by nolahistoryguy | Feb 20, 2025 | 2020s, Antebellum New Orleans, Art/Artists, Boyd Cruise, French Quarter, newsletter
Boyd Cruise painted 936 Calle de San Pedro in 1941.
936 Calle de San Pedro
This story is a classic example of falling down a rabbit hole. I parked in the “Red P” parking lot (IYKYK) at Rampart and Conti one morning, to work the information desk at the Cabildo. I walked up Calle de San Pedro, as the Spanish Colonials would have said St. Peter Street. When I came to the 900 block, I encountered some nice holiday lights at 936, including Mr. Bingle. I took some pictures and headed home.
Fast forward to after the holidays, and working on the current podcast series featuring the paintings of Boyd Cruise. It turned out, Cruise had painted 936 St. Peter. It didn’t feel like enough material for a podcast episode, but would certainly be a fun story.
Excavations
As you can see, 936 St. Peter is a simple cottage on a small lot. When I did a basic web search on the cottage, I found a fascinating story about excavations by the University of New Orleans Archeology Department at the location. Some backstory: St. Peter and Rampart was the location of the city’s first cemetery, one that pre-dates St. Louis Number One. The property owner of the house at that location found human remains when doing renovations. They halted the work and called in UNO. The archeologists were again called in for 936:
What stood out most during the excavation of the privy was the abundance of animal remains, especially the number of elements from skulls. When a rough count was taken of the entire assemblage, the privy feature was found to contain a total of 147 Caprine (goat or sheep) skulls.
Well, OK, it wasn’t human remains, but still. The article explains that the cottage was used at one point in the 1860s to extract goat brains for re-sale. It’s an incredible story.
The painting
Back to the cottage and Cruise. The building went up in the 1840s. Cruise visualized the house around 1850. Here’s the THNOC caption:
Facade view of a creole cottage at 936 St. Peter Street in the Vieux Carre. The building has Corinthian pilasters, green shutters and a single dormer on the roof. The time period depicted is ca. 1850 and shows a man and woman wearing the dress of the day, an African American wood hauler, and a boy with newspaper in front of residence.
They forgot the cat in the upstairs window! How rude! As with many of Cruise’s paintings, he adds people on the street out front. The lady on the left appears to be bundled up for chilly weather. The gentleman caller carries a bouquet of flowers. A white boy holds a newspaper on the right. It’s unclear if he’s bringing a single paper to the house or if he’s selling papers. A black man hauls a cart of wood down the street. His lack of a coat is inconsistent with the dress of the white adults, but there are a number of possible explanations. A very-regal orange cat observes the scene from the dormer window.
The house displays “130” for its address. Prior to 1895, street addresses were assigned per house, not per block. So, the Number 1 St. Peter would be the Arsenal, behind the Cabildo. The numbers incremented from there. After 1895, address numbering shifted to blocks, hence its present 936 address.
by nolahistoryguy | Oct 27, 2024 | 1920s-1930s, 1940s, 2020s, Cemeteries, St. Louis Number 1, Treme
Pyramids as tombs reflect the generations-old fascination with Egyptian burial practices.
Pyramids in St. Louis
St. Louis Cemetery Number One, that is. Egyptian-style tombs remain popular in New Orleans’ above-ground cemeteries. While there are more elaborate pyramids in other cemeteries, there are two in St. Louis No. 1, the city’s oldest.
The Varney family tomb stands near the cemetery’s entrance on Basin Street. Above is an E. C. Cropp postcard from the mid-1920s, showing the pyramid. The tomb experienced a lot of wear over the years. The image shows the red brick beneath white plaster and whitewash paint. While nobody wants to see tombs falling apart, the image offers background on how tombs are built.
At top we see another image of the pyramid, also a Cropp postcard, from the 1940s. The cemetery (or the tomb’s owners) restored the plaster and gave the tomb a good coat of paint.
This 2024 photo by Commons user miguel.discart shows the tomb as you’ll see it if you visit the cemetery now.
Nicholas Cage
Tom Hilton photo
There’s a second pyramid in the cemetery. Actor Nick Cage acquired a plot for what we assume will be his final resting place:
The empty grave is a stark, nine-foot-tall stone pyramid that stands in obvious contrast to the blockier, above-ground burial sites that have been crumbling away in the cemetery for over two centuries. There is no name on the pyramid yet, but it is emblazoned with the Latin maxim, “Omnia Ab Uno,” which translates to “Everything From One.”
Cage’s pyramid stands out, but it isn’t all that unusual. The Atlas Obscura article quoted above goes into detail on Cage’s relationship with the city. New Orleanians tend to complain when outsiders acquire or change landmarks in the city. This sparks the debate of when does someone become a “local” or are they always just a “carpetbagger.” Feel free to express your thoughts on this in comments.
by nolahistoryguy | Oct 24, 2024 | 2020s, Antebellum New Orleans, Catholicism, Cemeteries, St. Louis Number 1, Treme
All Souls, All Saints, and All Hallows Eve figure prominently in the fabric of New Orleans.
House decorated for Halloween (Infrogmation photo)
All Souls, All Saints, and All Hallows Eve
Version 1.0.0
Ghosts and ghouls and goblins! All Hallows’ Eve is upon us! New Orleans never lacks for an excuse to party. Halloween provides a fun theme. Even in New Orleans, the season offers more than jack-o-lanterns, black cats, and witches on broomsticks. On Halloween, Catholics gear up for the really important day: The Feast of All Souls, on November 2.
Halloween
Halloween wasn’t really A Thing in New Orleans until the 1980s. Anne Rice’s first novel of her “Vampire Chronicles” dropped in 1976. The series enticed people. Readers accepted the notion of vampires in New Orleans. Combine this with other authors like Billy Martin (writing as Poppy Z. Brite),, writing about paranormal New Orleans. It was as if we always had vampires. Add The Witching Hour and Rice’s other “Mayfair Witches” stories. Halloween and New Orleans connected.
Voudon and Halloween
An engraving by E.W. Kemble from The Century Illustrated Magazine, April 1886: “Dance and Song of Voodoo Worship”, circa 1800-1850.
Voudon doesn’t have a lot of connection to Samhain or All Hallows Eve. St. John’s Eve, at midsummer, was always the big “feast day” for followers of Voudon. A local festival promoter linked their “Voodoo Fest” to the Halloween season, but it didn’t work on multiple levels.
All Saints Day
Three “double” tombs in front of the Italian Society Mausoleum in St. Louis Cemetery Number One in Faubourg Treme (author’s photo)
The Catholic Church recognizes individuals believed to be in heaven as saints. (New Orleans recognizes football players wearing black and gold as Saints). While conclusive evidence of such a state is hard to come by, Catholics make it happen. So the Church looks for supernatural events after a person’s death. Those taking up the “cause” of a prospective Saint attribute “miracles” to them. A sick person prays to a holy person for intercession. Their illness passes. The Church calls that a miracle. So, the Pope declares the holy person a saint.
Saint Francis Xavier Seelos, a Redemptorist priest whose work in New Orleans helped make him a candidate for sainthood. (Wikimedia Commons)
Martyrs
Martyrs, those who give their lives defending their faith, are believed to go immediately to heaven, which is why the yearly calendar of saints’ feast days includes a large number of them. In fact, the first recorded general recognition of saints was in 609, when Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome for the Blessed Virgin and all martyrs. May 13 was designated the date this event would be commemorated. During the papacy of Gregory III (731-741), the recognition of “all saints” was moved from May 13 to November 1. This commemoration gave the Church a “catch-all” day, where folks could pray for their “personal saints,” family and friends who they believed were in heaven but would never be formally recognized by the Church as such.
All Souls
The tradition of All Hallows (All Saints) is a strong one, but it’s still secondary in New Orleans. Faithful Catholics rise and go to Mass on November 1st. So, then they head out to the cemeteries. They clean up and prepare their family tombs for November 2nd. That’s the “Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed.” Catholics call the day, the Feast of All Souls.
While most people don’t want to believe that Grandpa is burning in the fiery pit for all eternity, maybe he wasn’t as good a person as he could have been. Catholics have a solution for that situation: Purgatory.
Purgatory
The idea was, since Grandpa wasn’t ready to go directly to heaven, he had to make a stop along the way, for purification. This pit stop was worked up over centuries into an elaborate system, where the faithful could pray for a “reduction in sentence” as it were, for their loved ones that were in Purgatory. Knowing that Grandpa wasn’t on the express train motivated Grandma to make sure the family tomb was kept up well and prayers regularly said for the repose of his soul. Since November 2 was a work day (the day before often is a holiday in Catholic-dominated countries), any clean-up projects at the cemetery had to be done on the day before.
“Decorating the Tombs” from Harper’s Weekly, 1885 (public domain)
Fixing up the Family Tomb
Cleaning up the family plot is often a bit more complicated in New Orleans than other parts of the United States, because we regularly bury our loved ones above-ground. The New Orleans cemetery tour guides will tell stories of how this had to be done in the early years of the city, since burying coffins below sea level would force them to the surface as the water table would rise. The truth of the tradition is a bit more simple (and obvious): above-ground burial was something that came over to New Orleans from France. Above-ground tombs gave families a better focal point for visiting the departed and praying for a remission of their time in Purgatory.
Above Ground
These tombs are usually made of regular brick-and-mortar, then plastered over and whitewashed. Catholic cemeteries in New Orleans were usually constructed by the various ethnic groups that made up the city’s faithful. The French-Spanish-African Creoles had the original St. Louis cemeteries in Faubourg Treme and Faubourg St. John. The Irish built the St. Patrick’s cemeteries at the head of Canal Street, and the Germans had their cemeteries dedicated to St. Joseph on Washington Avenue.
“Ovens” in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 (Mugnier photo)
The heat and humidity of the city’s climate takes its toll on those structures. They require periodic maintenance. Families share tombs. They also share the maintenance duties.
One Big Picnic
So, the adult children go out to the cemetery with Grandma on All Saints Day. The kids come along, of course. So the scene in the cemeteries was often quite festive. Everyone spruced up their tomb. What started as work details became picnics where families that grew apart would come together for a very worthy cause. Siblings and cousins could catch up with each other, and Grandma was able to go to the cemetery regularly for another year with her head held high.
Happy Halloween, Blessed Samhain, All Saints and All Souls!
by nolahistoryguy | Aug 31, 2024 | 1940s, 2020s, Cabildo, French Quarter
Old postcard becomes a modern wall at the Cabildo.
Old postcards tell stories. The image on the front plays a part in the sender’s story. Any message written contributes to that story. Americans wrote so many postcards, publishers created cards featuring all sorts of places and things.
This postcard shows the back courtyard of the Cabildo, as it was in the late 1930s/early 1940s. We’ve written about this postcard before. One addition to that article: Louisiana News Company of New Orleans published it.
Postcard to Mural
Postcard mural on the second floor
I started on Thursday as a Cabildo Docent for the Friends of the Cabildo. I plan to take the FOC’s Tour Guide training next February, and become a licensed tour guide for the city. In the meantime, since there have been significant changes to my computer training gig, I have the time for more history-related projects. So, I spent some time with the coordinator of the docent program, learning things about the exhibits. I solo-ed this week. This is the perfect time of year for learning the ropes, as August isn’t a peak time for visitors. I worked the Docent Desk from 10am to noon. It’s your basic information desk, on the landing of main staircase, on the second floor. While nobody asked questions of me, I learned more about the various items in the collections.
As I walked around the second floor, I stood in front of this postcard. On a wall. On the WHOLE wall! You gotta love this.
- A photographer captures the Cabildo Courtyard.
- A postcard publisher bought the image.
- The publisher sent it to an artist who colorized it.
- The color image gets sold as a postcard.
- 80 years later, that postcard becomes a mural.
On most of my visits to the Cabildo in the last two or so years, I entered the museum, walked through the first floor exhibits, then to the elevator. The FOC tour guides meet on the second floor of the Arsenal building. So, I didn’t stop and make the time for the main second floor exhibits. After a walk-through, a lot of it came back to me, particular this mural.
by nolahistoryguy | Aug 29, 2024 | 1980s, 1990s, 2020s, Public Belt, Railroads, Streetcars
NORTA and NOPB meet in the Riverfront Railroad Convergence.
NORTA 2004, a 2000-series Von Dullen Streetcar, operating on UPT-Riverfront (Infrogmation photo)
Riverfront Railroad Convergence
Railroads and street railways regularly crossed and ran in parallel. At their peak in the 1920s, New Orleans boasted of over 200 miles of street rail track. Railroads criss-cross streets to this day. As street railway lines decreased in the 1920s to the conversion of the Canal Street line in 1964, By 1988, we had a return of activity in the Riverfront Railroad Convergence.
From 1964 to 1988, New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated (NOPSI) and the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA) operated a single streetcar line, St. Charles. In the late 1980s, NORTA (which took control of the city’s transit operations in 1984) planned a new streetcar line. They constructed “Riverfront” as a tourist line. This line operated separate from St. Charles. Riverfront’s original route ran from the Morial Convention Center to the French Market. NORTA renovated one of the old L&N/Seabord Coast tracks along the river. They installed standard-gauge trucks on arch roof streetcars they recovered from various sources. The line opened in August of 1988. Since then, railroads and street rail operate in parallel along the river. The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad operates most of the regular railroad traffic along the riverfront.
Streetcars
NORTA 451, one of the original Riverfront cars. (AC Transit photo)
After the expansion and modifications made to Riverfront in the late 1990s, the line morphed from tourist-only to part of the city’s transit system. The line now operates as Route 49, UPT-Riverfront. The line starts at the French Market. It runs along the Riverfront to Canal Street, where it turns lakebound. At Elk Place, the line turns to continue on Loyola Avenue. It terminates at Union Passenger Terminal (UPT), the city’s Amtrak station. So, the current line no longer connects the Convention Center. This was a major shift from Riverfront’s original purpose. It now focuses on moving locals and Quarter tourists rather than conventioneers.
New Orleans Public Belt
NOPB power parked by the NORTA Ursulines Street Station, 2017. (Infrogmation photo)
Meanwhile, NOPB keeps on rolling! While the number of wharves along the riverfront dwindles, the original mission of the Public Belt continues. NOPB maintains the tracks from the Huey P. Long Bridge in Jefferson to the Industrial Canal. Those tracks enable wharf access to all railroads in the metro area.
Vintage “business car” parked on NOPB tracks, 2014. (Infrogmation photo)
Additionally, the NOPB parked their vintage business car by the Old US Mint, until the car was sold.
by nolahistoryguy | May 21, 2024 | 2020s, Mid-City, St. Patrick 1
The weather’s nice enough for a proper morning photowalk!
Morning Photowalk for a Monday
My usual Monday routine is breakfast at Wakin Bakin on Banks Street in Mid-City. I parked my car back by St. Patrick Cemetery Number One, on Canal Street. From there, I did a morning photowalk, down Canal to S. Murat Street, to Banks Street. The weather was great and the neighborhood is fun to observe.
Canal Street
4920 Canal Street
4916 Canal Street
4916 Canal Street
4920-4916 Canal Street. Numbers here decrease since I’m walking “down,” towards the river. This is a pair of Streamline Moderne buildings housing downstairs retail (professional offices) and upstairs apartments.
Botinelli Place
Botinelli Place is a private street. It’s the south-of-Canal extension of Anthony Street. The building in the rear with the large spires is the ‘Botinelli Building.” The spires originally adorned the old Touro Synagogue on Carondelet Street. Botinelli acquired them as salvage when the congregation sold their building on Carondelet and moved to St. Charles Avenue, by Loyola University. He built an apartment building and put the spires on top.
Dominican Priory at St. Anthony Church
Dominican Priory at St. Anthony Church
Two views of St. Anthony’s Priory, 4640 Canal Street. More than just a rectory for the parish, the priory houses Friars working around New Orleans.
4520 Canal Street
Currently listed by Anthony Posey Properties, Inc.
4534 Canal Street
This house is one off the corner, with the well-known home of the Centanni family at the corner of Canal and S. Murat Streets.
Napoleon in Mid-City
One of the more interesting and less-known aspects of this section of Mid-City is its association with Napoleon Bonaparte. While most folks are aware of the Napoleonic theme of street names just off of Napoleon Avenue uptown, many aren’t aware of the Mid-City connection. Three streets in Mid-City, Bernadotte, Murat, and Alexander are named for personalities from the Napoleonic period. Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was one of Napoleon’s marshals. He was elected crown prince of Sweden in 1810 and became King Charles XIV John upon the death of King Charles XIII. Joachim Murat was also a Marshal of France under Napoleon, later becoming King of Naples. Tsar Alexander I of Russia was one of Napoleon’s chief adversaries.
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