by nolahistoryguy | Apr 9, 2021 | 1900s - 1910s, Allard Plantation, City Park, Mid-City, Parks
City Park Trees, palm and oak, near the McFadden house.
City Park Trees
Palm and oak trees in front of the original house that later became the McFadden mansion. It’s now part of City Park New Orleans. The Library of Congress (LOC) dates this photo as circa 1910. That fits, as construction on the house finished in 1909. While the oak tree clearly predates the house, the palm tree is part of the landscaping project.
Allard Plantation
Francisco Hery first farmed the land that is now City Park in 1723. Louis Allard, born in 1777, acquired the land, growing sugar cane and corn. Allard failed to pay city taxes. The city seized the plantation. John McDonogh bought the land at auction. When McDonogh died in 1850, he willed the plantation back to the city. City Hall converted the farm into public green space. They formalized this in 1870, officially creating City Park.
City Park began as a much smaller area than it is now. So, local businessman Fred Bertrand purchased four acres of land just north of the park. He built the four-bedroom house seen here. William Harding McFadden, a Texas oilman, purchased the house in 1919. McFadden enlarged the original house, converting it into the mansion we know now.
Palm trees in New Orleans
The palm tree planted in front of Bertrand’s home makes me at once happy and sad. Happy because I love palms. Sad because so many of these palms don’t survive winters in New Orleans. Over the 20th century, the city undertook “beautification projects,” re-paving major streets and adding plants and trees. Unfortunately, the palm trees rarely had a chance. Within a few years of the projects, winter brought a cold snap with a hard freeze. Those low temperatures killed the palms.
We keep trying, though. Maybe it’s a desire to match the palms in Los Angeles. Maybe we just like them. Either way, we bring them down, plant them, and watch them freeze. sigh.
by nolahistoryguy | Feb 2, 2021 | 1811/Kid Ory House, Jazz, Plantations
Kid Ory Band LaPlace from around 1910.
Kid Ory Band Laplace
Photo from around 1910 of Edward “Kid” Ory and his band. They’re in a field in LaPlace, Louisiana, where Ory grew up. The band members include (l-r) Ed Robinson (drums), Ory, Lewis Matthews (cornet), Emile Bigard (violin). Stonewall Matthews (guitar). The bassist is only identified as “Foster.”
Ory’s band travled into New Orleans on Saturday mornings. They “tailgated,” riding in wagons, promoting their gigs. Additionally, the band busked for tips around the fishing camps in Milneburg. Ory later moved to New Orleans. He lived with his sister. King Bolden tried to recruit the Kid to play in his band, but his sister insisted he finish school first.
1811/Kid Ory House
Kid Ory lived on the land formerly occupied by Woodland Plantation in LaPlace. The main house re-opens today as the 1811/Kid Ory House. From the press release for today’s event:
GRAND OPENING TUESDAY!
1811 Kid Ory Historic House Announces Grand Opening
River Parishes Newest Museum to Officially Open to the Public
LAPLACE, LA January 26, 2021. After a year of planning and installing exhibits, the 1811 Kid Ory Historic House opens on Tuesday, February 2, 2021; this will mark the first time the house has opened to the public. Formerly known as the Woodland Plantation, or Montegut House, the 1811 Kid Ory Historic House dates back over two centuries to the Spanish colonial era.
Two permanent exhibits tell the stories of the 1811 German Coast uprising of enslaved people and the life of jazz pioneer Kid Ory, born on the plantation in 1886. Exhibit Room I features Stomping Grounds: Mules at Work in Southeast Louisiana, also explores the role of draft animals and sugar production in the area after the Civil War. Exhibit Room II features photographs of regional culture. Patrons can find a selection of Kid Ory’s music on vinyl, CD, and 78rpm recordings as well as books, handmade string instruments, vintage phonographs, cards, photographs, and art.
Staff
The executive team consists of museum founder, Kid Ory biographer, former Times-Picayune photojournalist John McCusker, non-profit founder and history practitioner Charlotte Jones, and scholar-in-residence Daniel Senentez, Jr.
45-minute tours of the 4,000 sq. ft. historic home begins at 11 am. Admission into the museum is $15. While the ribbon-cutting ceremony is outside, masks and social distancing are strongly encouraged. Masks are required inside the building, and tour size is limited to four.
Who: 1811 Kid Ory Historic House
What: Grand Opening
Where: 1128 LA-HWY 628, LaPlace, LA 70068
When: Tuesday, February 2, 2021 – 10 am
The Photo
Kid Ory Band LaPlace is part of the Louisiana State Museum/New Orleans Jazz Museum Collection.
by nolahistoryguy | Jun 20, 2020 | Antebellum New Orleans, Evergreen Plantation, Laura Plantation, Plantations, Podcasts, Whitney Plantation
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NOLA History Guy Podcast 20-June-2020 is part two of our interview with Katy Morlas Shannon
Katy Morlas Shannon (Zooming!)
NOLA History Guy Podcast 20-June-2020
Just one segment this week, which is part two of our talk with historian and author Katy Morlas Shannon. We had such a good time talking, and I don’t want to edit any of it!
Buy Katy’s Book!
The New Orleans Bee was a French-language newspaper that began in 1827. L’Abeille (its French name) offered New Orleans’ Creole community the news for over a century. So, we spoke with author and historian Katy Morlas Shannon about her background, The Bee, and how she came to curate the selection of articles from the paper’s first year.
The Plantations
These are the places we talked with Katy about during our chat.
The Big House at Whitney Plantation
Whitney Plantation
Laura Plantation
Laura Plantation
Evergreen Plantation
Evergreen Plantation
Fleurty Girl on NOLA History Guy Podcast 20-June-2020
Crown baseball tee from Fleurty GirlWe did our interview via Zoom, but only used the audio for the podcast. Katy had a really cool t-shirt from Fleurty Girl on!
Katy M. Shannon on Facebook.
I promise, we’ll get back to the Riverfront Streetcar Line in a few weeks! While we’ll be talking to folks, research continues. Therefore, the Riverfront segments offer lots of details.
by nolahistoryguy | May 16, 2020 | Antebellum New Orleans, CBD, Evergreen Plantation, French Quarter, Podcasts, Whitney Plantation
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NOLA History Guy Podcast 16-May-2020 is part one of our interview with Katy Morlas Shannon
Original location of the International Trade Mart, Camp and Common Streets.
NOLA History Guy Podcast 16-May-2020
Two segments on a longer edition of NOLA History Guy Podcast this week. First is our pick of the week from Today in New Orleans History. Additionally, part one of our interview with Katy Morlas Shannon.
May 13, 1966 – City agrees with International Trade Mart on a new building
Architectural rendering of the World Trade Center Building as the Four Seasons Hotel (courtesy DDD)
Our Pick of the Week from NewOrleansPast.com is May 13th. On that date in 1966, the city finalized an agreement with the International Trade Mart. The Mart wanted a new headquarters building, So, they acquired property at 2 Canal Street. The organization’s first headquarters was the above building at the corner of Camp and Common Streets. Mayor Vic Schiro continued Chep Morrison’s plans in his administration. The goal was to make New Orleans a gateway to Central and South America. Modernizing the ITM contributed to this. So, the organization built a 33-story office building at the foot of Canal. That building remains a part of the downtown skyline.
“ITM Building” – watercolor by Jeanette Boutell Woest, 1966. via HNOC
In 1985, the ITM merged with International House to become the World Trade Center. The ITM building housed a number of international companies. That’s how the “Mart” worked. Additionally, the building housed foreign consulate offices. As the city’s economy shifted from port traffic and the oil industry to tourism, things changed. While the ITM building was a good location, newer office towers on Poydras appealed to companies. Hurricane Katrina emptied the building. Even the World Trade Center moved across the street to One Canal Place. In 2012, the organization gave the unoccupied building to the city. So, it will soon become a Four Seasons Hotel.
The New Orleans Bee
The New Orleans Bee was a French-language newspaper that began in 1827. L’Abeille (its French name) offered New Orleans’ Creole community the news for over a century. So, we spoke with author and historian Katy Morlas Shannon about her background, The Bee, and how she came to curate the selection of articles from the paper’s first year.
The Plantations
The Big House at Whitney Plantation
Whitney Plantation
Laura Plantation
Laura Plantation
Evergreen Plantation
Evergreen Plantation
Katy Morlas Shannon
Crown baseball tee from Fleurty Girl
We did this interview via Zoom, but only used the audio for the podcast. Katy had a really cool t-shirt from Fleurty Girl on!
Katy M. Shannon on Facebook.
I promise, we’ll get back to the Riverfront Streetcar Line in a few weeks! While we’ll be talking to folks, research continues. Therefore, the Riverfront segments offer lots of details.
by nolahistoryguy | Oct 21, 2018 | Cemeteries, Laura Plantation, Plantations, St. Louis Number 1
Locoul Family Tomb, in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
Locoul Family Tomb drawing from its HABS survey. (Library of Congress)
Locoul Family Tomb
Locoul Family Tomb HABS Survey (Library of Congress)
The Historic American Building Survey (HABS) collection at the Library of Congress contains several surveys of tombs in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, in Faubourg Treme. The Locoul family’s tomb is particularly interesting, because of the family’s links to Laura Plantation.
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 draws large numbers of tourists daily to Basin Street. The city opened the cemetery in 1789. St. Louis No. 1 replaced an earlier cemetery, St. Peter’s, in the Vieux Carre. So, the French tradition of above-ground burials in tombs and vaults allowed families a lot of creativity in designing their resting places. Therefore, individual tombs attract study. Catholics and Protestants buried their dead in St. Louis No. 1, until Christ Episcopal opened Girod Cemetery in 1822.
Significance of the tomb
Emile Locoul (1822-1879)From the survey entry:
Significance: The Locoul family owned the Laura Plantation on River Road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The family’s patriarch, George Raymond Locoul, arrived in New Orleans in 1821 and shortly thereafter married Elisabeth Duparc, whose family owned one of the largest sugar plantations in St. James Parish. Raymond himself had a lucrative wine importing business. From 1820 to 1920 the plantation was a main distribution point for French wines and other liquors, with a 10,000 bottle capacity. Raymond died in 1850 from yellow fever, leaving Elisabeth and their two children, Louis Raymond Emile and Mary Elisabeth Aimee.
It was after his death the tomb was built, for the contagiousness of the disease prevented the body from being transported upriver to the family tomb. Elisabeth ran the plantation during the Civil War up until her death in 1882. The plantation later became the focus of a bitter property war between siblings Emile and Aimee. Since Aimee owned the sugar mill on the land, Emile built his own and subsequently named it after his daughter, Laura. Laura Locoul Gore would later go on to write a memoir, “Memories of the Old Plantation Home,” of the Locoul family’s history.
The Locouls were Creole in heritage and one of the wealthiest families in Louisiana at the peak of the plantation’s production. The tomb puts that wealth on display by employing a slate and granite foundation and has some of the cemetery’s finest ironwork surrounding the tomb.
The first image in the survey includes a map of St. Louis No. 1. The map shows the location in the cemetery of the Locoul tomb.
HABS and St. Louis No. 1
Map of St. Louis Cemetery No 1 included in the HABS surveys of tombs in the cemetery.
There are a number of HABS surveys on tombs in St. Louis No. 1. So, we’ll look at them as we go forward.
In the meantime, if you’d like to visit St. Louis No. 1 and the Locoul tomb, check out my friends at Two Chicks Walking Tours.
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