Monday: another travel day for us, gradually getting us
closer to Texas! We left Biloxi at about 11 Monday morning, in 87° and
sunshine. The drive was relatively short, just 95 miles, to Robert, LA about an
hour northwest from New Orleans. We arrived to Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park in
Robert about 1 p.m.
Robert, although a small community with just 20 streets and 1 stoplight, was established as the headquarters to coordinate response to the Deepwater Horizon or BP oil spill in 2010, in which the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people. It’s considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
Robert and Yogi Bear’s campground were hard hit by the mid-August rains and flooding; the campground was under 18-24” of water for the good part of a week until the waters started to recede. As we drove along highway 445 to get to the campground we saw piles and piles of household goods, sheetrock, and all matter of debris alongside the road awaiting pickup. Even over a month later, homes were standing empty, with doors open to help dry them out. The folks here are resilient, though, and are continuing to work to put their homes to right. In our park the damp mustiness is still prevalent in the office/ranger station.
This Yogi Bear Jellystone Park is located on 100 acres, and has around 450 wooded campsites, with 85 cabins available for rent, or they will be when they’re rehabbed from the flood. There are fishing ponds, 3 swimming pools, miniature golf, canoeing, kayaking and paddle boating, a spray water park, as well as laundry facilities and a small convenience store on property.
Within an hour we got set up and were ready to just take it easy for the rest of the day, as temperatures had reached close to 100° by then. We did drive to nearby Ponchatoula to Walmart for groceries, though, and a quick dinner at Wendy’s. (We’re so ready for cooler temperatures!)
Tuesday we again kicked back to decide how we wanted to spend the rest of the week. New Orleans was at the top of our list. We walked through the park for a photo shoot.
Robert, although a small community with just 20 streets and 1 stoplight, was established as the headquarters to coordinate response to the Deepwater Horizon or BP oil spill in 2010, in which the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people. It’s considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
Robert and Yogi Bear’s campground were hard hit by the mid-August rains and flooding; the campground was under 18-24” of water for the good part of a week until the waters started to recede. As we drove along highway 445 to get to the campground we saw piles and piles of household goods, sheetrock, and all matter of debris alongside the road awaiting pickup. Even over a month later, homes were standing empty, with doors open to help dry them out. The folks here are resilient, though, and are continuing to work to put their homes to right. In our park the damp mustiness is still prevalent in the office/ranger station.
This Yogi Bear Jellystone Park is located on 100 acres, and has around 450 wooded campsites, with 85 cabins available for rent, or they will be when they’re rehabbed from the flood. There are fishing ponds, 3 swimming pools, miniature golf, canoeing, kayaking and paddle boating, a spray water park, as well as laundry facilities and a small convenience store on property.
Within an hour we got set up and were ready to just take it easy for the rest of the day, as temperatures had reached close to 100° by then. We did drive to nearby Ponchatoula to Walmart for groceries, though, and a quick dinner at Wendy’s. (We’re so ready for cooler temperatures!)
Tuesday we again kicked back to decide how we wanted to spend the rest of the week. New Orleans was at the top of our list. We walked through the park for a photo shoot.
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| These last 4 photos are of an egret in one of the ponds onsite, as well as a turtle (we think it's a painted turtle); the photo in the bottom left shows the pile of debris from the cabins and laundries, that are slowly being replaced. This includes washers, dryers, stoves, refrigerators, mattresses, furniture, drywall, etc. What a mess! And then there's Yogi... |
Temperatures on Wednesday morning at 7:30 were a decent 72°,
but that didn’t last long. By the time we left for New Orleans in mid-morning
the temperature had risen to the high 80s. New Orleans was to be in the low- to
mid-90s. Whew!
We elected to drive over the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, a
parallel bridge system crossing Lake Pontchartrain, for almost 24 miles. The
bridges are supported by 9,500 concrete pilings. Holy cow! (Since 1969, the
Causeway has been listed by Guinness World Records as the longest bridge over
water in the world.) Until the bridges
were built, at first as a 2-lane bridge, transportation across the lake was
provided by a ferry service. It opened in 1956 at a cost of $30.7 million. The
2-span opened in 1969 at a cost of $26 million. Today, the Causeway is a toll
bridge with tolls collected on only the southbound direction.I was wondering how Katrina affected the Causeway, considering its length. Apparently damage caused by the storm surge was mostly limited to the turnarounds (there are 4 on the bridge); a total of 17 spans were lost, but the structural foundations remained intact.
We found our way to the Basin Street Visitor Center, which is adjacent to a public parking lot, and just a few blocks from famous the French Quarter.
The Basin Street Visitor Center is of historical significance; it is in what once was the New Orleans Terminal Company. Today it represents preservation of the 5 railway stations and their associated buildings that served downtown New Orleans in the early 20th century. Inside are information desks, the terminal for a sightseeing bus, a coffee bar, gift shop, and quite a few exhibits featuring the history of transportation in New Orleans. There’s also a 5-minute video on New Orleans and its history, which serves to pique one’s interest in the area.
After leaving the visitor center we walked down St Louis Street, into the French Quarter.
The French Quarter, also known as the Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans. Founded in 1718 by Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around a central square (Vieux Carré), and became known as the French Quarter. Most of the buildings we see today were constructed in either the late 18th century (before 1803), during the city’s period of Spanish rule, or during the first half of the 19th century, after U.S. annexation and statehood. The entire area of the French Quarter has been designated as a National Historic Landmark, so these buildings are protected and cannot be demolished. Any renovations or new construction must pass rigorous city regulations in order to preserve the historic architectural style.
Two fires, one in 1788 and another in 1794, destroyed most of the old French colonial architecture in the French Quarter leaving new Spanish overlords to rebuild it according to more modern tastes. Strict new fire codes mandated that all structures be physically adjacent and close to the curb to create a firewall. Old French peaked roofs were replaced with flat tiled roofs and wooden siding was banned replaced with fire-resistant stucco. Pastel colors were in vogue at the time, so the new structures were painted in these light hues. Colorful walls and roofs, and elaborately decorated ironwork balconies and galleries were abundant throughout the Quarter. (Just to make a distinction, balconies are self-supporting and attached to the side of a building; galleries are supported from the ground by poles or columns—what we’d call porches.) Here are a few photos from the French Quarter. We loved the architecture.
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| The old--and the new. There were street musicians playing all over the Fernch Quarter. |
Following the Louisiana Purchase, English speaking Americans
began moving into the area. Not holding to the seemingly shameless ostentatious
lifestyle they encountered with the French and Spanish, these
folks settled across modern-day Canal Street which ultimately became the
meeting place of 2 cultures, one French Creole and the other Anglo American,
where they could meet on neutral ground to conduct business in both French and
English.
In the early 20th century, the Quarter’s cheap rents and air of decay attracted the more bohemian artistic community. Many of these new inhabitants were active in the first preservation efforts in the Quarter, which began around the 1920s. The Vieux Carré Commission was established in 1925 and by the 1940s it began to exercise more power to preserve and protect the district.
In the 1960s new hotels opened regularly, often replacing large sections of the French Quarter. Although there was opposition, the Commission approved these structures as long as they adhered to the established exterior styles. A municipal ordinance forbidding new hotels within the Quarter’s boundaries was passed in 1969; however the ordinance failed to stop the influx of timeshare condos and bed and breakfast inns throughout the Quarter. In the 1980s many long-term residents were driven away by rising rents as property values continued to rise with expectations of windfalls from the planned 1984 World’s Fair site nearby. Today, the French Quarter still combines residential, hotels, guest houses, bars, restaurants, and tourist-oriented commercial properties, adding to the area’s economy.
As we walked through the French Quarter I wondered how Katrina affected this area. We found that the distance from where the levees were breached, along with the strength and height of the nearest levees along the Mississippi River, it suffered relatively light damage from floodwater, leaving it substantially drier than other areas, as it’s about 5’ above sea level. Wind damage was the most prevalent, although some streets had minor flooding.
We continued our walk through the Quarter, eventually making our way to Jackson Square. Jackson Square is a gated public park about the size of a city block, located between the French Quarter and the Mississippi River. The Square was named after President Andrew Jackson (formerly General of the Battle of New Orleans). A statue of Jackson on his horse was purchased in 1956 and placed in the center of the square, which was formerly a parade ground and execution site. (Convicted criminals were sometimes hanged in the square, and after the 1811 slave insurrection, some of the insurgents were sentenced to death here under a justice system that hadn’t yet been converted to the American ideals—their severed heads were displayed here.)
In the early 20th century, the Quarter’s cheap rents and air of decay attracted the more bohemian artistic community. Many of these new inhabitants were active in the first preservation efforts in the Quarter, which began around the 1920s. The Vieux Carré Commission was established in 1925 and by the 1940s it began to exercise more power to preserve and protect the district.
In the 1960s new hotels opened regularly, often replacing large sections of the French Quarter. Although there was opposition, the Commission approved these structures as long as they adhered to the established exterior styles. A municipal ordinance forbidding new hotels within the Quarter’s boundaries was passed in 1969; however the ordinance failed to stop the influx of timeshare condos and bed and breakfast inns throughout the Quarter. In the 1980s many long-term residents were driven away by rising rents as property values continued to rise with expectations of windfalls from the planned 1984 World’s Fair site nearby. Today, the French Quarter still combines residential, hotels, guest houses, bars, restaurants, and tourist-oriented commercial properties, adding to the area’s economy.
As we walked through the French Quarter I wondered how Katrina affected this area. We found that the distance from where the levees were breached, along with the strength and height of the nearest levees along the Mississippi River, it suffered relatively light damage from floodwater, leaving it substantially drier than other areas, as it’s about 5’ above sea level. Wind damage was the most prevalent, although some streets had minor flooding.
We continued our walk through the Quarter, eventually making our way to Jackson Square. Jackson Square is a gated public park about the size of a city block, located between the French Quarter and the Mississippi River. The Square was named after President Andrew Jackson (formerly General of the Battle of New Orleans). A statue of Jackson on his horse was purchased in 1956 and placed in the center of the square, which was formerly a parade ground and execution site. (Convicted criminals were sometimes hanged in the square, and after the 1811 slave insurrection, some of the insurgents were sentenced to death here under a justice system that hadn’t yet been converted to the American ideals—their severed heads were displayed here.)
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| Apparently there was a disturbance in the square on Saturday, with protestors wanting to have the statue of Andrew Jackson removed. Good grief...it's a part of American history, for goodness sake! Thankfully the local police quelled the demonstration and all is well...for now... |
The Square originally overlooked the Mississippi River but
larger levees were built along the river in the 19th century cutting
off the view. To compensate for the change, a scenic boardwalk was built along
the river, called the “moon walk” to honor then Mayor Moon Landrieu.
Eventually, long established old wharves and warehouses were demolished and Woldenberg
Park was created.
It was here that we met Trent and Michelle from Australia,
who asked that we take their photo with the St. Louis Cathedral in the
background. We enjoyed chatting with them for a few minutes, learning that they
were heading to Europe after visiting San Francisco, Las Vegas, New Orleans and
Washington, DC.On each side of the square are the 1-block long Pontalba Buildings, matching red brick, 4-story structures, constructed between 1849 and 1851. Today they house shops and restaurants, with apartments above. Diagonal from the square toward the river is the Jax Brewery building, the original home of a local beer. Today, it too, houses retail shops and restaurants.
From the 1920s to the 1980s, Jackson Square became known for attracting painters, young art students, and caricaturists. In the 1990s the artists were joined by fortune tellers, mimes, tarot card readers, and other street performers. Live music is also played in the Square regularly.
Also diagonally across from the square, is the historic open-air Café du Monde, which has made and served beignets continuously since the Civil War period (1862). It’s customary for anyone visiting the café for the first time to blow the powdered sugar off a beignet and make a wish. The café closes only on Christmas Day and during hurricanes.
From here we ventured into the French Market area of New
Orleans.
The French Market spans about 6 blocks near the Mississippi
River, and is really a market area and series of commercial establishments. Originally
founded as a Native American trading post predating the arrival of Europeans,
the market is the oldest of its kind in the U.S. At one time it was the only
place in the French Quarter where one could purchase meat, and was known as the
“Meat Market.” The oldest existing building dates to about 1813; major
renovations were done in the 1930s. Much of the area was home to roofed but
wall-less merchant stalls, but now house shops and restaurants separated by
doors and walls.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the muffuletta,
it’s made with a large, round, rather flat loaf of bread, similar to French
bread but is a bit heavier in texture. The sandwich consists of a muffuletta
loaf of bread split horizontally with layers of marinated olive salad, Italian
sausage (called mortadella), salami, mozzarella cheese, ham and provolone. It’s
then heated or toasted to soften the cheeses. We split the sandwich, and had
enough to bring home for another meal. YUM-YUM! Oh, and the olive salad
consists of diced green olives with diced celery, diced cauliflower and diced
carrots marinated in vinegar and olive oil, seasoned with oregano and garlic.
Sure filled the gap, and gave us energy to walk back to the parking lot!
From there we made our way back to the north side of Jackson Square to the St. Louis Cathedral, or the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis King of France. This cathedral is the oldest Catholic Cathedral in the U.S., originally established as a house of worship in 1718. Three Roman Catholic churches have stood on this site since that time. The first was a crude wooden structure. The 2nd was built of more substantial materials: brick and timber, begun in 1725 and completed in 1727. That, along with numerous buildings was destroyed in the great 1788 fire. The cornerstone of a new church was laid in 1789 and in 1794 the new structure was completed. (It was raised to cathedral rank in 1793, making it the oldest cathedral in the U.S.) The expanding number of parishioners required that the church be enlarged. This change specified that everything except the lateral walls and lower portions of the existing towers on the front façade be demolished. Reconstruction began in 1850, and during reconstruction it was found that the sidewalls would also need to be demolished. It was during construction that the central tower collapsed. The present structure primarily dates to 1850. The bell from the 1819 tower was reused, and it remains there today.
On April 25, 1909, a bomb was set off in the cathedral, blowing out windows and damaging galleries. The following year a portion of the foundation collapsed, requiring that the building be closed for repairs; it was closed from Easter 1916 to Easter 1917. (I have no idea who or why this was done…?)
Pope Paul VI designated the cathedral as a minor basilica in 1964. Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral in September 1987. Today the parish has over 6,000 members.
From there we made our way back to the north side of Jackson Square to the St. Louis Cathedral, or the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis King of France. This cathedral is the oldest Catholic Cathedral in the U.S., originally established as a house of worship in 1718. Three Roman Catholic churches have stood on this site since that time. The first was a crude wooden structure. The 2nd was built of more substantial materials: brick and timber, begun in 1725 and completed in 1727. That, along with numerous buildings was destroyed in the great 1788 fire. The cornerstone of a new church was laid in 1789 and in 1794 the new structure was completed. (It was raised to cathedral rank in 1793, making it the oldest cathedral in the U.S.) The expanding number of parishioners required that the church be enlarged. This change specified that everything except the lateral walls and lower portions of the existing towers on the front façade be demolished. Reconstruction began in 1850, and during reconstruction it was found that the sidewalls would also need to be demolished. It was during construction that the central tower collapsed. The present structure primarily dates to 1850. The bell from the 1819 tower was reused, and it remains there today.
On April 25, 1909, a bomb was set off in the cathedral, blowing out windows and damaging galleries. The following year a portion of the foundation collapsed, requiring that the building be closed for repairs; it was closed from Easter 1916 to Easter 1917. (I have no idea who or why this was done…?)
Pope Paul VI designated the cathedral as a minor basilica in 1964. Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral in September 1987. Today the parish has over 6,000 members.
Again, as we walked through the cathedral, I found myself
wondering about damage from Katrina. In the garden behind the cathedral, 2
large oak trees were displaced, which dislodged 30’ of ornamental fence. The
nearby marble statue of Jesus had minor damage; a forefinger and a thumb were lost.
Damage to the cathedral itself was more serious. Winds tore a hole in the roof, allowing water to stream into the building, severely damaging the pipe organ. The organ was sent back to the manufacturer in Cleveland, Ohio to be rebuilt, and an electronic substitute was used for over 2½ years, until the original pipe organ was reinstalled.
We meandered through the streets of the French Quarter, slowly heading back to the parking lot, passing some of the most well-known of the French Quarter establishments. Bourbon Street (known for its drinking establishments) is home to the Old Absinthe House. St. Peter Street is where you’ll find Pat O’Brien’s Bar (known for inventing the red “hurricane” cocktail and for having the first dueling piano bar). At the corner of Bourbon and St. Phillips streets you’ll find Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, a tavern built sometime prior to 1772 and one of the oldest surviving structures in New Orleans. According to legend, it was once a business owned by the Lafitte brothers, perhaps as a front for their smuggling operations. The Napoleon House bar and restaurant is located in the former home of mayor Nicholas Girod, and named for an unrealized plot to rescue Napoleon from his exile in Saint Helena and bring him to New Orleans. Another favorite is the an offshoot of the original Johnny White’s bar, Johnny White’s Hole in the Wall, along with Molly’s at the Market, were the only businesses in New Orleans to stay open throughout Katrina and the weeks following the storm.
There are so many more stories related to the establishments in the French Quarter, but there is neither time nor space to cover them all. New Orleans and its French Quarter are one of the few places in the U.S. where possession and consumption of alcohol in open containers is allowed on the street.
That about did us in for our first visit to New Orleans. The temperatures (thankfully, there was a breeze) and our hours of walking took its toll. We headed back to our truck and home to rest up for another day.
Thursday we decided to take it easy, although we did venture into nearby Hammond for groceries and to do laundry (even though there are facilities here in the park, not all are up and running due to the flooding in August).
By 10:45 Friday morning we were on the road again, heading back into New Orleans for a walking tour through the Garden District. We again parked at the Basin Street Visitor center and walked to Canal Street to board a trolley car to take us to the Garden District. Led by docent Renee of Free Tours by Foot, our tour was a 2-hour stroll through some of the most historic areas of this district.
First a little history of this area.
The Garden District was the first neighborhood for American settlers arriving after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Although originally developed between 1832 and 1900, many of the properties here date back to the 1820's. It’s considered one of the best preserved collections of historic mansions in the South, demonstrated by the opulent structures built by wealthy newcomers and the prosperity of New Orleans during that time. Once a number of plantations inhabited this area, but they were sold off in parcels to wealthy Americans who didn’t want to live in the French Quarter. The city was originally called Lafayette in 1833, but was annexed by New Orleans in 1852.
The area was originally developed with only a couple of houses per block, each surrounded by large gardens, thus the name Garden District. In the late 19th century these large lots were further subdivided, producing a neighborhood of early 19th century mansions surrounded by the gingerbread of the late Victorian period. Today the Garden District is known more for its architecture than for its gardens.
These are some of the homes we passed on our tour. Descriptions of the homes follow the collages; homes are arranged clockwise:
Damage to the cathedral itself was more serious. Winds tore a hole in the roof, allowing water to stream into the building, severely damaging the pipe organ. The organ was sent back to the manufacturer in Cleveland, Ohio to be rebuilt, and an electronic substitute was used for over 2½ years, until the original pipe organ was reinstalled.
We meandered through the streets of the French Quarter, slowly heading back to the parking lot, passing some of the most well-known of the French Quarter establishments. Bourbon Street (known for its drinking establishments) is home to the Old Absinthe House. St. Peter Street is where you’ll find Pat O’Brien’s Bar (known for inventing the red “hurricane” cocktail and for having the first dueling piano bar). At the corner of Bourbon and St. Phillips streets you’ll find Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, a tavern built sometime prior to 1772 and one of the oldest surviving structures in New Orleans. According to legend, it was once a business owned by the Lafitte brothers, perhaps as a front for their smuggling operations. The Napoleon House bar and restaurant is located in the former home of mayor Nicholas Girod, and named for an unrealized plot to rescue Napoleon from his exile in Saint Helena and bring him to New Orleans. Another favorite is the an offshoot of the original Johnny White’s bar, Johnny White’s Hole in the Wall, along with Molly’s at the Market, were the only businesses in New Orleans to stay open throughout Katrina and the weeks following the storm.
There are so many more stories related to the establishments in the French Quarter, but there is neither time nor space to cover them all. New Orleans and its French Quarter are one of the few places in the U.S. where possession and consumption of alcohol in open containers is allowed on the street.
That about did us in for our first visit to New Orleans. The temperatures (thankfully, there was a breeze) and our hours of walking took its toll. We headed back to our truck and home to rest up for another day.
Thursday we decided to take it easy, although we did venture into nearby Hammond for groceries and to do laundry (even though there are facilities here in the park, not all are up and running due to the flooding in August).
By 10:45 Friday morning we were on the road again, heading back into New Orleans for a walking tour through the Garden District. We again parked at the Basin Street Visitor center and walked to Canal Street to board a trolley car to take us to the Garden District. Led by docent Renee of Free Tours by Foot, our tour was a 2-hour stroll through some of the most historic areas of this district.
First a little history of this area.
The Garden District was the first neighborhood for American settlers arriving after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Although originally developed between 1832 and 1900, many of the properties here date back to the 1820's. It’s considered one of the best preserved collections of historic mansions in the South, demonstrated by the opulent structures built by wealthy newcomers and the prosperity of New Orleans during that time. Once a number of plantations inhabited this area, but they were sold off in parcels to wealthy Americans who didn’t want to live in the French Quarter. The city was originally called Lafayette in 1833, but was annexed by New Orleans in 1852.
The area was originally developed with only a couple of houses per block, each surrounded by large gardens, thus the name Garden District. In the late 19th century these large lots were further subdivided, producing a neighborhood of early 19th century mansions surrounded by the gingerbread of the late Victorian period. Today the Garden District is known more for its architecture than for its gardens.
These are some of the homes we passed on our tour. Descriptions of the homes follow the collages; homes are arranged clockwise:
- Colonel Short’s Villa (1959): The story goes that Colonel Short’s wife, originally from Iowa, missed the cornfields, so he bought her the cornstalk fence that surrounds the property. The current owners share the story that his wife saw that it was the most expensive fence in the building catalog and requested it—and, what the wife wanted, she got. Who knows…? During the Civil War in 1863 this villa was seized by the Federal Army and served as the home to the new Federal Governor of Louisiana Michael Hahn. This arrangement was short lived as the U.S. Government returned the home to Colonel Short right after the Civil War; he lived there until his death in 1890.
- Briggs-Staub House (1854): This home is the only true example of Gothic Revival architecture in the entire Garden District. It wasn’t a popular building style because it reminded the Protestant Americans of the Catholicism of their Creole antagonists. The house was originally built for Cuthbert Bullitt but he refused to pay for it. It was subsequently sold to Charles Briggs, an English insurance broker. Mr. Briggs did not have African slaves, but did acquire Irish indentured servants.
- Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel (1857): This is one of the most iconic homes on the walking tour. Lonsdale, for whom the home was built, started his career as a 16-year old burlap trader, then hit it big after the Civil War with a unique blend of coffee mixed with bitter chicory roots. It’s still popular in New Orleans today. In 1925 the Redemptorist Fathers bought the home and turned it into a Catholic chapel. Later, writer Anne Rice bought the chapel as a home in 1996 and used it for some of the scenes in her novel Violin. The home on this property is 13,000 square feet, and is in the Italianate style, with exquisite metal work. The metal columns above the first floor gallery have what is called Romeo Spikes. Lore states that they were installed to keep young men from climbing into young women’s rooms; however, they were probably installed to prevent robberies. The gas light above the gallery burns continuously, upholding the tradition that the Garden District should never be without light. The coolest remaining element from the mansion’s time is the vine-covered pavilion near the fence which shields the Virgin Mary. Actor Nicolas Cage bought the property and lived here from 2005 until 2009 before hitting foreclosure. The property is now part of the Saint George Episcopal School.
- The Women’s Opera House (1859): This building combines Greek Revival and Italianate metal work along with Queen Anne. Now owned by the Women’s Opera Guild, the building is furnished with European and American furniture, artwork and antiques from the 1700-1800s. Because of the strong attention to detail with the furnishings, this mansion has been featured in numerous films, including Elsa & Peter and Django Unchained. It is one of the only homes in the Garden District open for tours, but only on Mondays from 1 to 4 p.m., and is available to rent for special events.
- Toby’s Corner (1838): This is the Garden Districts oldest still-standing residence. The home, built in the Greek Revival style, has a raised basement to handle flooding, as well as for ventilation. It was built for sugar magnate Thomas Toby, for whom the house is named.
- Bradish Johnson House and Louise S. McGehee School (1872): Built after the Civil War for sugar barron Bradish Johnson in a mixture of the Beauz-Arts and neoclassical styles, this home became a private girls’ school, for grades PK-12, in 1929. There is an 8:1 student to teacher ratio; tuition ranges from $10,000 to $21,000 depending on the grade.
- Archie Manning House: This is the home of former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning, and the childhood home of his sons: Cooper, Peyton, and Eli. Cooper’s sports career was cut short when he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis. Peyton retired from the NFL last year, but Eli continues to play for the New York Giants. A lot of the footage from the documentary on the Manning family, Book of Manning (2013), was filmed here at the house.
- Anne Rice House (1857): This home is noted for its Rosegate fence, said to be one of the first chain link fences in the world. However, the rosebuds more closely resemble skulls, as does the lattice work on the house. This was the predominant home of novelist Anne Rice and her husband Stan, prior to his death in 2003
- Joseph Merrick Jones House (1850): This was home for Joseph Warrick, an attorney, but who also served as Secretary for Public Affairs for the U.S. State Department during WWII. However, he’s best known as the president of Tulane University, and as one of the 1st school presidents in the U.S. to allow integration in 1963. Later, this was home to rockstar Trent Reznor from the band Nine Inch Nails, who was known for throwing large parties with unconventional guests. He also built a recording studio inside the home. A noise ordinance kicked in, directed by neighbor and Council Woman Peggy Wilson, and it was soon after that Reznor was driven away. In 2005 the home was purchased by actor John Goodman, who has made this his permanent home
- Musson Bell House (1850): This big pink house, carriage house and slave
quarters, was completed for wealthy tobacco grower and president of the Cotton
Exchange, Michael Musson. He was one of the few Creoles to build mansions in
the Garden District, and was also uncle to painter Edgar Degas. It also had a
drinking water cistern on the property, common in the Garden District. Mark
Twain once stated that it looked as if everybody in the neighborhood had a
private brewery. Ha!
- Robinson House (1859-1865): This home was designed for tobacco merchant Walter Robinson, and is one of the largest in the Garden District at over 12,000 square feet. The roof is flat and once gathered rainwater for the home’s indoor plumbing and drinking water. It went up for sale in 2010 at a listing price of $12.5 million. It did not sell, and today it’s on the market for $8.9 million. It’s been featured in quite a few movies, including Jason Stratham’s The Mechanic in 2011.
- Eustis / Sandra Bullock Residence (1867): This is one of only 3 homes in the Garden District built in the Swiss Germanic Chalet style. It’s said that inspiration for the home came from a plate in a home catalog. The coolest thing about the home’s layout is how the 3 main sections of the house are staggered to maximize the sunlight in each area, no matter what time of day it is. Sandra Bullock bought the home in 2009 shortly before her adopted son Louis was born in New Orleans, so he’d always have a home.
- Benjamin Button House (1832): This house served as the main house in the Brad Pitt movie Benjamin Button, based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story. Many of the scenes which take place on both the porch and steps leading up to the home where used in the movie.
- Commander’s Palace Restaurant (1880): This building, now bright turquoise and white, was built for Emile Commander to be run as a saloon and restaurant. Famous clients such as Jefferson Davis and Mark Twain once dined here. By the 1900s Commander’s Palace had already become one of the top restaurants in the U.S., as it still is. It’s been owned by the Brennan family since 1974.
Our last stop was Lafayette #1 Cemetery, established in 1833, although planning for the cemetery began in 1832. Two live oak trees flank the entrance to the cemetery from Washington Street. They were planted there in the 1850s but one fell during Katrina.
As are most cemeteries in this area, it’s more commonly
known as “city of the dead.” This cemetery was laid out in a very uniform
manner with 4 quadrants. There are about 1,000 tombs and an estimated 7,000
people buried here, and it’s not racially segregated. Lafayette #1 is the 3rd
oldest still-standing cemetery today with over 27 different nationalities
interred here. Above grounds tombs are practical, as well as traditional. As
embalming was not used until after the Civil War, it was realized that when the
deceased were placed inside the tombs without embalming, the tombs became like
ovens and the disintegration process accelerated. The funeral director opens
the tomb and the remains of the previous occupant are removed, bagged, and
placed in the chamber beneath. The new occupant then moves into the top chamber
until it’s needed again. For that reason you can find tombs with up to 35
family members inside.
Save our Cemeteries,
a nonprofit organization, has done extensive tomb restoration beginning in
1979. They plan to restore over 85 tombs
within the next 5 years. To the right and left of the entrance are rows of wall
vaults, or interment chambers, used as a temporary resting place or a less
costly alternative to building a large family tomb. There are almost 500 wall
vaults in the cemetery.
Tombs are generally constructed in 2 layers. The top is
where the coffin or casket is placed; the lower is where remains collect when
the top portion needs to be used again. Once a coffin or casket is placed into
a tomb, it is sealed with brick and mortar and a closure tablet placed over the
opening. A closure tablet is placed at the opening to the tomb, engraved with
name(s) and dates as appropriate. It’s common to see closure tablets on more
than one side of a tomb for several reasons. The previous tablet could be full
of names and a new one has to be started, the owner may wish to replace marble
with granite (marble deteriorates in the New Orleans humidity), or the tomb may
be sold to another family. When a tomb is sold it’s customary to move the previous
owner’s tablet to the back or side of the tomb and start a new one on the
front.
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| The bottom 2 photos depict the temporary wall vaults and the closure tablets. |
After the designated period of mourning has passed, usually 1 year and
1 day (based on Judeo-Christian mourning rituals of the time), the tomb may be reused by
simply removing the seal, separating the human remains from what is left of the
casket, and pushing the remains to the rear of the vault, where they fall into
the lower portion of the tomb. The casket is simply disposed of, so an
expensive casket is not necessary. Tombs aren’t opened unless they are needed,
which may be many years later. However, previous remains are allowed to simply
deteriorate in the bottom of the tomb, allowing the natural process to take
place: “ashes to ashes…dust to dust.” Due to the history of epidemics during
the 19th century, often more than 1 death may occur in a family
during a year’s time. Wall vaults are used as temporary tombs until the
required 1 year and 1 day time period has expired.
November 1, All Saints Day, was traditionally a day when people would go to cemeteries to tend to the graves of loved ones. In New Orleans it became a day of celebration, with music and food, families picnicking and visiting, children playing among the tombs, and nuns collecting donations for various charities.
Here are some of the tombs we made note of.
One of the most famous residents in this cemetery is Brigadier Harry T. Hays who led the 1st Louisiana Brigade during the Civil War. Another tomb was that of Jacob Payne, at whose home Jefferson Davis died. On the pediment is displayed an hourglass with wings, which represents the passage of time and shortness of life.
November 1, All Saints Day, was traditionally a day when people would go to cemeteries to tend to the graves of loved ones. In New Orleans it became a day of celebration, with music and food, families picnicking and visiting, children playing among the tombs, and nuns collecting donations for various charities.
Here are some of the tombs we made note of.
One of the most famous residents in this cemetery is Brigadier Harry T. Hays who led the 1st Louisiana Brigade during the Civil War. Another tomb was that of Jacob Payne, at whose home Jefferson Davis died. On the pediment is displayed an hourglass with wings, which represents the passage of time and shortness of life.
Then there was the Sercy family that lost 3 children in 2 days due to yellow fever in 1878. (Tens of thousands of New Orleanians lost their lives to yellow fever before it was discovered that this disease was spread by mosquito. Garden District residents thought they were protecting themselves with their gardens and houses spread far apart, but actually they were creating mosquito breeding grounds in their reflecting pool and cisterns.)
Another notable tomb is the Smith-Dumestre tomb, which has the most names on it in Lafayette Cemetery #1, with 37 names. The family claims to have 10 more awaiting inscription. Dates range from 1861 to 1997, and many list various causes of death as yellow fever, apoplexy and being struck by lightning. Also depicted are veterans of various wars; 8 tombs list ladies as “consorts.”
The New Orleans Home for the Incurables was chartered in
1891 with an all-female board of directors to provide a place of refuge and
comfort to people with severe mental or physical deformities, or diseases which
were considered hopeless and beyond help. Often, these people of all ages,
genders and races were abandoned by their families as being an embarrassment.
Here, they’re laid to rest in a large society tomb in the coping tomb style.
Coping tombs were a small neighborhood of low tombs with grass or rocks on top.
A coping wall is built, usually going about 3’ underground, unembalmed bodies
in unfinished pine boxes are placed inside, and dirt brought from outside the
cemetery, is used to cover the casket. In the 1800s, soil merchants would sell
dirt shipped in from around the world so one could be buried in the soil of his
or her home country or state. An example of a society tomb is that of the volunteer fire company (1 of 3 in the cemetery), boasting an impressive fire engine on the pediment.
The Koenig Tomb has no burials recorded for it. They
probably moved away before ever using the tomb, but it has been left to allow
us to see how the tombs are constructed. When a family member dies, the funeral
director has the tomb opened and the remains of the previous occupant are
removed, bagged, and placed in the chamber beneath. The new occupant then moves
into the top chamber until it’s needed again.
The Karstendiek Tomb is the only cast iron tomb in this cemetery.
Families could look at catalogs and assemble customized tombs from panels to be
used as walls, and then could pick the embellishments. These were considered to
be of lesser quality than brick and mortar structures, and tended to rust in
the humidity of New Orleans. They also require a different type of maintenance.
Woodmen of the World markers are all over the cemetery. It’s
usually a fraternal benefit organization whose lodges did volunteer work in
their communities. A grave marker in the image of tree stump was provided as an
appropriate burial marker for its members. And, you can see that the tomb was
once a brilliant color. Many of the tombs in the city’s cemeteries were bright
green, rust, turquoise or mustard yellow. It was considered a matter of honor
to care for the family tomb and would add pigments to limewash to paint the
tombs.
The Secret Garden is perhaps the most curious of all the tombs we saw in the cemetery. Set in the corner of the cemetery, there are 4 tombs of 4 childhood friends who wished to remain together for eternity. So, they bought their plots together. Their secret club, “Quarto,” had performed anonymous acts of generosity for people in need; however, this can’t be verified because the last surviving member of the group burned their meeting notes.
The Society for the Relief of Destitute Orphan Boys was
formed during the years of devastating epidemics of yellow fever and malaria,
and still exists today as the Waldo Burton Memorial Home. Often you can find
toys and trinkets at the tome, which would be collected by a representative of
the home, and bring them to the home which provides care and services for boys
ages 6-17. This tomb is for those boys.
Again, I wondered about damage from Katrina in this area, but it sustained only wind damage. This area is on higher ground than property in other areas of New Orleans.
We were bushed again, and decided that we’d head home rather than have dinner in town, so we boarded the trolley again. Disembarking at Canal Street we walked the 7 blocks to our truck and drove home. We hit rush hour, which was a bit hairy until we hit the Causeway. We collapsed after having homemade chicken quesadillas at home. Yum!
Saturday morning after breakfast Dick gave the camper a well-deserved wash—it probably needs another… I worked on the blog.
Sunday we headed for Abbeville, LA to meet up with friends Marv and Shirley, and Randy and Jeri for a week, at Betty’s RV Park. Temps were in the upper 80s when we, and thanks to a lovely rain shower when we were close to our destination, the temps had dropped to the low 80s. Whew!
We arrived and were greeted by friends Marvin and Shirley, who along with Randy and Jeri, were co-hosting the Sport Chassis Owners Rally in Abbeville, LA. We are interlopers, as we don’t have a big sport chassis, only a 1-ton Chevy dually. (They let us in anyway.) More on our week spent with them in our next blog.
Until then, hugs!
RJ and Gail
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