Street. Turntables on either end turned the streetcars around.
Electrification
The Napoleon Branch line electrified in 1893, along with the main Carrollton line. Napoleon was arguably the first electric streetcar line in the city. NO&CRR installed their power station for the line in a building at Napoleon and Tchoupitoulas. That building still stands, across the street from Tipitina’s. So, to power the St. Charles line, the company ran wires up Napoleon Avenue. That means the electric cars operated on the branch first!
Once the lines operated with electric cars, the company extended the Napoleon Branch to Canal Street.
Royal Blue
In 1903, a new player entered the streetcar game in New Orleans. The Orleans and Jefferson Railway announced the creation of the “Royal Blue Line,” operating from St. Charles and Napoleon, up to Metairie Road. They extended the line out Metairie Road to the 17th Street Canal, at the parish line. In 1915, the line, now operated by New Orleans Railway and Light Company (NORwy&Lt) opened the “Shrewsbury Extension” of the Royal Blue Line. The line ran all the way out to Severn Avenue and Airline Highway. In 1934, New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated (NOPSI) converted the Metairie Road segment to bus service.
In 1953, NOPSI converted the remaining Napoleon line to bus service. New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA) operates the line as Route 9, Broad/Napoleon.
The Gentilly streetcar connected Franklin Avenue with downtown.
Gentilly Streetcar Unpack
NOPSI 884, operating on the Gentilly line, makes its one-block appearance on Canal Street as it turns for the outbound run on the Gentilly line. The line provided street rail connection to Gentilly via Franklin Avenue. Streetcars never ran on Elysian Fields because of the Pontchartrain Railroad. Even after 1931, when the Pontchartrain RR closed, the Louisville & Nashville RR continued to use the tracks from Elysian Fields and the River to Florida Avenue to go east out of town. In fact, Amtrak plans to use those tracks for its new Mardi Gras route.
As WWII approached, NOPSI inroduced teh Bomber Base bus route, running from Franklin and Gentilly to the lakefront, to connect the Consolidated-Vultee plant, Camp Leroy Johnson, and the Army Air Corps base. In July 1948, NOPSI discontinued the Gentilly line and Bomber Base bus line, merging both into the Franklin Avenue bus line.
Click the link and you can hear a five-minute preview if you’re not a Premium Member.
The Gentilly Line
Outbound
From Canal and Borubon, right on Bourbon
Down Borubon to Pauger, then Dauphene
Turn lakebound on Almonester
Almonaster merged into Franklin (it’s all Franklin Avenue now)
Up Franklin to Dreux Avenue
Inbound
Franklin and Dreux to Royal Street
Turn on Royal (same route from here as Desire)
Royal to Canal Street
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Tulane and Carrollton in 1947. The photographer stands on Tulane Avenue, looking west. The streetcar tracks curve over to S. Carrollton Avenue here, for the Tulane and St. Charles Belt lines.
By 1964, the location morphed into a Budget Store, as MB Airline took over as the western suburban store.
Pelican Stadium
Home of the New Orleans Pelcans and New Orleans Black Pelicans (Negro League). This photo is from 1951, as work begins on ripping up the streetcar tracks on Tulane Avenue.
Wider shot showing the closure of the New Basin Canal as construction begins on the Pontchartrain Expressway.
Railroads
Illinois Central’s Panama Limited, stopping at the Carollton Station.
The Carrollton Interchangei, 1964. The buildings in the background are Mid-City Baptist Church (left) and Jesuit High School (right).
Four Ways to Support NOLA History Guy
Buy my books! Edward Branley is the author of six books on New Orleans history. They’re available from local booksellers and all the usual online suspects.
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi dot com. I just love this concept as a way to say thank you/tip creators you enjoy. Our idea of monetization is buying books and having us come to speak. If you see me at a coffee shop, stop and say hi. Otherwise, I’ll raise coffee cup to you if you treat me.
Become a patron. Yes, we’re on Patreon. A lot of creators use the platform for direct monetization, and that’s great for them. We don’t have “exclusive content” for patrons. Still, if you think our history stuff is worth a dollar a month, go join!
No uniforms meant St. Aloysius students could wear items like this Crusader belt buckle.
Crusader belt buckle
We have a number of fashion accessories in the Crusader Archives at Brother Martin High School. This belt buckle reminds us that Aloysius students dressed in regular civilian clothes for all but the last years of the school’s existence. While there was a grooming and dress code, the Navy uniforms don’t appear until the 1967-68. Since the NJROTC unit chartered at Aloysius, Cor Jesu never required uniforms for its students.
Uniforms but not Navy
The Brothers required students in grades tenth through twelfth to take NJROTC at Brother Martin. That policy changed in the 1975-76 school year. That meant not all students received free uniforms from the Navy. The school uniform morphed from a khaki shirt and trousers to a white, short-sleeved shirt and khaki trousers. The uniform shirt bears the red shield/gold cross emblem. NJROTC cadets wear their Navy uniforms on “drill” days. The modern cadet uniform resembles the Navy’s “junior enlisted” pattern, a khaki shirt with navy blue trousers. Naval enlisted from the ratings of E-1 to E-6 wear this.
St. Aloysius students wore the Crusader belt buckle at a time when so many of them ended their academic careers with high school graduation. This is why the question “where did you go to school” takes on a different meaning in New Orleans. Seniors wore their class rings to proclaim their school, but underclassmen in jeans or chinos relied on other fashion accessories. The letterman’s jacket or sweater was by far the most (and loudest) proclamation. The belt buckle offered students and alumni a way to say “I’m a Crusader” away from campus.
Wearing the school
So, with the exception of cadets on “drill” days, an item like our Crusader belt buckle here wouldn’t be out of order for the majority of present-day students. Even though the majority of Crusader graduates go on to college, where one went to high school remains significant. I’m hopeful that Mr. Rando and the staff will consider bringing back the school belt buckle. Web belts are still popular for young men. Perhaps even elementary schools would allow the belt buckles (hello recruitment!)
Additionally, I know Mr. Rando personally enjoys all the old accessories and ephemera we’re digging up. We also know that he’s a graduate of the Brother Jean Sobert, SC, Institute of Making a Buck for the School. These belt buckles would fulfill that mission!
Buy my books! Edward Branley is the author of six books on New Orleans history. They’re available from local booksellers and all the usual online suspects.
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi dot com. I just love this concept as a way to say thank you/tip creators you enjoy. Our idea of monetization is buying books and having us come to speak. If you see me at a coffee shop, stop and say hi. Otherwise, I’ll raise coffee cup to you if you treat me.
Become a patron. Yes, we’re on Patreon. A lot of creators use the platform for direct monetization, and that’s great for them. We don’t have “exclusive content” for patrons. Still, if you think our history stuff is worth a dollar a month, go join!
The West End was an escape from the city and heat from the 1850s.
The West End
This was originally presented to the West End Kiwanis Club. So much fun talking to hard-working volunteer groups! This one was fun, so it’s part two of our series on the Lakefront.
West End Park, 1940s. The entertainment district had been cleared in favor of green space. The Southern Yacht Club marina and Municipal Yacht Harbor aren’t there yet.
Buy my books! Edward Branley is the author of six books on New Orleans history. They’re available from local booksellers and all the usual online suspects.
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi dot com. I just love this concept as a way to say thank you/tip creators you enjoy. Our idea of monetization is buying books and having us come to speak. If you see me at a coffee shop, stop and say hi. Otherwise, I’ll raise coffee cup to you if you treat me.
Become a patron. Yes, we’re on Patreon. A lot of creators use the platform for direct monetization, and that’s great for them. We don’t have “exclusive content” for patrons. Still, if you think our history stuff is worth a dollar a month, go join!
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