NOLA History Guy
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3000 Gentilly in the 1950s #podcast
The block of 3000 Gentilly Blvd holds a fascinating history. 3000 Gentilly Photo of the building at 3028-3030 Gentilly Blvd., taken by Franck Studios on February 13, 1951. The specific photographer is unidentified, since this is a commercial photo rather than part of...
How I Can Help You
Even if I don't need your product/service, let's talk about how I can help you. (cross-posted to YatMedia and Eloquent Profanity) How Can I Help You? Can your products/services actually help me? Odds are, the answer is no. That doesn't mean we're not useful to each...
Pullman Porters worked for tips
Pullman Porters didn't earn a living wage from the company. The Pullman Porters When George Pullman's company began providing sleeping car service to passenger railroads in the US, he hired Black men, formerly enslaved, to staff the cars. Those men staffed sleeping...
I tell stories
Re-introducing myself - I tell Stories. I Tell Stories I've written six books on various aspects of the history of New Orleans. They're stories ranging from streetcars to department stores to schools to Jazz. I earned a BA in Social Sciences Education from the...
Funeral Procession Jefferson Davis, 1889
The Traitor Davis died in New Orleans in 1899. The city gave him a grand funeral procession. Funeral Procession of the Traitor Davis Jefferson Davis died in the Garden District on December 6, 1889. They city held a massive funeral procession for Davis on 11-December....
Amtrak City of New Orleans – slow and fast(er)
Amtrak City of New Orleans heading out of town at different speeds. Riding Amtrak City of New Orleans The City of New Orleans is Amtrak's New Orleans to Chicago route. It's their version of the old Illinois Central train made famous by the song. For the last few...
Public Swimming Pools 1 – @NOLACityPark
Public swimming pools have a long history in New Orleans. Beat the heat in public swimming pools City Park and Audubon Park both opened public swimming pools in the 1920s. City Park was first, in 1925, followed by the uptown park in 1928. So much of their stories is...
Kansas City Southern Crossing Carrollton
KCS passenger train heading out, crossing Carrollton Avenue. Crossing Carrollton Avenue A Kansas City Southern train heads west out of Union Station. It's crossing S. Carrollton Avenue, just before the intersection of S. Carrollton and Tulane Avenues. A pair of...
Architectural Rendering of Shushan Airport
Shushan Airport is now known as Lakefront Airport. Art Deco administration building at Shushan Airport Architectural drawing of the Administration building of Shushan Airport. The state built the airport on the eastern side of the Industrial Canal....
Boyd Cruise – 1303 St. Ann Street #frenchquarter
Stores like 1303 St. Ann Street were a common sight in the Treme. 1303 St. Ann Street Painting of the corner store at 1303 St. Ann Street by Boyd Cruise. Here's the description of the painting from THNOC: View of a corner building in Faubourg Tremé with a grocery...
Southern Pacific Passenger Car #TrainThursday
This Southern Pacific passenger car operated on the Sunset Limited. Southern Pacific passenger car A Budd corporation built passenger car operating on the Southern Pacific's "Sunset Limited" train. The Historic New Orleans Collection dates this photo as prior to 1941,...
Biloxi Depot 1925 #TrainThursday
The L&N Railroad operated Biloxi Depot in 1925. Biloxi Depot 1925 photo of the the railroad depot at Biloxi. According to the Biloxi Historical Society, the Biloxi Daily Herald reported that the plans for the depot were in the hands of T.J. Rosell & Company as...
Street Railways of Algiers and Gretna #podcast
Street railways connected Algiers with Gretna and even Marrero. Westbank Streetcars I had the privilege of speaking to the Algiers Historical Society last month, on the subject of street railways on the Westbank. I'd spoken to the group on East Bank subjects in the...
Travel West via Through Cars #TrainThursday
Travel across the Western United States in the 1920s involved Through Cars. Through Cars from New Orleans Passenger railroads dominated long-distance travel in the United States in the 1920s. On 5-June-1926, the Times-Picayune newspaper presented a number of ads...
Private Cars on Amtrak’s Crescent 🌙 (1)
Private cars on Amtrak's Crescent are a wonderful treat. Springtime brings out the private railcars all across the country. With three Amtrak long-haul passenger routes converging on New Orleans, we see a wonderful variety of privately-owned heritage railcars. This...
Archbishop’s Palace 1875
The Archbishop's Palace was original the Ursuline Convent Archbishop's Palace Illustration of "The Archbishop's Palace," by J. Wells Champney, in The Great South: A Record of Journeys... by Edward King. The illustration shows what New Orleanians have come to call,...
Christ Church 1845
Christ Church was the first Episcopal congregation. Christ Church, 1845 Illustration of Christ Episcopal Church, corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets, in Norman's New Orleans and Environs, 1845. The artist is unidentified. Benjamin Moore Norman describes the church...
St. Charles Street, 1880
St. Charles Street in 1880 Canal and St. Charles The 100-200 blocks of St. Charles Street, looking up from Canal Street, 1880. This is one side of a stereoscope card from S. T. Blessing Studios on Canal. The foreground shows the 100 block of St. Charles. Meyer The...
Streetcar Parade Changes 1950
Streetcar parade changes happened to keep the streets clear. Streetcar parade changes Ad in the Times-Picayune, 20-February-1950, outlining the "Changes in Streetcar and Bus Routes during Carnival Parades" for Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras that year. In order to clear the...
LSUNO to the University of New Orleans (@uofno)
LSUNO lost the "LS" in the name in 1974 LSUNO gets a name change Newspaper article from 3-February-1974 reporting on the passage by the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors of the name change for LSUNO. By an 8-2 vote, the university became the University...
UNO’s Twentieth Anniversary 1978
UNO celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 1978. Twentieth Anniversary Photo from The Privateer, the University of New Orleans yearbook, documenting the twentieth anniversary celebration of the school's founding in 1978. In the center is Dr. Homer L. Hitt,...
Amtrak Transition Sleepers
Amtrak transition sleepers connect single-level cars with Superliners. Connection cars with transition sleepers AMTK 39008, a "transition sleeper" car, running on train #59, the City of New Orleans.The car's design includes end vestibules at different levels. The car...
Falling Concrete 1958
It's not just contemporary--falling concrete was a problem in 1958. Falling concrete in the CBD A story on the front page of the Times-Picayune on 26-January-1958 has contemporary ring to it. "Falling Concrete Nearly Hits Pedestrian, 2 in Auto." The location was the...
Gates of Prayer Cemetery 1999
Chevra Thilim Cemetery (Gates of Prayer) stands at 4824 Canal Street, near City Park Avenue. Gates of Prayer Cemetery, also known as Chevra Thilim 1999 image of the "Jewish Cemetery" at 4824 Canal Street. The building in the background is the Botinelli Building. The...
NORTA 922 carrying the Phunny Phorty Phellows
NORTA 922 carrying the Phunny Phorty Phellows on Twelfth Night. Seeing NORTA 922 carrying the Phunny Phorty Phellows is a treat. The Phunny Phorty Phellows (PPP) announce the arrival of the Carnival season. While there are other organizations parading on Twelfth...
Crescent Limited Louisville & Nashville #TrainThursday
The Crescent Limited Louisville & Nashville ran from New Orleans to New York City. Crescent Limited Louisville & Nashville "Best and Fastest Service between Canal Street and Broadway." That's how the L&N advertised service on the Crescent Limited in the...
1943 Willys MB Jeep at the National WWII Museum
A 1943 Willys MB jeep at the National World War II Museum has a 75mm recoilless rifle. The Freedom Pavillion On our recent trip to the National World War II Museum, we walked through The United States Freedom Pavillion. My firstborn, LT Branley, USN (Ret), wanted to...
Sugar Bowl Dining 1956
Sugar Bowl dining options were extensive in 1956 Enjoying Sugar Bowl Dining With fans from Baylor University and the University of Tennessee in town for the Sugar Bowl game on New Year's Day, even the established, "old line" restaurants took out ads in the...
Dash-8 on the Crescent 20 #TrainThursday
A Dash-8 on the Crescent is an uncommon sighting. Dash-8 on the Crescent Amtrak Crescent #20, 29-December-2022, departing New Orleans. AMTK 164, a GE P42-DC "Genesis" in the lead, with AMTK 514, a GE P32-8WH (commonly referred to as a "Dash-8") behind. Crescent #20...
National WWII Museum Visit – D-Day @WWIImuseum
A National WWII Museum visit is a NOLA must! National WWII Museum Visit My Firstborn, who spent ten years as a submariner, always wants to go to make a National WWII Museum visit when he comes home (he lives in the DMV, working for the Strategic Capabilities Office...
Stuffed Bingle 1952
Stuffed Bingle hit his stride in the early 1950s. Jingle Jangle Jingle! The story of Mr. Bingle is Chapter 3 of my book, Maison Blanche Department Stores, from Emile Alline's preliminary doodles to the puppets, to the Big Bingle that rules Celebration in the Oaks at...
Brother Martin State Championship 1971
The Brother Martin State Championship football game comes 51 years and a day later. Brother Martin State Championship There's lots of hype out there on the current Crusader football team, in the run-up to tonight's championship game in Da Dome. While the team played...
Route 47 – Early Morning Outbound on Canal Street
Route 47 first car of the morning heads to the Cemeteries. Early Morning Route 47 Early morning outbound on Route 47, the Canal Streetcar to the Cemeteries Terminal. 'Twas a foggy morning, as NORTA 2021 heads up Canal. The car's following the standard route out of the...
@Amtrak Crescent #20 50th Anniversary
The Amtrak Crescent #20 led by an Anniversary locomotive. Crescent #20 to New York Amtrak Crescent #20 heads north to Atlanta, DC, and New York (Penn Station), 30-November-2022. AMTK 160 pulls the train, supported by AMTK 142. Both locomotives are GE P42DC...
Loyola Stadium at @loyola_nola
Located on campus, Loyola Stadium was home to the university's football team in the 1930s. Loyola Stadium Night shot of Loyola Stadium at Loyola University, New Orleans, 1938. While the venue takes the name of the school, several photographs identify it as "Joseph...
Maison Blanche Halloween #MB Monday
Maison Blanche Halloween wasn't a big deal. Christmas was the big deal. Maison Blanche Halloween Interior shot of the Maison Blanche store in The Plaza at Lake Forest. The store opened in 1974. The store incorporated many of the design features of the one in Clearview...
Maison Blanche Gentilly 1948
Maison Blanche Gentilly was the second store off of Canal Street. Maison Blanche Gentilly Franck Studios photo of Maison Blanche Gentilly in 1948. The department store opened its third store just off Gentilly Boulevard, at Frenchmen Street. This strip mall anchored a...
Express 80 Sunk the Canal Streetcar
Express 80 bus service made it easy to discontinue streetcar service. NOPSI's Express 80 From the late-1960s, riders board a NOPSI bus on the Express 80 route. NOPSI operated this line as an "express" option to its Canal - Lake Vista via Canal Blvd line. The bus,...
Siemens Chargers on the City #TrainThursday
Siemens Chargers on the City of New Orleans, departing NOL. Siemens Chargers at work ALC-42, Siemens Chargers, operate now on Amtrak's City of New Orleans route. AMTK 300 and AMTK126 pull the City out of Union Passenger Terminal, New Orleans, 19-October-2022. The...
Westside Shopping Center #MBMonday
Westside Shopping Center was anchored by MB's fourth location. Westside Shopping Center A re-vamped Maison Blanche Westside was featured in the store's employee magazine, "Shop Talk," on 1-February-1970. The store, opened in 1958, as the shopping center's anchor....
MOW on the Back Belt #TrainThursday
MOW (Maintenance of Way) equipment keeps the trains running. MOW equipment and trucks Norfolk Southern Maintenance of Way (MOW) equipment along the Back Belt in New Orleans. These units perform regular work on the rails to insure quality. These vehicles are a ballast...
Maison Blanche Clearview #MB Monday
Maison Blanche Clearview was a huge department store. Maison Blanche Clearview Architectural rendering of Maison Blanche Clearview, 1968. This is essentially what the store looked like when it opened a year later. This perspective is what you saw as you exited I-10 at...
1201 Canal 1899 #FellmanFriday
The block at 1201 Canal was a row of houses in 1899. 1201 Canal Street 1899 Section of Plate 7 of the Robinson Atlas of New Orleans, 1883, showing square 127 of the 2nd District, 1201 Canal. This block later transformed into Krauss Department Store. Square 127 is...
City Park Miniature Railroad #TrainThursday
City Park's Miniature Railroad dates to the 1890 The Miniature Railroad at City Park This is a 2010 photo of the current incarnation of the City Park railroad, courtesy Mid-City Messenger. A miniature railroad first operated in New Orleans City Park in the 1890s....
Dan’s Pier 600 #JazzTuesday
Dan's Pier 600 often featured Al Hirt Pier 600 on Bourbon Street Photo of Dan's Pier 600 club, ca. 1955. Dan Levy, Sr., opened Pier 600 in the early 1950s. While the club stood at 501 Bourbon, corner St. Louis, it gets its name from Dan Levy's restaurant at 600...
Maison Blanche Snack Store 1951 #MBMonday
The Maison Blanche Snack Shop was a wonderful bakery. Maison Blanche Snack Store on Iberville Franck Studios photo of the corner of Dauphine and Iberville Streets in the French Quarter in 1951. Maison Blanche opened a Bakery department in 1934. That concept extended...
Peak Krauss Growth 1952
1952 was the year of peak Krauss growth, as the store expanded fully. Peak Krauss Growth Photo of Krauss Department Store, taken in 1953, for the 50th Anniversary of the store. The photo, courtesy the Times-Picayune newspaper, The photo appears to have been shot from...
Humming Bird to Cincinnati #TrainThursday
The Louisville and Nashville operated the Humming Bird train. The Humming Bird "The Humming Bird crossing Biloxi Bay - Louisville and Nashville R. R." - Linen postcard printed in the late 1940s. L&N operated the Humming Bird (the two-word name is correct) between...
Cemetery Curses Revisited
Cemetery curses revisited: is the Caesers Superdome really cursed? The Saints: Cemetery curses revisited As we approach Halloween, fans of the New Orleans Saints often return to the topic of the Superdome and the Cemetery. While much research exists on the boundaries...
Canal Street 1890 #MBMonday
Canal Street 1890, was a transitional period for the city's main street. Canal Street 1890 Lots in transition in this Canal Street, 1890 photograph. The photographer is William S. Howell. He shot it on March 25, 1890, at 3:45 PM. There's lots to break down here, but...
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