We begin our discussion of the Battle of New Orleans with this map. While this map reflects a post-battle survey, the city remained essentially the same. This is the New Orleans Andrew Jackson experienced when he arrived on 1-December-1814. He progressed from Tennessee to Mobile, then along the Gulf Coast to New Orleans. In just over a month, Jackson would lead an American force in defense of New Orleans against a force of British Army regulars, just south of the city proper.
The map displays the extend to which New Orleans had grown in almost a century. It presents what would become the three “municipalities,” later “districts.” The center is the French Quarter, the original 1721 city plan. To the left, on the west side of Canal Street, is the “Second Municipality,” also known as Faubourg Ste. Marie, the American Sector. To the right of the Quarter is the “Third Municipality,” originally the Marigny Plantation. Just above the Quarter is Faubourg Treme.
Place d’Armes
The main municipal buildings stood behind the Place d’Armes. St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo, and the Presbytere are visible at the top of this map. Jackson initially operated from the Cabildo. The Spanish government completed the building in 1799, and the Americans continued to use it as city hall. While the Presbytere’s original purpose was to be a rectory for the priests staffing the cathedral, it was used for retail and city offices by 1814.
The three main buildings were quite different than what we see now, from the square named for Jackson. Both Cabildo and Presbytere were two-story buildings in 1814. They would not expand to three stories until 1847.
The church visible on this map is the 1794 cathedral. The original parish church of St. Louis burned in 1788 and 1794. This church took its place, only to be demolished in front of the present church in 1850.
The Ursuline Convent survived the fires of 1788 and 1794. It served as a school for young women and a residence for the nuns staffing the hospital.
The Carondelet Canal flows through Treme, to the end of Bayou St. John. The canal replaced the “old portage” between the end of the bayou and the city proper. Fort St. John, the “Spanish Fort” at the mouth of the bayou at Lake Pontchartrain, blocked access to the city by boat from the north.
The Port
The riverfront and port accommodated flatboats coming down the river with cotton and sugar. The first steamboat arrived in New Orleans only two years earlier, in 1812. So, the city did not experience the full economic impact of steamboat travel until after the battle. Ocean-going ships came up the river from the Gulf of Mexico, passing Fort St. Phillip before reaching the port. This fort, as well as Fort St. Leon at English Turn, stood as primary defense points below the city.
Daily life
The public market ran along the riverfront from the Place d’Armes to Fort St. Charles, now the Old US Mint. The French Market served as primary marketplace for New Orleans until the 1830s. This map shows the “Boucherie” at St. Ann Street and the river. The “Butcher’s Market” later expands, extending to Dumaine Street.
Given the urgency of Jackson’s mission, he did not partake in much social activity in New Orleans. After issuing orders to bolster the city’s defenses, he left the city proper for the main house at the McCarthy Plantation. The Battle of Lake Borgne made it clear the British would attack the city from the east, cutting through the swamps of St. Bernard Parish. Jackson and his officers worked tirelessly to marshal regular army and militia units in Chalmette.
Podcast 47 is the first of a four-part series on early New Orleans street railways. We’re talking about streetcars that pre-date our iconic arch roof streetcars from 1923, and the red streetcars from 2004. Beginning with the origins of public transit with omnibuses to steam railroad lines, to mule-drawn streetcars, we present getting around before electrification.
The New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad (NO&CRR) launched the first street rail line, from Baronne Street to Carrollton in 1835. This was a steam-powered line. This 1830s illustration of the Carrollton Hotel shows the steam locomotive for the Carrollton line on the left.
As Uptown expanded, residents complained about the smoke and noise of the train. NO&CRR switched from steam railroad operations to mule-drawn streetcars in the 1840s. They used Stephenson Co. “bobtail” streetcars pulled by mules.
Downtown Bobtails
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The New Orleans City Railrod Company (NOCRR) inaugurated the Canal and Esplanade lines in 1861. While trying other streetcar models, they quickly settled on the Stephenson bobtails as well.
Facilities
After switching from steam power to mule power, NO&CRR built a barn at St. Charles and Napoleon Avenues. This is the layout of that corner, via the Robinson Atlas of 1883.
Esplanade streetcar approaching the Esplanade barn, 1864
Esplanade Station, 1883
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Riding along Tchoupitoulas offers a view of the “sliver along the river, including St. Mary’s Market.
St. Mary’s Market
St. Mary’s Market, seen here in this photograph from McPherson and Oliver, in 1864ish. This is the location of the original market. It stood where Tchoupitoulas, Poyfarre, Delord, and St. Joseph Streets converged. So, the market, part of the city’s network of public markets, serviced Faubourg Ste. Marie, also known as the “American Sector.” While the French Market was the city’s first public market, St. Mary’s enabled residents living on the Uptown side of Canal Street to shop without having to go into the French Quarter. This satisfied both Anglo-Irish and Creole families.
Riding along Tchoupitoulas
I took the Canal Streetcar into town from the Cemeteries yesterday. After a wonderful lunch of red beans and rice at Mother’s Restaurant, So, I rode the #10 bus, the Tchoupitoulas line, from Magazine and Poydras up to Audubon Park. It’s fun to let someone else do the driving while observing how neighborhoods change. Additionally, going Uptown made the trip a big loop. While the public markets vanished in favor of modern supermarkets after WWII, they left imprints on their respective neighborhoods.
The market for the American Sector stood close to the river. It offered groceries, fresh meat, and seafood to families of men who worked the riverfront. Germans and Irish immigrants regularly took jobs as longshoremen. Enough Irish settled in Ste. Marie that the Archdiocese created St. Patrick’s Parish in 1833. By 1836, the market opened. Now, the rough triangle marking the site of the market houses a gas station, several warehouses, and a restaurant. They city authorized the relocation of St. Mary’s Market in 1858. The Southern Rebellion delayed the actual move.
Transition
St. Mary’s Market stood in what is now known as the Warehouse District. So, like Magazine Street, Tchoupitoulas Street winds its way from Canal Street through many neighborhoods we collective refer to as “Uptown.” The #11 bus line ends, along with Tchoupitoulas Street, at Audubon Park. So, the bus serves both the port and important institutions Uptown like Children’s Hospital.
We’ll continue with more on Tchoupitoulas Street this week!
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