New Orleans City Planning Commission
Planning District Four
On a map of New Orleans, Planning District Four appears as the heart of the city. This jigsaw shaped district ranges from Carrollton Avenue near Airline Highway, to Paris Avenue and the St. Bernard Housing Development, to historic Tremé and Esplanade Ridge. The diverse district encompasses a variety of land uses, as well as cultures and unique urban landmarks -- including buildings such as the Falstaff Brewery, the American Can Company, the Blue Plate Mayonnaise and Crystal Hot Sauce plants. The district also contains many public uses such as Xavier University, Louis Armstrong Park, City and Parish law enforcement headquarters, Louisiana State University Medical Center, and University Hospital. The citizens of District Four enjoy the various neighborhoods and related small shops and services. The desire future development that does not encroach on their residential neighborhoods and one that encourages preservation of structures. They would also like to see some of the currently zoned industrial land converted to less intense uses with a mix of residential, small-scale commercial, entertainment venues, and green space.Mid-City
Section I: Boundaries
Planning District Four boundaries are Earhart Boulevard, Cambronne, Pontchartrain Expressway, City Park Avenue, Bayou St. John, Harrison, Paris Avenue, Florida Avenue, Elysian Fields, Rampart Street, Canal Street, and Claiborne Avenue/I-10. The defined neighborhoods of the district include: Mid-City (4A), Tulane/Gravier (4B), St. Bernard Area/Project (5B), Fairgrounds/Broad (5C), Bayou St. John (5D), Sixth Ward/Tremé/Lafitte Housing Development (6A), Seventh Ward (6B), and Iberville Housing Development (6C), Gert Town/Zion City (12B), and B.W. Cooper Housing Development (12D).
Boundaries of the Tremé (Sixth Ward)/Seventh Ward neighborhood are roughly North Rampart Street/St. Claude Avenue, Iberville Street, Broad Street, Florida Avenue, and Elysian Fields. The Bayou St. John neighborhood is roughly bordered by Moss Street (Bayou St. John), Esplanade Avenue, North Broad Street, and St. Louis Street. The Fairgrounds/Broad neighborhood is bound by North Broad, London Avenue, Abundance, Havana, Treasure Street, Paris, Florida Avenue, Bayou St. John, and Esplanade. Boundaries for the Tulane/Gravier (Mid-City) neighborhood are Claiborne Avenue, St. Louis, Broad Street, and Interstate 10. Gert Town/Zion City is bound by South Broad, Pontchartrain, Joliet, Fig, Carrollton, Colapissa, Lowerline, Earhart, Jefferson Davis, Eve, South Gayoso, and Melpomene. (See the map facing page 94.)
Section II: Development History
This district, originally referred to as "back of town," was a swamp with higher ground along the bayous occupied by dairy farms and cemeteries. The earliest development in Mid-City occurred in three neighborhoods (Bayou St. John, Fairgrounds/Broad, and Seventh Ward/Tremé) on the ridges beside the bayous that had long provided trade routes between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. A fairly complete system of canals and streetcars was established during the last quarter of the 1800s, but most of the development occurred between 1910 and 1930, with many low-lying areas not developed until the 1930s.
Greater Tremé (Sixth Ward)/Seventh Ward
Once known as the "City Commons" in the back of town, Tremé was part of the vast swampy area outside city fortifications. Until a new canal was built in 1822 to drain land, development was limited to cemeteries and plantation use oriented around the Bayou Road (now Governor Nicholls Street) and along Esplanade Ridge. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the first to provide aboveground burial, was opened in 1788 on Rampart Street with an expansion in 1820 that extended up to Claiborne Avenue.
Construction of the Carondelet Canal in 1794 connected the city with trade routes via Bayou St. John. Located along what is now Lafitte Street, the canal drained some of the City Commons area and provided sites for industry and commerce. In 1822 the Girod Canal was completed along Orleans Street, opening up more lands for industrial and residential development, including L'Hote Lumber Company. The City completed laying out the pattern for streets in 1826, and full development of the Commons and Tremé continued. In addition to areas set aside for residential uses, industry such as coal and shell piles characterized the sites along the canals. By the 1830s Tremé was almost entirely developed, primarily with Creole cottages owned by well-established "free persons of color." Claiborne Avenue with its broad expanse and grand avenue of oak trees, became a thriving commercial corridor and social center.
Tremé's future was tied to that of the city, eventually sharing the changes and decline in the latter part of the 19th Century through the 1930s. The Commons had long accommodated uses not welcomed within the city: cemeteries, industry, a prison, boarding houses for immigrants and ship hands. Eventually, gambling and prostitution came to characterize the area soon renamed Storyville. The red-light district was ultimately demolished in the 1940s with subsequent development of a large portion as the Iberville Housing Development. Soon after Iberville was built, the Lafitte Housing Development was constructed along Orleans Street where the Girod Canal had once run.
The Seventh Ward, adjacent to Tremé, developed in two major thrusts. By 1731, part of a very large estate once owned by Claude Dubreuil (between St. Bernard Avenue and Esplanade), became a portion of Charles de Morand's holdings. By the latter part of the century, de Morand had extended his holdings to include the area bounded by Governor Nicholls Street, St. Bernard, Galvez and Rampart Streets. Pierre Marigny acquired the portion of Dubreuil's lands east of St. Bernard Avenue in 1798. In 1809 Marigny's son, Bernard, laid out Nouveau Marigny, between Elysian Fields, St. Bernard Avenue, St. Claude and Gentilly Road. Slower to develop than Faubourg Marigny, Nouveau Marigny benefited from the sale of lands for construction of the Pontchartrain Railroad along Elysian Fields.
Much of the area up to the Gentilly Ridge had been developed by the mid-1800s. The neighborhood was initially occupied by German and Creole families, then increasingly by both Creole and "free persons of color," creating a neighborhood of educated and highly skilled tradesmen.
As with most other older neighborhoods along the river, the 20th Century has brought fluctuating interest to Tremé and the Seventh Ward. Construction of the South Claiborne overpass wiped out a thriving African American commercial district and impressive residences that flanked one of the stateliest rows of oak trees in the city. Rail and warehouse development along the canals and the two St. Louis Cemeteries discouraged stable residential development. Today neighborhood revitalization efforts have been renewed, including programs emphasizing economic growth and community pride. Recent development of an outdoor open market under Claiborne Avenue and proposals to increase local participation in cultural activities at Louis Armstrong Park are examples of such activities.
Bayou St. John
The high ground along Bayou St. John offered some of the earliest settlement opportunities in the city. In 1708 European arrivals settled along the Bayou. As a major route from Lake Pontchartrain, the Bayou became even more important with completion of the Carondelet Canal in 1795. The Old Spanish Custom House, built in 1784, at the corner of Moss and Grand Route St. John, is the oldest structure still standing in the neighborhood.
More neighborhood development occurred after the establishment of the Rodriguez Bayou Road omnibus in 1857, the Rampart-Esplanade railroad in 1861, and the Esplanade Bayou Bridge Line in 1863 (which remained in operation until 1913). Construction of Esplanade Avenue and Ursuline Street included several small parks: DeSoto Park, between Crete and DeSoto Streets; Capdieville Park, across Esplanade from DeSoto Park; and the triangle between Esplanade, Dupre and Gayoso Streets. Although such improvements encouraged the construction of more homes along Esplanade and the nearby area above Broad Street in the 1860s and 70s, most development occurred in the first quarter of the 20th Century.
For many, Bayou St. John offered the possibility of living in houseboats. However, with the "ragtag" nature of the houseboats, the decline of the corridor as a critical part of the trade route, and the Bayou's increased use as a holding basin for city drainage, the area experienced a general deterioration in its condition. By 1936 it was declared a non-navigable stream. Today the Bayou is a pleasing green space connecting residential areas surrounding City Park both to one another and to the park.
Fairgrounds/Broad
Nearby Faubourg Pontchartrain, along Grand Route St. John between Gentilly and the Bayou, was laid out about the same time as Faubourg St. John, but was slower to develop. Homes were built along Grand Route St. John in the 1830s and 40s. The City had established the Bayou Cemetery (later St. Louis Cemetery No. 3) near Esplanade and Bayou St. John by 1835. The Fairgrounds, once part of the Nicholas Fortin plantation, were established in 1870. De Saix Boulevard was one of the last areas to develop in this neighborhood. Florida Gardens, an entirely single-family housing development built in the 1940s, encouraged further single- and multi-family housing in the area, replacing older commercial areas throughout the neighborhood.
The Fairgrounds remain an important use in this district, drawing thousands of people and sponsoring economic development. Preservation of homes in the area has stimulated further residential occupancy and sponsored a unique collection of neighborhood commercial services.
Tulane/Gravier (Mid-City)
By the mid-1830s the Carondelet Canal and New Basin Canal provided drainage and water connections between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, with Bayou St. John as the connecting midpoint. Rail lines soon began to supplement the water route. The areas paralleling the water and rail routes formed major industrial corridors supporting the trade pattern. However, the canals didn't do much to spur residential development. In particular, the Tulane/Gravier neighborhood lagged behind, partly because of disputes about ownership. After these disputes were settled, a few large houses were built during the 1860s, but significant construction did not occur until the latter part of the 19th Century.
For the rest of Mid-City, most development began after drainage improvements were completed in the early 20th Century. The first developed area was around Broad Street and Jefferson Davis Parkway, followed by growth along Carrollton, Tulane, Bienville, and City Park. Mission, Tudor and Bungalow housing styles, popular in the 1920s and 30s, dominated the residential development. Growth was quick and with the exception of Gert Town, Mid-City was fully developed by 1929.
The industrial pattern of locating along the early canals and then along the railroads was still in place in the 1920s. The American Can Company, New Orleans Roofing and Metal Works Company, Southern Sheet Metal Works, and other major industrial plants were located in these corridors along St. Louis Street. While some of the original industries are still active, others have closed and now offer major redevelopment opportunities.
The Mid-City portion of Carrollton Avenue originally included only scattered services. As commercial development expanded over the years, particularly along Tulane, Broad, and Canal, and as major improvements to Canal and Poydras Streets further disrupted the neighborhoods, multi-family housing began replacing the single- and two- family uses along these corridors. This pattern accelerated in the 1950s and 60s. The 1990s have brought a slowing of the trend with many multi-family structures being converted to a lower density. At the same time, office and commercial pressures on residential houses along the upper portions of Canal Street have intensified and some residential structures have been demolished to make way for such uses.
Gert Town/Zion City
A portion of Gert Town/Zion City was once part of the City of Carrollton. As late as 1875 there was no street pattern indicated for this neighborhood. The area was bisected by the New Orleans Jackson & Great Northern Railroad and the Mississippi Valley Railroad (located along what is now Earhart Boulevard). Drainage canals were found along Washington Avenue, Melpomene, Dublin and Broad. Eventually blocks were laid out enabling development to begin around Olive, Earhart and Carrollton. Although Danneel Elementary School opened in 1914 between Olive, Audubon, Edinburgh and Broadway Streets, development was scattered and numerous vacant areas still existed as late at 1939. Once the New Basin Canal was closed in 1946, new industry took advantage of the available lots in the transportation corridor.
Today the Gert Town neighborhood is a mix of residences abutting heavy industry. The closing and remediation of a chemical plant in the heart of the district is thought to be a driving force for rehabilitation of the neighborhood to less intense uses.
Public Housing Developments: Iberville, B. W. Cooper, St. Bernard, Lafitte
The Storyville red-light district began its decline about a decade after its designation as a legal vice area in 1897. By the 1930s, as public housing and redevelopment were considered, 95% of the area was designated blighted, even though over 817 families had to be relocated to clear the site. The Iberville Housing Development, bound by Iberville, Claiborne, St. Louis, and Basin Street, was the third of six public projects in the city developed under the Housing Act of 1937 (Wagner Bill). The development has 858 apartments in 73 buildings and is the second smallest in area, covering 22.5 acres.
Lakeward from Iberville is the Lafitte Housing Development, bound by Claiborne, Orleans Avenue, Rocheblave, and St. Louis/Lafitte Streets. Lafitte was another of the first six complexes built under the Housing Act. Although it has nearly the same number of buildings and units as Iberville, Lafitte encompasses almost twice the area.
The B. W. Cooper (formerly Calliope) Housing Development was the fourth built in the city. The 32.5-acre site is generally bound by Earhart, Roman, Martin Luther King Jr. (Melpomene), and Broad. The original site was sparsely developed, enabling the 690 units to offer housing to displaced families. The development was eventually expanded to 1550 apartments and 55.9 acres, second largest in the city.
The last public housing project developed in Mid-City was St. Bernard, bound by St. Bernard Avenue, Mandolin Street, Paris Avenue, LaFreniere and the Southern Railway. The fifth development of the six under the Wagner Bill, it was built in the early 1940s. It offered 744 units in 73 two- and three-story buildings. An expansion in 1953 added 720 units and involved major relocation. It became the third largest in area totaling 51.15 acres with 1,464 units. From 1968 to 1972 additional property in the St. Bernard area was acquired for scattered-site housing. Imperial Drive was developed as the largest scattered-site area, with roughly 250, mostly two-bedroom, units.
Section III: Population
The following tables provide demographic statistics on the population residing within the planning district as well as the total population of the city of New Orleans. The statistics provide information on each area for 1980, 1990, 1997 and 2002.