NOLA History Guy
The Blog
NOLA History Guy Podcast 27-April-2019 Southern Rebellion
The best of "Today in New Orleans History" for this week, and unpacking a photo on this week's NOLA History Guy Podcast 27-April-2019. NOLA History Guy Podcast 27-April-2019 Two short segments today on NOLA History Guy Podcast 27-April-2019. Take a moment from your...
NOLA History Guy Podcast 20-April-2019 Unpacking Bayou St. John
NOLA History Guy Podcast 20-April-2019 - Unpacking Bayou St. John. NOLA History Guy Podcast 20-April-2019 Happy Easter! Happy Elmer's Gold Brick Eggs. The Elmer's truck is from Pop Evans' fun group, New Orleans "Black" in the Day on Facebook. Elmer's Gold Brick was...
NOLA History Guy Podcast 13-April-2019 M.A.R.T. and City Park Avenue
NOLA History Guy Podcast 13-April-2019 NOLA History Guy Podcast 13-April-2019 Another short-form pod this week! Two items, "New Orleans Past" and unpacking a photo from 1951 M.A.R.T. Our "New Orleans Past" item, from Catherine Campanella's website, is her 11-April...
NOLA History Guy Podcast 6-April-2019 – K-Doe and Signs
NOLA History Guy Podcast 6-April-2019 NOLA History Guy Podcast 6-April-2019 I need to do the pods more, so we'll be dropping "short-form" eps weekly. The long-form pods are fun, but they take time. That means they're less frequent, therefore fewer eps. So, let's do...
Basin Street 1900 – Before Terminal Station #TrainThursday
Basin Street 1900 - Before Terminal Station on Canal Street Basin Street 1900 This postcard, published by C.B. Mason, shows the Storyville District, three to five years after it's creation (legally). Here's the note on the postcard: "Bird's-Eye View Of New Orleans LA....
Magazine Street Trackless Trolley Conversion #StreetcarMonday
Magazine Street Trackless Trolley Conversion - electric with no rails Magazine Street Trackless Trolley Conversion New Orleans Public Service, Inc (NOPSI) discontinued streetcars on a number of lines after World War II. Magazine Street was one of these lines. While...
Napoleon Avenue at St. Charles 1860 #StreetcarMonday
Napoleon Avenue links the river to Broadmoor Napoleon Avenue in 1860 The first streetcar service in New Orleans was along St. Charles Avenue. The New Orleans & Carrollton Railroad Company started at Canal Street. They expanded service in stages, as demand and...
Missiles in Avondale – Southern Pacific Railroad #TrainThursday
Missiles traveling through Avondale Missiles in Avondale a Southern Pacific Railroad train pulls missile parts through the railroad's yard in Avondale, Louisiana, 7-Sep-1960. Several Alco road switcher engines pull flatcars containing the parts. Avondale Shipyards In...
Riverfront Arch Roofs roll from Canal to Esplanade
Riverfront Arch Roofs - 1923-vintage streetcars operating off St. Charles Avenue Riverfront Arch Roofs The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority opened the Riverfront line in 1988. they used two of the 1923 arch roof streetcars and two Melbourne W-2 streetcars. The...
Clothes Horse ad from 1979 – four locations! #NOLAshopping
Clothes Horse was a womens clothing chain. Clothes Horse In 1979, Clothes Horse operated four locations in New Orleans. You shopped at Clothes Horse in Uptown Square (Broadway and River Road), The Plaza at Lake Forest (in Da East), and Village Aurora. My memories of...
Amtrak New Orleans – Get away for Spring Break!
Amtrak New Orleans offers solid train travel options Amtrak New Orleans Winter Getaways! The more things change, the more they remain the same. College students wanting to get away during their break is one of those. This 1996 ad in the Loyola Maroon tempts students...
Arch Roof streetcars at the Cemeteries 1963 #StreetcarMonday
Arch Roof Streetcars stack up at the Cemeteries Terminal, 1963 Arch Roof Streetcars in 1963 The 1923-vintage 800- and 900-series arch roof streetcars serviced the Canal line starting in the 1930s. Prior to 1935, the American Car Company's "Palace" cars ran on Canal....
2-8-0 Steam Locomotives in Gentilly #TrainThursday
2-8-0 Steam Locomotives operated regularly in Gentilly 2-8-0 Steam Locomotives We mentioned the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad (NO&NE) last week, in our discussion of Homer Plessy's ticket to Covington. Plessy was arrested at Press Street Station. That...
Rapp’s Luggage, 604 Canal Street #fadingsignsNOLA
Rapp's Luggage still sells leather goods and luggage in Metairie 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...
Homer Plessy – The trip to Covington he never took
Homer Plessy bought a ticket to travel to Covington, LA, but never left New Orleans. Homer Plessy In 1892, the Comite des Citoyens (Citizens Committee), an organization of civil rights activists, wanted to challange the Separate Car Act, a bill passed by the Louisiana...
Race Screens on NOPSI 930 – Segregation on New Orleans transit
Race Screens on NOPSI 930 were typical on the 800 and 900 streetcars. Race Screens Jim Crow segregation began in the 1890s. They started in the wake of the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision. It comes as no surprise that the city where Homer Plessy and...
Canal-Baronne Transit Operations, 1906 #StreetcarMonday
Canal-Baronne Transit Operations were important at the turn of the 20th Century. Canal-Baronne Transit Single-truck streetcars along Canal Street in 1906. This postcard shows common Canal Street operations at the time. We're eleven years into the electric era here....
Cash Boys kept the money moving on Canal Street
Cash Boys moved the money before cash registers Cash Boys Cash Boys were employees of large dry goods and department stores. Before cash registers, these stores puzzled over how to control money on the sales floor. Cash drawers meant money spread out everywhere....
Sears Feibleman’s, Fellman’s, Canal Street, Baronne Street
Sears, Feibleman's and Canal Street retail. Sears, Feibleman's and Canal Street With Sears, Roebuck all but closing down nationwide, let's look back at how Sears came to New Orleans. The Chicago company acquired stores owned by the Feibleman family, most notably,...
Southern Railway – Pontchartrain Expressway #TrainThursday
Southern Railway, now Norfolk Southern, maintains the #BackBelt railroad connection. Southern Railway The New Orleans and North Eastern (NONE) Railroad connected New Orleans with Meridian, Mississippi, in 1883. NONE operated from Terminal Station, located at Canal and...
Basin Street – Southern Railway Switching and Steam #TrainThursday
Basin Street was the location of Terminal Station Basin Street Terminal Station serviced Southern Railway and the Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Railroad, from 1908 to 1954. Travelers and shoppers on Canal Street saw the arched facade of the building. Those keeping the trains...
Just Hotels – The Transition of Canal Street #FadingSigns
Just Hotels - Where once retail ruled. Just Hotels This photo from the 1950s sums up the "before" of Canal Street beautifully. The corner of Canal and Camp Streets was one of the first to be demolished, to make way for a hotel. While the old Godchaux Building gave way...
Algiers 1865 – New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western RR
Algiers 1865, The railroads were a lifeline for the Union. Algiers 1865 Trains at the Algiers Terminal of the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad, in 1865. The NOO&GW served the Union forces after the capture of New Orleans in 1862. The NOO&GW...
Pathways reveal the reasons for #FadingSigns in New Orleans
Pathways lead the way to fading signs. Pathways We all follow paths and pathways in our lives. Some of us step off the well-trodden paths, forging ahead, making new ones. Most of us, however, follow regular paths. So, we leave home and go to work. At lunchtime, we...
Chartres Street at Canal Street, 1890-91 – Bobtails and Wall Ads
Chartres Street was one block down from the Clay Monument Chartres Street From the book, New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line, this is a Mugnier photo of Chartres Street at Canal. The Custom house is barely visible in the background. The trees in the neutral ground...
Yatmedia – NOLA History Guy Connection – Building Community for Clients
Yatmedia - Social Media for Social Justice (cross-posted to Yatmedia) Yatmedia and NOLA History Guy In 2010, we formed partnership and hung out a shingle, doing social media consulting. Things evolved over time. Now, Yatmedia is wholly-owned by me. So, it makes sense...
Mr. Bingle on Canal Street dates back to the 1940s
Mr. Bingle on the front of Maison Blanche Canal Mr. Bingle Maison Blanche regularly put up big displays on the front of the store. The second floor was mostly stockrooms and warehouse space. The view in windows on that floor left much to be desired. So, the store...
Rigolets Pass – L&N heading to New Orleans from the Gulf Coast #TrainThursday
Rigolets Pass connects Lakes Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne Rigolets Pass The Rigolets Pass is a waterway just north and east of New Orleans. It connects Lake Pontchartrain with Lake Borgne. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad (now CSX) uses a bridge over the...
Downtown Signs – 500 Block Baronne is a treasure trove #FadingSigns
Downtown signs tell stories of families and their businesses Downtown Signs I'm still in the gathering phase for Fading Signs of New Orleans. Last week, I requested locations of electric signs from businesses gone by. They count as "faded" for the book. The response...
NOPSI 921 Arch Roof – Nighttime on St. Charles Avenue, 1971 #NOLAstreetcars #StreetcarMonday
NOPSI 921 was one of 35 arch roofs that survived. NOPSI 921 St. Charles Avenue at night. This photo, by Roger Puta, shows NOPSI 921 as it's just made the turn from Canal Street, onto St. Charles, for its outbound run on that line. NOPSI 921 survived the massive...
Smokey Mary – The Pontchartrain Railroad in the 1860s #TrainThursday
Smokey Mary linked Faubourg Marigny to Milneburg for almost a century Smokey Mary The Pontchartrain Railroad operated from 1831 to 1930. The trains ran out to the fishing village of Milneburg. A port facility developed along the lakefront at Milneburg. The railroad...
Kolb’s Restaurant and the Fading Signs project
Kolb's Restaurant arguably has a "fading sign" right out front. Kolb's Restaurant I had three targets in mind in the 100 block of Canal Street for the Fading Signs book. One was the "Russell Stover" in the sidewalk tiles at the entrance of what used to be the candy...
City Park Line – Trackless Trolleys #Backatown #StreetcarMonday
City Park Line connected Mid-City and the French Quarter City Park Line The Orleans Railroad Company opened the City Park line on July 1, 1898. It connected the French Quarter with Mid-City, mostly via Dumaine Street. Orleans RR merged into New Orleans Railway and...
Mr. Bingle 1952 – Maison Blanche Canal Street
Mr. Bingle 1952 - Jingle, Jangle Jingle Mr. Bingle 1952 In 1947, Emile Alline was the display-window manager for Maison Blanche. He took his family up to Chicago that fall, for a family trip. While up there, he applied a professional eye to Christmas displays along...
Single-truck Streetcars on Canal Street, 1905 #streetcarmonday
Single-truck Streetcars were the first electrics in New Orleans Single-Truck Streetcars Streetcar operating companies phased out mule power in the mid-1890s. So, the single-truck streetcars replaced the "bobtails", as the first electric cars in the city....
CONTEST – Help me find “Fading Ads” in New Orleans and the suburbs
CONTEST time! Help us find "fading ads" Contest time! I've submitted the proposal for Fading Ads of New Orleans to The History Press! It's looking good that they'll accept the proposal and the book will move forward. That means I need fading ads! You guys are always...
Vernon Smith turned NORTA 29 into “The Littlest Streetcar”
Vernon Smith gives NORTA 29 a personality! Vernon Smith I had the privilege of attending a book event last Friday, at St. Francis Xavier Parish, on Metairie Road. There were over twenty authors there. I knew many of the authors. I also enjoyed meeting some new folks,...
Feibleman’s, 1923 – Leon Fellman’s family renames his store
Feibelman's replaces Leon Fellman's upon the passing of the patriarch Feibleman's Store The department store operated at 800 Canal Street, corner Carondelet, for eleven years. The store was Leon Fellman's until 1920. The store's name changed when Leon Fellman passed...
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad – Servicing the Port since 1908 #TrainThursday
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad owns the Riverfront New Orleans Public Belt Railroad NOPB launched an updated website this Fall. They also unveiled a new logo for the system. The Class III railroad opened for business in 1908. They own a number of facilities in the...
Arabella Station Serviced the Uptown Lines #StreetcarMonday
Arabella Station on Magazine Street is now the Whole Foods Uptown location Arabella Station The big barn at Magazine and Arabella Streets serviced streetcars until 1948. NOPSI needed a bus facility uptown. So, they operated Arabella as a bus barn. The top photo is...
Canal Street 1918 – Armistice Day – November 11, 1918
Canal Street 1918 - Armistice Day in New Orleans was a day of celebration. Canal Street 1918 The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month. The End of World War I was marked with celebration in New Orleans. There's a seven hour difference between New...
Illinois Central Railroad – Ads through the years #TrainThursday
Illinois Central Railroad ads through the years. Service from Chicago to New Orleans. Illinois Central Railroad Riding on the City of New Orleans Illinois Central Monday morning rail Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders Three conductors and...
Streetcar accidents – NOPSI 888 back at Carrollton Station
Streetcar accidents happen when automobile drivers don't look Streetcar accidents Just this week, a garbage truck turned in front of NORTA 900, on Canal Street. Streetcar accidents happen once or twice a year. 1947 accident Today's photo shows...
New Orleans L&N Railroad Station on Canal Street – #Train Thursday
New Orleans History L&N Railroad Station Canal Street - #Train Thursday New Orleans History L&N Railroad Station Canal Street The Louisville and Nashville Railroad operated for 132 years, from 1850 to 1982. The L&N began in Kentucky....
New Orleans History – All Souls Day, All Saints, and All Hallows Eve
New Orleans History - All Souls Day and above ground cemeteries in New Orleans in celebration of Halloween! New Orleans History - All Souls, Saints, and All Hallows Eve Ghosts and ghouls and goblins! All Hallows’ Eve is upon us! New...
Trackless Trolleys on the Magazine Street Line – #StreetcarMonday
Trackless Trolleys, also known as "trolley buses" Trackless Trolleys Electric buses, "trackless trolleys", operated on several New Orleans transit lines over the years. In the 1920s, NORwy&Lt/NOPSI experimented with the buses. By...
Fortier High School football – friday night lights in the forties
Fortier High School football - FNL Fortier High School Football This is a Franck Studios photo of a football team from Alcee Fortier High School. I'm thinking this is from the 1940s rather than the 1950s, but there's so little to go...
Sunset Limited dining and snacking from New Orleans to Los Angeles
Sunset Limited dining across the West Sunset Limited Dining Traveling from New Orleans to Los Angeles on the Sunset Limited is a two-night affair. The Amtrak incarnation of the train departs New Orleans at 9am. The train stops in...
NJROTC at Brother Martin High School, 1969 – present #BOSH
NJROTC at BMHS NJROTC was a citizenship program NJROTC began at St. Aloysius in the 1967-1968 school year. The unit continued in the final year on Esplanade and N. Rampart, then moved to Elysian Fields Avenue. So, when BMHS opened, all...
Grunewald Hotel and Double-Truck Streetcar, 1911 #streetcarMonday
Grunewald Hotel would become the Roosevelt Hotel Grunewald Hotel "One of the most up-to-date and finest hotels in the U.S." is the caption on this 1911 postcard of the Grunewald Hotel. The hotel occupies the corner of Canal and...
Edward’s Amazon Author Page
You’ll find all of his books for sale here.
Shop Edward’s bookstore
Edward’s books are available at bookstores everywhere, as well as Amazon, Kobo, B&N, and other online booksellers.
For signed copies of Edward’s books, visit his online bookshop:
Recent Comments