Washington Artillery Cenotaph

Washington Artillery Cenotaph

Metairie Cemetery is the site of the Washington Artillery Cenotaph.

washington artillery cenotaph

Washington Artillery Cenotaph

George Mugnier photo (courtesy NOPL) of the Washington Artillery Cenotaph in Metairie Cemetery. A “cenotaph” is an empty tomb. They serve as monuments to people buried elsewhere. So, the United States Army formed the Washington Artillery (WA) in 1838. It is now the 141st Field Artillery Regiment. The unit is attached to the Louisiana National Guard. In 1861, the government of Louisiana took control of the unit. It was a battalion at the time. WA fought as part of the main rebel force. WA re-organized in the 1870s.

The Monument

The Washington Artillery Association raised funds for a monument to the battalion in 1879. The unit consisted of four companies at the time. Additionally, a fought with the Army of Tennessee. So, the association accepted proposals from various architects, They chose the design submitted by Charles A. Orleans. Orleans proposal included a sculpture by Alexander Doyle. Doyle imagined a figure of an artillery private, holding a “sponge.” The sponge was fixed to a ramrod. Gunners used them to clean out a just-fired gun. So, the cenotaph’s price tag was $10,000. Donations ranging from $25 to $250 came in to cover the costs.

While the unit fought for twenty years in the Union Army, the monument honors the rebel years. The roll of the dead listed members of the unit killed during that period. The battle honors initially engraved on the cenotaph began with Bull Run. Mexican War honors were not listed. The  list of engagements shows just how active and effective the unit was.

Dedication

The Association dedicated the cenotaph on February 23, 1880. A thousand people came out to honor the unit. The unit and its veterans association updated the cenotaph, expanding the battle honors as the battalion returned to active duty with the Army. The 141st hold a memorial annually at the cenotaph, as part of the unit’s heritage and traditions.

Rex Duke Costume 1877

Rex Duke Costume 1877

Rex Duke Costume 1877, for a military themed parade and ball.

rex duke costume 1877

Rex Duke Costume 1877

For the theme, “Military Progress of the World,” a Duke of the krewe wore this Teutonic Knight costume. Artist Charles Briton created these concepts.

Rex’s Sixth Parade

The School of Design, also known as the Rex Organization, presented its sixth parade in 1877. The krewe came a long way since the first time they took to the streets of New Orleans in 1872. That first year, Rex rode a horse. That changed in 1873, as the krewe built a float for the King of Carnival. Rex lore offers the tale of how the Grand Duke Alexis Romanov of Russia attended the first Rex parade. His presence lent an amount of gravitas to that parade which isn’t quite deserved. Rex built on the success of that first year.

By 1877, Rex advanced a step further. The first five parades featured “standard” floats. They made a fine parade, but the organization wanted to match the Mystick Krewe of Comus. The senior krewe’s parade matched the theme of their bal masque. Rex desired to also present a “rolling tableaux.” While the balls for these organizations were invitation-only, the stories played out along the parade route.

Dukes

Carnival krewes boasted a monarch that led the parade. Rex and the Knights of Momus placed a krewe member at the head of the procession as king. Comus does not choose a king. Their monarch represents the demi-god himself. Either way, they had a guy on that first float, waving to the crowd.

Additionally, the krewes presented young ladies to polite society at their balls. Those debutantes required formal escorts at the ball. So, the krewes created Dukes. They elevated members to these positions, giving them fancier costumes than the average float-rider. Starting in 1877, Rex’s Dukes wore costumes matching the tableaux. That’s why a guy got to wear this great knight’s costume with a magnificent helmet and a big mace.

Modern Dukes

Rex changed the role of the Duke as the parade evolved. Rather than creating elaborate costumes for Dukes, the organization invited younger men to assume the role of escorts to the court. The Dukes now wear white tie and tails, formal attire matching the long, white dresses of the ladies.

Source: Carnival Collection, Howard-Tilton Library, Tulane University.

St. Aloysius Robinson Atlas #BOSHSunday @BMHSCrusaders

St. Aloysius Robinson Atlas #BOSHSunday @BMHSCrusaders

St. Aloysius Robinson Atlas shows the original location of the school.

st. aloysius robinson atlas

St. Aloysius Robinson Atlas

The 1883 Robinson Atlas of New Orleans is an invaluable resource. Here’s the caption from the book:

Robinson Atlas. This 1883 atlas shows the location of St. Aloysius Academy in Block 18. Just to the left, in Block 19, is the Archbishop’s residence and St. Mary’s Church. The residence is now known as the Old Ursuline Convent. The church, which has had several names, is currently called “St. Mary’s Italian Church.”

The archbishops of New Orleans moved into the Old Ursuline Convent when that order moved to the Ninth Ward. (They later left the area altogether, moving Uptown.) The current archbishop’s residence is on S. Carrollton and Walmsley, next to Notre Dame Seminary.

Block 19 is inaccurately described. The buildings labeled “St Marys R.C.Ch.” are actually the convent/archbishopric. St. Mary’s (also known as St. Mary’s Italian and Our Lady of Victory) is the building next to the label.

The school

Block 18 consisted of a number of residential properties in 1883. The house on the corner of Barracks and Chartres housed officers of the Spanish Army, during the Spanish Colonial period. So, the house faced Barracks Street. The house’s gardens occupied the actual corner.

The property passed from Spain back to France, just before the Louisiana Purchase. The Spanish passed ownership of much of the government-owned property to the church. That avoided turning it over to the Americans. The Archdiocese of New Orleans still owned the property after the Southern Rebellion. During the rebellion and Union occupation, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart operated an extension of St. Stanislaus College in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, in New Orleans. The BOSH taught boys from the city who couldn’t get back to Stanislaus at Annunciation Parish in the Marigny. By the end of the rebellion, the BOSH decided to open a school in the city. They asked the archbishop for assistance, and received the officer’s quarters.

The map

I cut down this snippet, St. Aloysius Robinson Atlas, for the book. So, the snippet shows the streetcar tracks on Esplanade Avenue. New Orleans City Railroad opened their mule-drawn Esplanade line in 1861.

 

 

 

New Orleans Brewing – a brief history of a long NOLA tradition

New Orleans Brewing – a brief history of a long NOLA tradition

New Orleans brewing dates back to the earliest German families in the city.

ED note: This article originally appeared at GoNOLA.com in 2012. Updated with different images and some additional history.

new orleans brewing

JAX Brewery, Decatur Street, 2013, Ed Johnson photo.

New Orleans Brewing

The German celebration of Oktoberfest is defined by beer. New Orleans has enjoyed a long love affair with beer, chiefly in part because New Orleans has had a strong German community since the 1700s. Those German families built up a strong local beer industry, laying the foundation for today’s excellent local New Orleans brewpubs and craft beers resulting in serious Oktoberfestivities.

Germans have lived in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana since the 1720s, since the days of John Law’s Mississippi Company. The biggest influx of Germans into New Orleans took place in the 1850s, the result of the turmoil of the mid-late 1840s in Continental Europe. By the late 1850s, the Germans were a strong force in the community, with their own church in the Irish Channel that rivaled the one the Irish built across the street.

Early breweries

new orleans brewing

Maginnis Cotton Mills, originally the Fasnacht Brewery. Illustration in New Orleans, the Crescent City, as it Appears in the Year 1895.

The first commercial brewery in New Orleans was opened in 1852 by Louis Fasnacht. Fasnacht and his brother, Samuel, came to New Orleans from Switzerland in 1846. They bought the Poeyfarre’ family home, located at Constance and Poeyfarre’ streets, and built their brewery next to it. The Fasnacht brewery did not survive the Southern Rebellion’s tight economic times. The brothers sold the brewery in 1869. The location became Erath and Company Brewery. The Fasnachts re-acquired the brewery in 1872. They closed for good in 1875. The site became the A. A. Maginnis Cotton Mill in 1882. The building is now the Cotton Mill Apartments.

Reconstruction Brewing

The re-opening of the port after the rebels surrendered the city encouraged others to open breweries, most notably George Merz, in 1869. Merz brewed lager beer. Lagers require cooling. Purchasing ice from Maine boosted the price of Merz’s beer. He operated the Old Canal Brewery in the block bounded by Villere, Toulouse, Robertson & St. Louis. (“Old Canal” refers to the Carondelet Canal, built in 1795.)
Brewing lager made Merz an innovator as well as a brewmeister. He acquired an air compression system built by a Frenchman, Charles Tellier, to improve cooling in his plant. Merz hired a local engineer, F. V. De Coppet, to install it. The Merz brewery became the first with air-conditioning with this installation. Tellier’s system ultimately did not work out as A/C, but De Coppet modified it as an ice-making machine, acquiring several patents for his work.

Brewing continued to grow in the 1870s, and by 1880s, New Orleans became the largest beer-making city in the South. Merz’s Old Canal Brewery, Southern Brewing Company, Crescent City Brewing, Weckerling Brewery, Pelican Brewery, Lafayette Brewing, and Louisiana Brewery all distributed their beverages regionally. Steamboats heading up the Mississippi River and sailing ships connecting ports along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts spread the popularity of New Orleans beer. As part of the cycle of business growth, the industry eventually grew to the point where it was ripe for acquisition. To avoid acquisition by a syndicate of Englishmen, the German brewers merged their operations into the New Orleans Brewing Company, basing their operations at the Louisiana Brewery plant at Jackson Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street, Uptown, and the Weckerling plant, located at what is now the Louisiana Pavillion of the National World War II Museum, in the Warehouse District.

Regal Beer

new orleans brewing

American Brewing Co. truck, featuring Regal Beer ads, 29-Oct-1954. Franck Studios photo via HNOC.

The American Brewing Company opened in 1891. American acquired an old winery on Bourbon Street, between Bienville and Conti Streets. They brewed “Regal” beer. The name is “Lager” backwards! American brewed Regal until 1962.

JAX

In 1891, a group of investors opened a brewery across from Jackson Square in the French Quarter. They named their company after the famous general whose statue dominated the square. By the late 1890s, restaurateur Lawrence Fabacher acquired the Jackson Brewing Company. The company purchased the “JAX” beer name from a company in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1956. The facility closed in 1974, to be resurrected as a specialty shopping center in 1984.

Dixie

New Orleans brewing

Dixie Brewery. Unnamed illustration for the article, “New Brewery Opens: Magnificent Plant on Tulane Avenue Receives Guests.” The Daily Picayune 1 November 1907, p. 6

In 1907, Merz’ son, Valentine, built the brewery at 2401 Tulane Avenue, and the family began to brand their product “Dixie Beer.” Dixie grew in popularity, becoming a top-seller prior to Prohibition. The beer regained its position as one of the city’s popular brands when the 18th Amendment was repealed. In 1982, Coy International acquired the brewery. They sold it to Joe and Kendra Elliot Bruno in 1985. The Brunos filed for Chapter 11 protection in 1989, coming out of reorganization in 1992. Dixie added other beers, including Blackened Voodoo and Crimson Voodoo. The plant was severely damaged during the Federal Flooding of 2005. The Tulane Avenue location never re-opened, and the Dixie brand was farmed out to a Wisconsin producer.

Modern Dixie

The iconic Tulane Avenue location merged into the new Veterans Administration hospital, in Mid-City’s medical complex. In 2017, Tom and Gayle Benson acquired the Dixie brand from the Brunos. Tom Benson died in 2017. Gayle Benson opened a new brewery for Dixie in 2018. On 26-June-2020, Benson announced re-branding of her beer. The brewery will drop the “Dixie” name.

Prohibition

The German community recognized the need to control the distribution and retail aspects of the beer business, so they opened up a number of restaurants and bars across the city, outlets that would in turn sell their beer. This synergy of manufacturing and retail continued to grow through the end of the 19th Century and into the 20th, but hit a brick wall with the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. Most of the small breweries were unable to survive Prohibition, so the industry was quite changed until it could resume legal production in 1933. St. Louis-based Falstaff moved into the New Orleans market with its acquisition of National Brewing in 1936.

Mid-Century

new orleans brewing

Falstaff Brewery, 2600 Gravier St, ca 1949-1950. Franck Studios photo via HNOC

By the 1950s, the incredible diversity of the industry prior to Prohibition was reduced to four brands: Falstaff, Regal, Dixie, and JAX, controlling 80% of the New Orleans market. As the Interstate Highway system expanded, it became easier for national companies to distribute their products, making it more and more difficult for local companies to compete. JAX, Falstaff, and Regal all closed their plants, leaving Dixie as the only old-line brewery left in town. Hurricane Katrina did Dixie in, the owners moving production of the beer to Wisconsin, since the storm did such horrendous damage to the Tulane Avenue plant.

Micro!

new orleans brewing

Maskers prepare to board a streetcar in the Phunny Phorty Phellows parade, 6-Jan-2012, dressed as mugs of Abita Beer. Infrogmation photo.

Micro/Craft brewing came to metro New Orleans in 1986, with the opening of Abita Brewing Company on the Northshore. The last 25 years have seen incredible growth of this industry, including new breweries and several brewpubs in town. Like many industries, extreme consolidation opens up opportunities for small operators, who continue the tradition of the Germans of New Orleans.

Happy Oktoberfest!

(Thanks and a raise of my NOLA Brewery tulip glass to www.thebeerbudda.com for great background info!)

 

NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020 D. H. Holmes, Streetcars

NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020 D. H. Holmes, Streetcars

NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020 presents the first of a four-part series on the Riverfront Streetcar line.

nola history guy podcast 05-April-2020

Rollboard sign on NORwy&Lt 208, showing it running on the Tchoupitoulas line, 1925

NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020

Two segments on NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020, our pick of the week from NewOrleansPast.com, and the start of a series on the Riverfront Streetcar line.

Today in New Orleans History

NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020

Ad in the Times Picayune, 28-March-1924

Our Pick of the week from the Facebook group, Today in New Orleans History, is Campanella’s entry for April 2nd. Daniel Henry Holmes opened his store on 2-April-1842. The first store was not the Canal Street location. He opened up at 22 Chartres, in the French Quarter. The store did well, and Holmes moved to the 800 block of Canal Street in 1849. D. H. Holmes is an icon, from “meet me under the clock” to the selection of merchandise, to the suburban stores.

There’s nothing more New Orleans than a discussion on social media about which store your momma liked better, Holmeses or Maison Blanche! We thought about adding a discussion or quote section in NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020, but it can get ugly.

The 2-April entry at New Orleans Past shows two ads from the Times-Picayune. The first is from 28-March-1924. It includes a pictorial history of D. H. Holmes around the border. Very nice!

NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020

Da Clock! Ad in the Times-Picayune, 2-April-1938

The second ad is from 2-April-1938. To celebrate the store’s birthday, D. H. Holmes ordered a 400-pound birthday cake, featuring, naturally, the clock!

Riverfront Streetcar History

nola history guy podcast 05-April-2020

NORwy&Lt 208, Ford, Bacon & Davis car, on the Tchoupitoulas line in 1925 (Franck Studios/HNOC)

We present a four-part series on the Riverfront Streetcar Line. The line rolled for the first time in 1899. The series:

I. Background – streetcars running along the New Orleans Riverfront
II. The Riverfront line, 1988-1997
III. The updated line, 1997-present
IV. NORTA 461 – History of a Riverfront streetcar

Today: Part I – background leading up to 1988

streetcar at the french market

Johnson Bobtail streetcar passing the French Market, ca 1880

Prior to the Riverfront line, streetcars didn’t operate close to the riverfront. That’s because the wharves and railroad tracks occupied the space. The closest streetcars were on the streets servicing the Riverfront, like Tchoupitoulas, Laurel, and Annunciation Streets uptown, and N. Front and Decatur Streets to the French Market on the downtown side.

Rapp’s Luggage, 604 Canal Street #fadingsignsNOLA

Rapp’s Luggage, 604 Canal Street #fadingsignsNOLA

Rapp’s Luggage still sells leather goods and luggage in Metairie

Rapp's Luggage

Rapp’s Trunk Store sign on the side of 604 Canal Street.

Rapp’s Luggage

George Rapp came to New Orleans from Germany, just at the end of the Civil War. He got settled and entered the leather goods business. By 1865, he put together the means to purchase Mack’s Trunk Store, located on Common Street. Rapp changed the name of the business to his own, and moved it to Canal Street.

Rapp continued to refer to the business as a “Trunk Store” when he took over. That’s because “steam trunks” were a huge part of his sales. When folks from New Orleans went to Europe, they did so by taking a four to five week trip on a steamship. Since it took four weeks to get there, people didn’t just turn around and go home in a few days, or even a week. That meant they needed to bring enough clothing and accessories for a months-long adventure. So, Rapps sold those trunk. They also repaired steam trunks. Those things weren’t cheap! Customers wanted to extend their life as much as possible.

604 Canal

Rapp's Luggage

604 Canal Street, next to the JW Marriott Hotel, was the home of Rapp’s Luggage.

This building is 5 stories tall. The Merchants Mutual Insurance building at 624 Canal is four stories tall. So were the buildngs that were demolished to make room for the hotel in-between 604 and 624. So, with most of the block four stories tall, Rapp was able to paint a sign on the lake side of 604 Canal. While the building on the river side of his store was also five stories, the lake side was more important. People walked down Canal Street in the afternoon and evening, heading back to the ferry landing, or the L&N passenger termnal. The building is currently home to a store in The Athlete’s Foot chain.

Leaving Canal Street

Canal Street faced competition from suburban malls in the 1970s. Rapp’s recognized this shift. They left Canal Street, moving across Severn Avenue in Metairie. They also opened stores in The Plaza at Lake Forest, and the Uptown Square Mall. Later, the company expanded to Baton Rouge. They opened a store in the Bon Marche mall.

The faded sign remains on Canal Street!