NOLA History Guy

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NOLA History Guy episodes

May 16, 2020 Podcast 33 – 16-May-2020 – Katy Shannon Part I
NOLA History Guy Podcast 16-May-2020 is part one of our interview with Katy Morlas Shannon
Original location of the International Trade Mart, Camp and Common Streets.
NOLA History Guy Podcast 16-May-2020
Two segments on a longer edition of NOLA History Guy Podcast this week. First is our pick of the week from Today in New Orleans History. Additionally, part one of our interview with Katy Morlas Shannon.
May 13, 1966 – City agrees with International Trade Mart on a new building
Architectural rendering of the World Trade Center Building as the Four Seasons Hotel (courtesy DDD)
Our Pick of the Week from NewOrleansPast.com is May 13th. On that date in 1966, the city finalized an agreement with the International Trade Mart. The Mart wanted a new headquarters building, So, they acquired property at 2 Canal Street. The organization’s first headquarters was the above building at the corner of Camp and Common Streets. Mayor Vic Schiro continued Chep Morrison’s plans in his administration. The goal was to make New Orleans a gateway to Central and South America. Modernizing the ITM contributed to this. So, the organization built a 33-story office building at the foot of Canal. That building remains a part of the downtown skyline.
“ITM Building” – watercolor by Jeanette Boutell Woest, 1966. via HNOC
In 1985, the ITM merged with International House to become the World Trade Center. The ITM building housed a number of international companies. That’s how the “Mart” worked. Additionally, the building housed foreign consulate offices. As the city’s economy shifted from port traffic and the oil industry to tourism, things changed. While the ITM building was a good location, newer office towers on Poydras appealed to companies. Hurricane Katrina emptied the building. Even the World Trade Center moved across the street to One Canal Place. In 2012, the organization gave the unoccupied building to the city. So, it will soon become a Four Seasons Hotel.
The New Orleans Bee
The New Orleans Bee was a French-language newspaper that began in 1827. L’Abeille (its French name) offered New Orleans’ Creole community the news for over a century. So, we spoke with author and historian Katy Morlas Shannon about her background, The Bee, and how she came to curate the selection of articles from the paper’s first year.
The New Orleans Bee: Dispatches from the first year of Louisiana’s longest-running French-language newspaper – Kindle Edition
The Plantations
The Big House at Whitney Plantation
Whitney Plantation
Laura Plantation
Laura Plantation
Evergreen Plantation
Evergreen Plantation
Katy Morlas Shannon

Crown baseball tee from Fleurty Girl
We did this interview via Zoom, but only used the audio for the podcast. Katy had a really cool t-shirt from Fleurty Girl on!
Katy M. Shannon on Facebook.
I promise, we’ll get back to the Riverfront Streetcar Line in a few weeks! While we’ll be talking to folks, research continues. Therefore, the Riverfront segments offer lots of details.
The post Podcast 33 – 16-May-2020 – Katy Shannon Part I appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.
1 hr 18 min
April 06, 2020 NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020 D. H. Holmes, Streetcars
NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020 presents the first of a four-part series on the Riverfront Streetcar line.
NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020
Two segments on NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020, our pick of the week from NewOrleansPast.com, and the start of a series on the Riverfront Streetcar line.
Today in New Orleans History
Our Pick of the week from the Facebook group, Today in New Orleans History, is Campanella’s entry for April 2nd. Daniel Henry Holmes opened his store on 2-April-1842. The first store was not the Canal Street location. He opened up at 22 Chartres, in the French Quarter. The store did well, and Holmes moved to the 800 block of Canal Street in 1849. D. H. Holmes is an icon, from “meet me under the clock” to the selection of merchandise, to the suburban stores.
There’s nothing more New Orleans than a discussion on social media about which store your momma liked better, Holmeses or Maison Blanche! We thought about adding a discussion or quote section in NOLA History Guy Podcast 05-April-2020, but it can get ugly.
The 2-April entry at New Orleans Past shows two ads from the Times-Picayune. The first is from 28-March-1924. It includes a pictorial history of D. H. Holmes around the border. Very nice!
The second ad is from 2-April-1938. To celebrate the store’s birthday, D. H. Holmes ordered a 400-pound birthday cake, featuring, naturally, the clock!
Riverfront Streetcar History
We present a four-part series on the Riverfront Streetcar Line. The line rolled for the first time in 1899. The series:
I. Background – streetcars running along the New Orleans Riverfront
II. The Riverfront line, 1988-1997
III. The updated line, 1997-present
IV. NORTA 461 – History of a Riverfront streetcar
Today: Part I – background leading up to 1988
Prior to the Riverfront line, streetcars didn’t operate close to the riverfront. That’s because the wharves and railroad tracks occupied the space. The closest streetcars were on the streets servicing the Riverfront, like Tchoupitoulas, Laurel, and Annunciation Streets uptown, and N. Front and Decatur Streets to the French Market on the downtown side.
55 min
March 23, 2020 Podcast 31 – Transit Maintenance – 2020-03-22
Transit maintenance on Canal Street is our photo breakdown this week
Workers from the New Orleans City RR Company, inspecting overhead wires for streetcars on Canal St, 1901
Transit Maintenance
This is a wonderful photo, just to enjoy. It offers a lot to break down as well. The scene is 1901 or 1902, Canal Street, right by the rear of the Liberty Monument. Prior to electrification, streetcars running on the Canal Street line stopped in the 200 block. They turned around there and headed outbound.
Liberty Place
Liberty Place in 1906
The photographer taking our breakdown photo stands right behind the Liberty Monument. For the sordid history of this obelisk (now removed after being designated a public nuisance), start with its Wikipedia entry. In 1894, the two main streetcar operators in town hired the engineering firm of Ford, Bacon, and Davis (FB&D), to make recommendations on how to proceed with electric streetcars in New Orleans. They made a number of suggestions, along with designing a single-truck streetcar specifically for operation in the city.
Streetcar tracks around Liberty Place, 1899
The photo above shows the Liberty Monument, looking from the river, opposite from our breakdown photo. FB&D designed a single-track loop around the monument for streetcars. The inbound cars looped around, then parked on layover tracks behind the monument, in the 200 block.
Maintenance wagon
By 1899, all streetcar operations merged into a single company. They adopted the name, New Orleans City Railroad Company (NOCRR). This was the name of the company that originally operated the Canal and Esplanade lines, as well as a number of other backatown lines, beginning in 1861. Their main streetcar barn and maintenance facility was in Mid-City, at Canal and N. White Streets. So, our work crew here likely came down Canal from that station, or possibly up St. Claude Avenue, from their Poland Avenue barn. They bring this mule-drawn wagon and two big ladders to Liberty Place. They set up the ladders in the back of the wagon, leaving the mule unattended! I don’t know f I’d have that much faith in the mule to stay still.
There are three types of streetcars in the photo. There are two FB&D single-truck cars, two Brill single-truck cars, and one of the 500-series double-truck streetcars from the American Company. These were the forerunners of the venerable “Palace” streetcars that were so popular on the Canal, West End, and Napoleon lines. This car, 510, ran on the West End line. It’s finished the loop around the monument, preparing for its outbound run to the lakefront. The streetcar system grew rapidly after 1900. So, transit maintenance was important!
Today in New Orleans History – March 17, 1930
Hibernia Bank Building, location of the offices of the Mississippi Steamship Company, 1930s
In addition to our transit maintenance photo, we offer our pick of the week from Campanella’s NewOrleansPast.com website (also as a Facebook group, Today in New Orleans History) is from March 17, 1930. Ms. Campanella takes us back to a story from the late, wonderful, historian and storyteller, Gaspar “Buddy” Stall. Stall wrote that the first “coffee break” in America happened on this day, in the Hibernia Bank Building on Carondelet. The Mississippi Steamship Company (later re-organized as the Delta Steamship Company, operators of the Delta Queen cruise steamer/riverboat) called their eighty employees together at 3:30pm, for a gathering where they served coffee, in the Brazilian tradition. Word spread around in America, and that’s how we got the “coffee break.”
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Buy Edward Branley’s books, Catherine Campanella’s, and Buddy Stall’s!

The post Podcast 31 – Transit Maintenance – 2020-03-22 appeared first on Edward Branley - The NOLA History Guy.
48 min
March 17, 2020 Podcast 30 – Southern Rebellion Irish
Southern Rebellion Irish – talking about the Irish socially in Antebellum New Orleans
Southern Rebellion Irish
While a number of Irish families in New Orleans rose to the upper levels of society by the Southern Rebellion, those in the city who wanted to maintain an economy based on enslaved African labor did not accept newer Irish immigrants as equals. They didn’t mind the Irish taking jobs they didn’t want to do, in the army, doing labor such as working to build the New Canal, and working on the riverfront. By 1860, the Know-Nothings (yes, that was a real party and political movement) pushed immigrants away to the point where the Irish felt strong Unionist sentiments.
The Irish immigrants felt the resentment of the WASPs in the United States antebellum most in the Army. WASP officers commanding units during the Mexican War treated immigrants horribly. This led to a large desertion. Hundreds of Irish soldiers crossing the Rio Grande river joining the Mexican Army. The book, The Rogue’s March: John Riley and the St. Patrick’s Battalion, 1846-48, details the history of the “St. Patrick’s Battalion” of the Mexican Army in 1847-48. While life in the Army improved overall by the Southern Rebellion, the rebels still treated the Irish on their side poorly.
Not just the Irish
As the Irish community in New Orleans grew from downtown, along the riverfront to further uptown, German immigrants settled in the same area. What we call the “Irish Channel” was home to a large German community. These Germans were mostly Rheinlanders and Bavarians, who were Catholic, like the Irish. They formed the core of the “Redemptorist” parish, worshipping at St. Mary’s Assumption Church on Constance and Josephine Streets. So, by the time of the Southern Rebellion, both the Irish and German communities were more supportive of the Union than the Confederacy.
Defending the City
So, these immigrants lost their jobs with the closure of the Port of New Orleans in 1861. To provide their families, they joined the rebel army. While many were sent off to fight in Tennessee and Virginia, others stayed behind, to defend Forts Jackson and St. Phillip, down the river from the city. At the time of Farragut’s capture of New Orleans in April, 1862, Fort Jackson’s defenders included three battalions: one Irish, one German, and one made up largely of men from the white planter class. It should come as no surprise that two of those three units mutinied and walked out of the fort, making it easier for Farragut to come up the river and Butler to bring his occupying army behind the ships. For more reading on this, check out Mutiny at Fort Jackson: The Untold Story of the Fall of New Orleans, by Michael D. Pierson.
Reading on the Irish.
If this topic interests you, you definitely want to get Dr. Laura Kelly’s book, The Irish In New Orleans.
48 min
January 18, 2020 Podcast 29 – Royal Street Photo Breakdown
Royal Street Photo Breakdown on this week’s podcast!
Royal Street Photo Breakdown
Derby Gisclair shared a neat photo from 1916 earlier this week on social media. The photographer stands in the middle of the 100 block of Royal Street, looking down into the 200 block. As I was looking through some other photos, I came across a 1956 photo of Royal, where that photographer stood almost in the same place. Time for a Royal Street Photo Breakdown!
At the top of the page is the 1916 photo, with Solari’s on the left, an electric sign for Fabacher’s Restaurant hanging over the street, then the Commercial Hotel and Union Bank on the right.
Fast forward to 1956. Solari’s is still on the left. The Commercial Hotel is now the Monteleone Hotel. Fabacher’s Restaurant, which was the hotel restaurant for the Commercial, is long closed. Walgreen’s drug store replaced the bank building in the late 1940s. That drug store remains today.
Streetcar changes
In the 1916 photo, streetcar tracks and the overhead wiring are visible. The Desire streetcar line ran inbound on Royal Street. The streetcars turned right onto Canal Street. They ran up one block, then turned right again. They ran down Bourbon Street for the French Quarter portion of the outbound run. We’ve talked about the Desire line before, and how it was the main connector for the Quarter.
Buses replaced streetcars on Desire in 1948. So, by the 1956 photo, the tracks and wires are long gone. The maroon-and-cream NOPSI buses serviced Desire.
NewOrleansPast.com – January 15th
Our pick of the week from NewOrleansPast.com (Facebook page, Today in New Orleans History) is Ms. Campanella’s entry for January 15th. The Tulane streetcar line rolled for the first time on 15-January-1871. Mules pulled the streetcars then. The line switched to electric streetcars in the 1890s. Tulane operated in “belt service” with the St. Charles line from 1900 to 1951. Listen to our podcast episode on “Riding the Belt” for more details on that.
NOPSI converted the West End streetcar line to diesel buses on 15-January, 1950, as part of the trend away from electric street rail operations. West End operated as steam train service until the 1890s. After that, electric streetcars ran out to the lakefront, along the east bank of the New Basin Canal. NOPSI retired streetcars on West End in 1950. The line ran until the 1960s, when it became the Canal-Lakeshore line.
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1 hr 7 min
July 29, 2019 Podcast 28 – July-2019 Krauss and Trains
Department stores and train stations on Basin Street on NOLA History Guy Podcast 27-July-2019
NOLA History Guy Podcast 27-July-2019
Two segments on NOLA History Guy Podcast 27-July-2019. First, our “Today In New Orleans History” for 20-July, and then we’ll unpack a photo from 1955. Both focus on Canal and Basin Streets.
NewOrleansPast.com
This week’s pick from Today in New Orleans History goes back to 20-July-1954. The city demolished Terminal Station on Canal and Basin Streets. Union Passenger Terminal opened in April, 1954. The Southerner, Southern Railway’s passenger service from New Orleans to New York City, departed from Canal and Basin Streets on 16-April-1954. Then-mayor “Chep” Morrison implemented a scorched-earth policy with respect to the passenger railroad stations. He ordered the four remaining stations demolished. (The IC Union Station was already partially demolished, to make way for Union Passenger Terminal.)
Basin Street
Trains ran on Basin Street since the late 1870s. The excursion train to Fort St. John (Spanish Fort) on Lake Pontchartrain terminated at Canal and Basin. The Spanish Fort train (which was steam-powered) departed from that station, turned onto Bienville Street, traveling out to the lake.
Leon Fellman bought the property right next to that small station in 1899. Clearly he knew that New Orleans Terminal Company planned to build a grand passenger station in its place. Fellman tore down the buildings in the 1201 block of Canal Street in 1902. In their place, he built the two-story, block-long building that became Krauss Department Store.
Canal and Basin, 1955
Un-packing a photo from almost a year later, 17-April-1955. The demolition exposed all of Krauss to folks walking down the street. The size of the original building (Canal to Iberville Streets), combined with the warehouse building, stunned many folks. Terminal Station obscured the full view of the store since 1908.
Food Krewe!
The Terminal Cafe, 1911. Here’s Todd’s entry on his page, Food Krewe:
The men look like conductors. The hand-written note on the photo says Terminal Cafe, and — in smudged letters — May 11, 1911. The address written in the margin puts the bar between Basin and Crozat streets, on the edge of Storyville and near the Kraus Building. Searching the archives, I could find nothing more. #tbt
You want to go “like” Food Krewe on Facebook. Then go subscribe to Todd’s email list, to keep up with what he’s doing. At the same time, go join our YatCuisine group on Facebook. It’s an alternative to the hot mess that “Where NOLA Eats” has become.
New Orleans Uncovered
If you’re on Facebook, please check out the group, New Orleans Uncovered. This is the “group” for NOLA History Guy. Thanks!
41 min
June 30, 2019 NOLA History Guy Podcast 29-June-2019 – Lenfant’s plus photo unpack
This week’s pic for “Today in New Orleans” on NOLA History Guy Podcast 29-June-2019
NOLA History Guy Podcast 29-June-2019
A Lakeview flashback for the NewOrleansPast.com pick this week, along with a photo unpack for NOLA History Guy Podcast 29-June-2019. Also, a brief farewell to the Times-Picayune.
Lenfant’s
John L. Lenfant began his career as a barber in the Marigny. Campanella’s entry for 25-June marks Lenfant’s application to open a bar and grocery at 2001 N. Rampart. Gotta love New Orleans, Lenfant wanted to combine a bar and a grocery. A charming cottage occupies 2001 N. Rampart (corner Touro) now.
John Lenfant opened a variety of businesses in the Marigny, Bywater, and Gentilly. John passed before he could open his restaurant on Canal Boulevard. The sons completed the project. It is by far the best-remembered Lenfant’s business
Lenfant’s on Canal Blvd. opened in 1941. The restaurant offered mostly seafood, in dining room styled as “Streamline Moderne.”This style is similar to Art Deco.

In addition to dining in the restaurant, folks could park in the shell lot outside. Car hops would come out and take orders.
Lenfant’s expanded in the 1950s. They opened the “Boulevard Room” next to the restaurant. This expanded Lenfant’s event and catering possibilities. I grew up hearing lots of stories from folks who went to dances at the Boulevard Room in the 1950s. Over time, the ownership of the ballroom and the restaurant separated.
Today in New Orleans History
Canal Street, 1960
Unpacking a cool photo from 1960. Streetcars operated on a two-track main on Canal at this time. Palm trees date the photo after the 1958 beautification project. So many signs!
According to “Streetcar Mike” Strauch, “The GMC old look [bus] is on an uptown express, 70 or 71, with the lamps turned on. Jackson trolley coach behind.”
Diesel buses replaced the trackless trolleys in 1964. The Canal Line transitioned to streetcars in 1964 as well.
The Center Theater became the Cine Royale, which ended its days as a porno house.
Last Week’s Pod

44 min
June 24, 2019 NOLA History Guy Podcast 22-June-2019 – WWI, Voudou
Two short segments on NOLA History Guy Podcast 22-June-2019
NOLA History Guy Podcast 22-June-2019
We’re back after a week off, while we celebrated LT Firstborn’s master’s degree! The submariner earned a master’s in Military History from the US Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He spent the year as a student living in Kansas City, MO. So, we went up to see him graduate and have him show us around.
On the last day of the adventure, last Monday, we went to the National WWI Museum and Memorial. While it’s natural for New Orleanians in particular to compare the museum here with the one in KC, they’re quite different.
St. John’s Eve
Our pick of the week from Today in New Orleans History is a bit of a cheat. We picked Sunday, 23-June, because it’s St. John’s Eve. Pre-Christian religions celebrated the Summer Solstice for thousands of years. When Christianity moved into Northern Europe, the priests integrated pre-Christian celebrations into the church’s liturgical calendar. Mid-summer, the solstice, became the Feast of St. John. The night before offered pagans a chance to hold their rituals.
In New Orleans, those “pagans” were Afro-Caribbeans, free and enslaved. They worked their spirits, their Loa, into the Christian framework.Those who respect the spirits of Voudon go out to Magnolia Bridge over Bayou St. John to celebrate the solstice on St. John’s Eve.
WWI Museum
The memorial part of the WWI Museum and Memorial is over seventy years older than the museum. The foundation created to make the memorial broke ground in 1926. Generals, Admirals, politicians, and 60,000 members of the American Legion witnessed the event. The LibertyTower and adjacent buildings opened in 1926.
Until 2002, the museum portion operated from the two Beaux Arts buildings on either side of Liberty Tower. Kansas City followed New Orleans’ D-Day Museum, along with others, in upgrading. While the museum in KC isn’t as large as the WWII Museum, it’s comprehensive.
Link to my lecture from last week at the National World War II Museum.

51 min
June 24, 2019 NOLA History Guy Podcast 22-June-2019 – WWI, Voudou
Two short segments on NOLA History Guy Podcast 22-June-2019
NOLA History Guy Podcast 22-June-2019
We’re back after a week off, while we celebrated LT Firstborn’s master’s degree! The submariner earned a master’s in Military History from the US Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He spent the year as a student living in Kansas City, MO. So, we went up to see him graduate and have him show us around.
On the last day of the adventure, last Monday, we went to the National WWI Museum and Memorial. While it’s natural for New Orleanians in particular to compare the museum here with the one in KC, they’re quite different.
St. John’s Eve
Our pick of the week from Today in New Orleans History is a bit of a cheat. We picked Sunday, 23-June, because it’s St. John’s Eve. Pre-Christian religions celebrated the Summer Solstice for thousands of years. When Christianity moved into Northern Europe, the priests integrated pre-Christian celebrations into the church’s liturgical calendar. Mid-summer, the solstice, became the Feast of St. John. The night before offered pagans a chance to hold their rituals.
In New Orleans, those “pagans” were Afro-Caribbeans, free and enslaved. They worked their spirits, their Loa, into the Christian framework.Those who respect the spirits of Voudon go out to Magnolia Bridge over Bayou St. John to celebrate the solstice on St. John’s Eve.
WWI Museum
The memorial part of the WWI Museum and Memorial is over seventy years older than the museum. The foundation created to make the memorial broke ground in 1926. Generals, Admirals, politicians, and 60,000 members of the American Legion witnessed the event. The LibertyTower and adjacent buildings opened in 1926.
Until 2002, the museum portion operated from the two Beaux Arts buildings on either side of Liberty Tower. Kansas City followed New Orleans’ D-Day Museum, along with others, in upgrading. While the museum in KC isn’t as large as the WWII Museum, it’s comprehensive.
Link to my lecture from last week at the National World War II Museum.

51 min
June 10, 2019 NOLA History Guy Podcast 8-June-2019 – Industrial Canal and USCT
Two short-form pieces this week on NOLA History Guy Podcast 8-June-2019
NOLA History Guy Podcast 8-June-2019
We hope you enjoyed our conversations with Derby Gisclair over the last two weeks. Back to short-form this week, with our pick from Today in New Orleans History and some thoughts on Chalmette National Cemetery.
The Industrial Canal
Our pick from NewOrleansPast dot com this week is 6-June-1918. That’s when construction of the Industrial Canal began.As a refresher, there were three connections that ran from the city to the lake over time:

* The Carondelet Canal, 1795, which ran from just above the French Quarter, out to what is now Mid-City, and the start of Bayou St. John. This canal fixed the “Old Portage” problem.
* The Pontchartrain Railroad, which ran from Port Milneburg to Faubourg Marigny. The railroad was a straight run, along what eventually became Elysian Fields Avenue. Heavier ships would come into Lake Pontchartrain from the Gulf of Mexico and would dock at the pier at Milneburg. The railroad carried goods and people from the pier to the station at the river.
* The New Basin Canal. Completed in 1838, the New Canal connected the “American Sector” to the lake. The canal began at S. Rampart Street. It ran out to Lake Pontchartrain at West End. A small portion of the canal remains at West End.

So, these three connected the city up to the start of the 20th Century. By 1910, though, the canals lacked the depth to service larger ships. In 1914, the state authorized the Port of New Orleans to build a new canal. The canal began in the Ninth Ward, just past Poland Avenue. It runs straight from there, out to the lake.
Chalmette National Cemetery
I saw an article about a monument to United States Colored Troops (USCT) in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. When I shared that article on NOLA History Guy’s Facebook page, I mentioned that we should have such a USCT monument, probably out at Chalmette National Cemetery. Thousands of USCT soldiers rest in that cemetery. I got some racist feedback on this, from folks who clearly were unaware of the cemetery’s origins. Here’s a quick run-down.
41 min