Podcast version of our Third Thursday Sicilian talk.

Thanks to everyone who came out last Thursday night for our fourth talk in our “Third Thursday Lecture Series.” This talk is essentially a lecture, now podcast, version of part of my “down-river” French Quarter Walking Tour. We explore the part of the Quarter known as “Little Palermo” in the early part of the 1900s. From the riverfront to the French Market, up into the neighborhood, we talk about produce farmers, market vendors, grocers, bakers, organized crime, and a well-known ice cream guy.

As mentioned in the presentation, I am a volunteer tour guide for the Friends of the Cabildo (FOC). The FOC offers one of the best French Quarter Walking Tours, and I’m proud they let me do them! This presentation is more-or-less a verbal/image “walk” like my tour. When going “down-river” from Jackson Square, you just can’t avoid talking about the Sicilian influence in the French Quarter, beginning in the 1880s. You’re most welcome to join us on the tour–click the link for more information.

PDF of the presentation here.

Creole Italian by Justin A. Nystrom (link to bookshop.org)

While there are several good books on the Sicilian influences and history in New Orleans, I really enjoy Dr. Nystrom’s. The book goes well beyond just Da Quarters, but his thoughts on “Little Palermo” are excellent.

 Sicilian Lemons, which became part of the tariff issues in 1897.

Produce stall at the French Market, 1920s (colorized by NOLA History Guy)

Central Grocery

ca. 1926, New Orleans — Woman driving horse drawn wagon in New Orleans. — Image by © Photo Collection Alexander Alland, Sr./CORBIS

Central and Progress Groceries

While Progress Grocery ain’t there no more, Central Grocery is still selling muffulettas at 923 Decatur Street. The Peronne family closed their grocery at 1003 Decatur, but still operate as a wholesale business. You can buy Progress Grocery brand olive salad and other products at local supermarkets.

The post Podcast 61 – When the French Quarter Was Sicilian appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.

After 1954, L&N passenger trains like the Pan American ran on the Back Belt to UPT.

Listen to the podcast here.

This 1970 photo shows the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Pan American passenger train heading to Union Passenger Terminal on Loyola Avenue. From Mike Palmieri:

L&N No. 9 – NEW ORLEANS – Circa 1970 – Photographer Unknown

Prior to the opening of Union passenger Terminal (UPT), L&N trains arrived and departed from their passenger terminal at the head of Canal Street. When the city merged the five passenger stations into UPT in 1954, L&N trains approached the station via the Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern) “Back Belt.” The trains came into town via the Rigolets bridge, then switched onto the Back Belt. As Mike mentions, the track curving off connected the Back Belt to Southern’s terminal at Canal and Basin Streets. The trains ran down Basin Street to tracks just before St. Louis Street. They turned north on St. Louis, connecting here to head to the “5 Mile Bridge” across Lake Pontchartrain. After 1954, that track saw limited use, as the Southern passenger trains also shifted to UPT. SR shifted most of its freight operations from their Bernadotte Yard in Mid-City to Gentilly. So, most of the track at St. Louis Street vanished over time. The path morphed into the Lafitte Greenway bicycle/walking trail.

L&N #9 heads towards the back of Greenwood Cemetery. It turned into town at what was the east bank of the New Basin Canal. The track followed the canal, originally to Union Station on S. Rampart. Street. The city closed the canal in 1949. The Pontchartrain Expressway opened in its place. So, the end of this access track changed to UPT in 1954.

Amtrak uses this track for the Crescent (#19/#20) to New York. Additionally, the Sunset Limited extension to Jacksonville operated over it. That route closed in 2005. This summer, Amtrak inaugurated the Mardi Gras route, from UPT to Mobile, Alabama. Mardi Gras runs both ways, morning and evening. So, those four trains follow the route taken here by the Pan American.

L&N operated the Pan American route, from New Orleans to Cincinnati, from 1921 to 1971. The railroad turned its passenger operations and equipment over to Amtrak in 1971. The new passenger rail company discontinued the Pan American in 1971. So, this photo shows the route in its last few months of operation.

The post Podcast P09 – Pan American on the Back Belt appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.

Canal Revival remembers Waterbury’s Drugstores.

In Podcast 60, we tell the story of Waterbury’s Drugstores on Canal Street and its expansion stores. Waterbury’s had four locations, from 1930 to 1984:

There was a #4 store planned for Westgate Sholpping Center in Metairie, but the plan didn’t materialize.

PDF here

Waterbury Chemical Company manufactured and sold “patent medicines” like “Waterbury’s Compound.’ They based this “tonic” on cod liver oil, adding vitamins. They claimed it was one of the “best cures for coughs and colds.” Waterbury Chemical operated a plant on Gravier Street in the CBD. They sold the “compound” nationwide.

Manufacturer to Retail

In 1930, C.C. Waterbury, son of the company’s founder, leased the two-story building at Canal and Camp, on the river side of the intersection. He opened the drugstore in April, 1930.An article in the Times-Picayune in August, 1930, shows “The Busy Corner” and its businesses at the time.

Avit Cancienne, ad for Waterbury’s in the Times-Picayune, 4-February-1932

While the drugstore was an immediate success, C.C. Waterbury lost interest in the retail project. He sold the drugstore to a long-time employee, Avit Cancienne. Cancienne was a pharmacist originally from Thibodaux. He took over Waterbury’s in December, 1930. His family ran the store from that point until its closure in 1984.

Cancienne acquired a drugstore, Walsdorf’s, at 1036 Canal Street, in 1932. He opened Waterbury’s #2 there on 14-October-1932. The store stood on the corner of Canal and S. Rampart Streets, next to Haverty’s Furniture Store. Waterbury’s #2 gave Cancienne stores on both sides of the Central Business District.

While the original store at Canal and Camp evokes the most memories (after all, it lasted until 1984), Canal and S. Rampart fascinates me much more. This corner evolved into downtown’s transit hub. The West End and Spanish Fort streetcar lines originated here. Terminal Station (Southern Railway, GM&O) stood just a block up the street, at Canal and Basin. Union Station and the L&A terminal were just up Loyola Avenue a few blocks. Just like store #1, this store operated 24 hours. While the night crowd at Camp Street was mostly moviegoers, Canal and S. Rampart enabled travelers to pick up the things they forgot.

Store #3 operated at 1632 Dryades, corner Euterpe, in the Dryades Market corridor. Cancienne opened the store on 15-November-1937.

The post NOLA History Guy Podcast 60 – Waterbury’s Drugstores appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.

Unpacking the busiest corner in Mid-City: Tulane and Carrollton.

Tulane and Carrollton

The corner of Tulane and Carrolton connected Mid-City to Uptown and Metairie.

PDF Here

Tulane and Carrollton in 1947. The photographer stands on Tulane Avenue, looking west. The streetcar tracks curve over to S. Carrollton Avenue here, for the Tulane and St. Charles Belt lines.

Mayor Morrison and the “Miracle Mile”

Maison Blanche’s Carrollton Store opened in 1948

By 1964, the location morphed into a Budget Store, as MB Airline took over as the western suburban store.

Home of the New Orleans Pelcans and New Orleans Black Pelicans (Negro League). This photo is from 1951, as work begins on ripping up the streetcar tracks on Tulane Avenue.

Wider shot showing the closure of the New Basin Canal as construction begins on the Pontchartrain Expressway.

Illinois Central’s Panama Limited, stopping at the Carollton Station.

Kansas City Southern’s “Southern Belle” train, crossing Carrollton Avenue, heading to Kansas City, Missouri.

The Carrollton Interchangei, 1964. The buildings in the background are Mid-City Baptist Church (left) and Jesuit High School (right).

The post Podcast 59 – Tulane and Carrollton appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.

The Creole townhouse at 601 Chartres was built in 1793.

This townhouse from the Spanish Colonial period offers a look into the entire 19th Century in the Vieux Carré. The first floor’s retail space tells many stories.

PDF here

Street grid from 1722, only a year after de Pauger drew up the plan. The plan shows the original house at 601 Chartres. Follow Chartres Street left from the church to Toulouse.

The house held a number of retail businesses prior to the Southern Rebellion. As the Sicilians expanded their influence in the Quarter, Creole shops and stores gave way to Sicilian groceries. Such were the differences in diet and taste between the communities that the Sicilians didn’t merely take over existing shops. They re-shaped French Quarter commercial space. Here’s Victor Valentinian’s Grocery in 1890.

Like many retail outlets in New Orleans, Victor’s continued to sell alcohol after the passage of the 18th Amendment. Victor’s branded as a “soft drink saloon” during Prohibition, but still kept beer in the cooler. Additionally, the store sold “Punch Boards,” an early form of modern-day lottery “scratch-off” tickets.

This 1937 photo of the townhouse contains interesting elements, most notably, the sign advertising “Boiled Crawfish.”

This is the earliest we’ve encountered the spelling “crawfish,” as opposed to “crayfish” in New Orleans.

From the 1910s into the 1960s, businesses from restaurants to amusement parks printed postcards. Travelers and business people communicated with folks back home/at the home office via postcard. Victor’s planted the visual in the minds of potential new visitors with this 1940 postcard.

Winifred Moore performed regularly at Victor’s after World War II. She attracted a strong following in the Victor’s cocktail lounge.

By the 1970s, Victor’s was no more. The upscale burger restaurant chain, Ground Pat’i, leased 601 Chartres.

via Google Maps

More-recent tenants of the townhouse included Chartres House and Willie’s Chicken Shack. Both businesses moved to other Vieux Carré locations. Not sure if the landlord wants a high rent, or if the other locations offered something different.

NOLA History Guy now has a Discord server, available to supporters at all levels.

Go to patreon.com/nolahistoryguy to sign up!

The post Podcast 58 – 601 Chartres in the #FrenchQuarter appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.

The 1788 fire destroyed French Colonial New Orleans.

We’ve all heard the stories of the 1788 fire. This is not a new or hot take, but some additional information.

PDF here

Street grid from 1722, Look for the church, top center, then go left half a block.

St. Louis Church, which burned totally in the fire.

Esteban Rodriguez Miro, Sixth Spanish Governor of Louisiana

Miro mis-reports the origin of the fire in his report to the Spanish Crown. He reported the origin to be at Chartres and Toulouse, not closer to the church. The building on the corner was Nunez’s office.

Shout out to Stephen Payne and Bruce Magee of the Louisiana Anthology (https://louisiana-anthology.org) for all their hard work, including maintaining a copy of Castellanos’ translation of Mrio’s report on the fire.

NOLA History Guy now has a Discord server, available to supporters at all levels.

Go to patreon.com/nolahistoryguy to sign up!

The post Podcast 57 – The 1788 Fire appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.

A Premium Level ($5 month) rolls out in June. .

map of the Spanish Fort resort area in the 1880s.

We’re rolling out a Premium Level for NOLA History Guy, beginning in June. We offer a $1 “basic” supporter level on Patreon for a while now. The way we get our news and communicate in general on the Internet has changed so much in recent years, it’s time to make changes here.

PDF here

Among other things. The bottom line is, no teaching, no revenue stream for these things. So, any help I can get to keep this all going helps.

Of course, retirement means more time for history content. We offer more for Premium Level supporters: more blog articles, and a second weekly podcast.

The basic, $1 month level remains essentially the same. We’ll add another post or two a week for supporters-only. Anyone who has supported the site, past or present, will see these articles. Supporters also receive more “riff” posts, where we take something initially posted by another creator, say, on the Book of Zucker, and expand on their stuff.

NOLA History Guy now has a Discord server, available to supporters at all levels.

Go to patreon.com/nolahistoryguy to sign up!

The post Podcast 56 – New! Premium Level on Patreon appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.

Maison Blanche Origins continues with Simon J. Shwartz, who worked in the family business before striking out on his own.

New Orleans Illustrated in Photo Etching (1892), published by James P. Craig

Continuing the Maison Blanche Origins story of the “Greatest Store South” with the early career of Maison Blanche’s founder, Simon J. Shwartz. Simon worked for his father, primarily in New York City. He brought home innovative retailing ideas.

MB Origins Part 1 – if you want to catch up

PDF Here

The youngest of three brothers, Simon worked for his father, Abraham, since he was a young boy. While the “& Son” of A. Shwartz and Son was his older brother, Nathan Issac, Simon backed the family business. Photo is from History of the Jews of Louisiana, 1903.

By 1890, A. Shwartz & Son occupied three units in the 701 block of Canal Street. Note the addresses are the “old” format. The City of New Orleans switched to block addressing  By 1890, the company expanded the unit on the corner of Canal and Bourbon. They installed an elevator, and opened as a major competitor to the larger stores such as D. H. Holmes, Krauss, and Godchaux’s. The expanded store opened on 6-October-1890. The Daily Picayune reported on it the following day. Note that the store is now “A. Shwartz & Sons,” reflecting Leon and Simon’s entry as partners.

Over half of the 701 block of Canal Street went up in flames on 16-February-1892. The fire all but destroyed A. Shwartz & Sons.

Simon had already been working on leasing space in the Mercier Building at 901 Canal Street. He put those plans on hold and worked with his brothers to move the family business up the street. They bought up inventory from a couple of stores going out of business and re-opened at the end of February, 1892. The image at the top of the article shows A. Shwartz & Sons at 901 Canal.

Patriarch Passes

Abraham Shwartz passed away on 8-March-1892.

The post Podcast 55 – Maison Blanche Origins: Simon J. Shwartz appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.

New Orleans Lakefront Airport opened as Shushan Airport in 1934.

The airport out at Lake Pontchartrain and the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (Industrial Canal) originally opened as Shushan Airport, and later became New Orleans Lakefront Airport (NEW). The “big” airport, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, came later. The FAA doesn’t move the three-letter code names for airports, once radio frequencies, maps, etc, list them for a particular location. So, the original airport is NEW and the Kenner airport is MSY, an abbreviation for Moisant Stock Yards. Shushan Airport gets its name from Abraham Shushan, who was President of the Orleans Levee Board in the 1920s.

PDF here.

seawall construction, 1920s

Construction of Shushan Airport was part of a larger capital project proposed in 1922. The main component of the package was the seawall. The seawall functioned as a sort of dam along the lake shore. It ran from West End to the Industrial Canal. Construction of the seawall enabled the Orleans Levee Board to drain the water behind the seawall, then develop it. As we discussed in Podcast 51, Winning the War on the Lakefront, much of the reclaimed land became military installations during the run-up to World War II.

Architectural rendering of the Shushan Airport main building, 1934.

Of the $15 million approved for the lakefront, the bill earmarked $4 million for an airport. The airport extended the functionality of the lakefront to the eastern side of the Industrial Canal.

The post Podcast 53 – Shushan Airport appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.

The West End was an escape from the city and heat from the 1850s.

This was originally presented to the West End Kiwanis Club. So much fun talking to hard-working volunteer groups! This one was fun, so it’s part two of our series on the Lakefront.

PDF here

West End Park, 1940s. The entertainment district had been cleared in favor of green space. The Southern Yacht Club marina and Municipal Yacht Harbor aren’t there yet.

West End Music Pavillion, 1890s

West End Concert band, 1890s

Creole Italian by Justin A. Nystrom

The post Podcast 52 – West End appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.