Building New Orleans 2010: In Our Global Village

Building New Orleans: Cornerstones of the Crescent City

In Our Global Village 2010 Isidore Newman School Class of 2016

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Table of Contents Our Home: New Orleans, Louisiana

3

Down at the Audubon Nature Institute

7

Dead in New Orleans

11

The Artistic and Natural Aspects of City Park

15

City Park: A Resource for Fun

18

A Dog-Gone Good Time with City Park Sports and Recreation

22

Culinary Culture

25

The Heart of New Orleans

28

A World of Its Own

31

Museums of New Orleans

34

All Along River Road

37

Sports Sites in the Big Easy

40

Transportation

44

Water in New Orleans

47

Works Consulted

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Our Home: New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana was founded on May 7, 1718 and is located on the banks of the Mississippi River because of the following geological reasons. The original settlement, known today as the French Quarter, is the highest part of the city. It is the highest part because it’s located on a large sediment deposit from the river. The sediment came from bits of soil and rocks eroded and transported down the Mississippi River, then dropped, or deposited, over time to form land. This land from the new sediment is very fertile, allowing settlers to farm in the nearby region. At the same time, the area in Southern Louisiana has no hills or mountains, making it easier to build. Its location along the banks of the river also serves as a waterway for steamboats, flatboats, smaller vessels and sailing ships, leading out to the Gulf of Mexico as well as 33 other states along the river. Another reason why we are located where we are is because of the wetlands. They are an important part of our area because the wetlands provide flood control, water purification and act as a storm buffer to protect the settlers. The location of New Orleans was strategically chosen so that the population would have a good chance in prospering in this new land.

The population of New Orleans, Louisiana, has greatly affected the land in many ways. New Orleans is constantly battling water. In 1865 New Orleans began building manmade levees to protect the city from flood water from the rivers and the edges of the canals because it was insufficiently protected from the natural levees that existed previously.

Levees, which are mounds of earth and concrete walls, were built 18 miles north and south of the city. Early life in New Orleans was made difficult because of heavy rains and poor drainage, causing health problems. Canals, man-made little rivers that run through the city and deposit into the lake, help to direct pumped water from flooding rains into the canals.

New Orleans and the surrounding regions have built a series of pumps to try and combat the rising waters caused by hurricanes and strong storms. The pumps also helped to drain the city’s surrounding swamps and marshes so that the population could expand and live farther away from the river. These new structures helped to create a canvas on which we could build a unique culture.

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We New Orleanians have adapted to our climate in a number of ways over the years.

Since we are below sea level in the majority of the city, we have to raise our graves above the ground. Being below sea level means that our water table, or the line in which we hit ground water, is close to the surface. To avoid dead bodies from floating to the surface when it rains or floods, we have had to build above-ground plots in our cemeteries. Our location in the southern part of the United States places us in a humid subtropical climate, which gives us a long season of hot and humid weather. To combat this, we have built houses with tall ceilings and windows. As heat rises, the high ceilings in many of our houses allow the lower portion of the room to stay cool. The tall windows in our houses are strategically placed to allow maximum air flow, helping to further cool our homes. Modern houses, however, have air conditioning, helping to cool and dehumidify the buildings’ environment. Being close to the equator and the Gulf of Mexico, we have an abundance of seafood for our diets, as well as capsaicin, a spicy element in hot peppers that helps people sweat so that they will not overheat. We also enjoy eating snowballs, local shaved ice treats that come in a variety of flavors. Changing the land and our culture has helped the population of New Orleans live here successfully, but not without future consequences.

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Over the years New Orleanians have changed a lot about the area they live in, and as a consequence, we have some negative side effects to our environment. First, by reducing our surrounding wetlands, we are more vulnerable to hurricanes and their destruction. The land in which the wetlands reside is eaten away by each hurricane, the result being a reduction in the amount of land and living things in our delta. Secondly, the elevation of New Orleans is slowly sinking. Because we are controlling the direction of the river, the sediment from the water is not replenished like it should be. As the population increases, this compacts the current sediment below the city, resulting in much of the city falling well below sea level. Finally, as our population increases, we use more natural resources and fill our landfills to capacity, harming our environment and surrounding ecosystems.

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As a result of these changes to our environment, New Orleans has tried to preserve its surroundings in a number of ways. To help protect and add on to our wetlands, a number of organizations plant trees to help hold the soil in place, as well as discard our Christmas trees in the marshy areas, which reduces the wave energies of the water while still letting some water in to bring in the important sediment and marine life. Another way we try to help our environment and minimize landfills is by recycling. Recycling is when you take a material such as a newspaper and turn it into another object like a napkin. We have a number of different programs that recycle materials. One large company called Phoenix Recycling collects cardboard, paper, plastic, and metals on our curbs twice a month for a small fee. Another program called “Throw Me Something Green Mister” uses already thrown beads from Mardi Gras parades and use them in future Mardi Gras festivals. Finally, to help reduce our energy use, New Orleanians are replacing their regular light bulbs with fluorescent, energy-saving light bulbs, and installing solar panels on their houses to produce their own energy. By implementing these and other programs to help protect our area and culture, we will have a chance at a strong future for our city.

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Down at the Audubon Nature Institute The Audubon Nature Institute is a group of attractions that consists of an insectarium, a zoo, an aquarium, an IMAX Theater and a park.

The Audubon Zoo, home to over 2,000 animals, was once voted one of the most presentable zoos for innovation and entertainment in the country.

The Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans is a wonderful organization that has fascinating facts about animals and provides an adventure in nature. Besides the road around it, Audubon Park is a grand, spacious park which consists of a golf course and a place for children and adults to walk and play. There are also different exercise areas offered so the park can provide running and working out in between. The Audubon Nature Institute is a great company and is thriving with tourism and receiving generous donations from philanthropists. These generous donations are helping the institute do exceedingly well in the tough economy.

The Audubon Nature Institute has recently opened a new museum called the Audubon Insectarium.

The Insectarium, the latest of 11 museum facilities operated in New Orleans, was founded in the spring of 2008.

The Insectarium is an entomology museum that features over 30,000 species of insects and arachnids. An entomology museum is a museum that has to do with the branch of zoology dealing with insects. An arachnid is a wingless, carnivorous arthropod of the class Arachnida. There are more than 50 live exhibits at the Audubon Insectarium, and each exhibit has different species of insects or arachnids.

The most popular exhibit is the Butterfly Garden Exhibit, which includes five Queen Victoria Butterflies, which are 10,000 to 15,000 dollars each.

Another one of the Audubon Nature Institute facilities is the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas with the connection of the IMAX Theater. Hundreds of thousands of people visit Building New Orleans 8

the aquarium and the IMAX Theater yearly, which makes it one of the best places in the French Quarter to go to have fun and enjoy the city.

The most popular exhibit in the aquarium is the Gulf of Mexico Exhibit which has a 400,000 gallon tank with fish and creatures from the Gulf of Mexico.

The exhibit consists of marine life from the Gulf of Mexico. The IMAX Theater, another main attraction connected to the aquarium, has shows every hour so many people can go see a movie each day. The IMAX Theater screen reaches five and a half stories tall and is one of the finest motion picture systems in the world!

The Audubon Nature Institute has many sites, but the four main branches are the Audubon Zoo, the Audubon Insectarium, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, and Audubon Park. The Audubon Zoo is a 230,000 square mile facility and is home to 2,000 different species of animals. Due to Hurricane Katrina of 2005, miraculously, only .15% of the total zoo animals were lost. The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, while not as large as the zoo, is just as popular and accommodates people of all ages. The aquarium houses 10,000 live sea creatures representing over 600 different species. The Audubon Zoo is not only home to many species of animals but also hosts many annual and seasonal festivals.

At the Audubon Park and Zoo there are many fun activities to do and sites to see. It is a great place to exercise, relax, and play a few rounds of golf. The Audubon Park consists of two areas; the Audubon Park and Zoo, which are separated by Magazine Street. The ring road around Audubon Park is a fair 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers), so it is a great place to take a walk and relax in the cool ambience of the beautiful trees and birds. There is also a soccer field where people can play soccer or just watch others. Audubon Park has many trees, a lagoon, and a fountain pond. For people who like to play golf, there is also a 4,220 yard long course. Audubon Park is a great place for families and friends to spend time with each other.

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In conclusion, the Audubon Nature Institute is a great conglomerate that has many wonderful facilities. The Audubon Nature Institute of New Orleans is a wonderful organization that has great facts about animals and gives an adventure throughout the nature and history of New Orleans and the world. The Audubon Zoo, home to a large amount of animals, was once voted one of the best zoos for innovation and entertainment in the country. The Audubon Zoo has a 230,000 square mile facility that can accommodate over 1,000 people. The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is a magical place where tourists or locals can see over 15,000 different live sea creatures from over 600 different species! The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, while not as large as the zoo, is just as popular and accommodates people of all ages.

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Dead in New Orleans The word “cemetery” is a Greek word that literally means “sleeping place.” When New Orleans entered the 19th Century, there was only a single cemetery in the whole city.

Currently, there are over 40 cemeteries, and most were built in the 19th Century. In the 18th Century, the French had not introduced cemeteries, so the dead bodies were buried just beneath front lawns. When Spain had control over Louisiana, (November 3, 1762 in the Treaty of Fontainebleau until October 1, 1800 in the Treaty of San Ildefonso) they showed the Louisianians how to properly bury the dead. Instead of trying to bury them in the ground, where water would make the caskets and bodies float, the Spanish introduced tombs and mausoleums. This way, bodies would not have to be buried and they would remain dryer. Cemeteries in New Orleans are so unique from all others because they are some of the only graveyards with above-ground tombs and mausoleums.

The yellow fever was the most deadly disease in New Orleans during the 19th Century. The epidemics began in New Orleans in 1814 and ended in 1905, killing over 41,000 people. A surprising fact about the disease was that its death toll ranged so dramatically: in 1831 only two deaths were reported, but in 1853 over 11,000 people died (10% of the total population)! African-Americans died much less than whites because in Africa they were exposed to malaria from mosquitoes multiple times.

Eventually, their genes adapted to the diseases and they brought them over to America; so when the yellow fever epidemics began, their bodies were more immune to the fever. Since the Europeans had not been exposed to the disease before, they were more likely to die at much younger ages and much more frequently. This resulted in high death tolls, cemeteries frequently hitting their max capacities; more burial grounds were needed. The yellow fever was intense and caused many casualties throughout New Orleans.

New Orleans is unique for its “cities of the dead.” The nickname was created in the 1800s when most tombs in New Orleans had fences surrounding them for security; they seemed like houses and the graveyards were the cities. Hence, the name stuck. Tombs are very unique to the city of New Orleans and typically used for family burials together. In a Building New Orleans 11

tomb, there is a top shelf where the latest dead bodies and caskets are stowed. At the back of the shelf there is a hole, which leads to a pit called a caveau [French]. After a couple of years for the latest body to disintegrate and cremate on the shelf, the body’s remains are pushed into the back hole along with the remains of the items the person wore at death.

“Cities of the dead” are only found in New Orleans.

The Saint Louis Cemetery Number One in New Orleans is the oldest one still standing and has the richest history of all 42 cemeteries. It was built between the years 1788 and 1789 to replace the Saint Peter’s Cemetery after a huge fire in New Orleans, during 1788: it is over 212 years old! It is located at the edge of the French Quarter, on Saint Louis Street and Basin Street.

One famous individual buried here is Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau (1801-1881) along with some mayors of New Orleans. The original Saint Louis Cemetery is only one square block, but over 100,000 people have been buried here over the years! Although the cemetery has buried 100,000 over a 200-year time span, it reached its capacity several times throughout the 19th Century yellow fever epidemics.

The yellow fever epidemics of the 1800s started becoming significantly deadly after a couple of decades and more space was needed for the bodies. . . . said Ms. Cooke, a New Orleans cemetery expert. When it initially reached its full capacity in the 1820s, the second Saint Louis Cemetery was built.

The Saint Louis Cemetery Number Two was built about 35 years after the first one (1823), but is still a memorable one at over 185 years of age. It was built at Claiborne Avenue and Saint Louis Street, three blocks away from the first one, as an extension. Some important individuals buried here are jazz and blues musicians, including Danny Barker and Ernie K. Doe. The people buried in the cemetery are influenced by the neighborhood that surrounds it. In the 1800s, many free people of color lived around the cemetery and when they died, they were buried in the cemetery. In 1853, when the largest death toll was counted in New Orleans, the cemetery hit its full capacity and even more graveyards were needed. During this time, the Saint Louis Cemetery Number Three was constructed. The Building New Orleans 12

Saint Louis Cemetery Number Two is ancient and it has a very interesting history as well as the first one.

New Orleans is one of the oldest cities in Louisiana and its cemeteries are unique from all others in America. Ever since the Saint Louis Cemetery Number One was built in 1788, cemeteries in New Orleans have been redesigned. The 19th Century proved to be a struggle for survival throughout the city of New Orleans and more cemeteries were needed because of diseases like the fever. As New Orleans slowly entered the 20th Century, diseases like the yellow fever became less lethal as more cures were found. Towards the end of the 1900s though, a new ominous population threat reigned terror on New Orleans, in the form of hurricanes!

Hurricane Katrina affected large portions of our city, but most cemeteries were constructed on high grounds so they remained dry, … said Ms. Cooke. Although Hurricane Katrina was definitely the most costly and devastating to New Orleans, most cemeteries were left untouched. Honoring the dead is important to New Orleanians, so we have made sure our cemeteries are the best of the best, no matter how old.

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The Artistic and Natural Aspects of City Park City Park is a vast and beautiful 1,300 acre park in New Orleans. It is the sixth-largest and seventh most visited park in the United States. The park was built in the 19th century along Bayou Metairie, the park’s only natural bayou. Not including the sports arenas, there are four main parts of the park: the Botanical Gardens, the amusement parks, the Sculpture Garden, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. The New Orleans Museum of Art has a collection of about 40,000 items, 46 exhibits, and a value of 200 million dollars. In 1911 Isaac Delgado provided money in order for the museum to be built. The museum is part of the top 25% of the nation’s most significant museums in the country. The park is very extravagant and is a lovely place to take a nice walk or to have a picnic.

City Park is the tenth largest urban park in the United States, with approximately 1,300 acres. Some of the oak trees in the park were destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, but City Park still remains with the largest collection of mature live oak trees in the world, many of which are over 100 years old. The live oaks are sometimes called “Dueling Oaks,” because duels and battles used to be fought underneath them, the last of which was fought with sabers in 1939. Celebration in the Oaks, an annual celebration during the Christmas season, features light displays and entertainment that uses 13% of the annual operating budget for City Park. City Park also houses a forest that includes about 14,000 mature trees of about 50 different species. The trees in the forest include bald cypress, southern magnolia, pine, Japanese plums, willows, cedars, palms, sycamore, and a variety of different oak species, including more than 3,000 specimens of Southern Live Oaks. It also has a Rose Garden with a pool, fountain, and a symbolic statue by a very famous local sculptor named Enrique Alvarez. City Park has many decorative and designed shrubs, fruit trees, and flowers, and houses many conservatories with special tropical and semi-tropical fruits, such as vanilla, Mexican begonia, and Monstera deliciosa.

The Botanical Gardens has many things to see in its thirteen acres of land. With over 2,000 different types of plants in its many gardens, it is a site to experience nature. The garden has an exhibit called the butterfly walk that allows people to walk around and see many colorful butterflies. It currently has birdhouses that are modeled off of the different Building New Orleans 15

neighborhoods in New Orleans. These birdhouses offer a unique theme of New Orleans’ culture. The Botanical Gardens are always a wonderful place to go.

The New Orleans Museum of Art was founded in 1911. Being one of the finest art museums in the South, it has a wide variety of art styles, focusing mostly on French and American art. It takes up about five of City Park’s 1,300 acres. The museum ranks in the top 25% of the most significant museums, in other words meaning that it is in the top 25% of the most visited museums, with some of the best art. The museum has a $200 million art collection that has about 40,000 art pieces. They also have 57 sculptures that have been donated to them. In the museum there is not one piece of art that has the most visits, because they often get new art that might change the attraction. The New Orleans Museum of Art is one of City Park’s biggest attractions.

City Park is a great park with many devotions, one of which is the Sculpture Garden.

The Sculpture Garden has many unique sculptures of different styles and ages. 63.3% of the sculptures were made before 1960. City Park needs help getting these sculptures, because of the great amount of money that they cost, along with the fact that it takes a long time to find sculptures that are important enough to go on display. In fact, 44 of the 57 sculptures that they have are donated. Without these generous donors, the park would only have 13 sculptures to show.

City Park showcases wonderful art and nature that is shown throughout the park’s many acres of land. The art and nature that the park is home to are favorites among many people.

I love the nature of the park, . . . Mr. Hopper, our interviewee said. With live oak trees ranging from 600-800 years old, it is also home to the oldest grove of mature live oaks in the world. Bayou Metairie, a natural Building New Orleans 16

bayou, is also included within the park’s 1,300 acres. Along with Bayou Metairie and the many ancient oak trees, there is also the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Sculpture Garden, and the Botanical Gardens. The museum, the Sculpture Garden, and the Botanical Gardens are all of equal value, and as our other interviewee, Mr. Fagaly, said,

I like it all, it’s all great.

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City Park: A Resource for Fun

City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana is a great place to have fun, look at art, and hang

out over the weekends or on breaks. City Park has great playgrounds, a fairytale playground called Storyland, an amusement park, and picnic areas. Not to mention the delicious café and interesting wildlife. It covers 1300 acres of land, and has such an extravagant variety of events and places; there is even a school that covers one acre of the park. People come from all over the country to experience the park and its events. It is also the tenth largest urban park in the United States. City Park is very famous for its century old Oak Trees, some of which reach over 600 years of age! City Park’s vast area and variety of events support the fact that it is one of the most popular parks in Louisiana.

The Train Garden is one of the areas that was built after Hurricane Katrina. It took six months to build the Train Garden and includes miniature trains pulled by two locomotives. This part of the park is more popular between smaller children because there are more small and detailed designs on the trains and tracks. Watching the trains wind their way along the tracks is somewhat mesmerizing but always exciting and fun to see. The trains are approximately 1/22 their original size and are surrounded by replicas of New Orleans neighborhoods, such as the Garden District. The Train Garden is located in the Botanical Gardens and adds a unique feeling to the park.

Birthday parties in City Park are a popular choice for kids and parents who want to enjoy a party, and not have to clean up the house afterwards. You have the option of bringing a group of children to a playground and organizing it yourself, or renting a Party House for a day. After Hurricane Katrina, three new party houses were added to the park.

Party Houses are available for birthdays usually every weekend, and there are easily ten birthday parties each weekend if there is good weather. As well as bringing children to playgrounds for parties, it is more popular to just go to have fun and pass time over the weekend. Overall, it is much easier for a parent to rent a party house and have their child’s birthday there instead of having a party in their own home.

Another very enjoyable place for fun is the Amusement Park, or Carousel Gardens.

Carousel Gardens was established in 1906, while City Park opened in 1854. Therefore, Carousel Gardens has been with City Park for 66% of the time since City Park was established! The Carousel Gardens is opened every Saturday and Sunday, leaving the week Building New Orleans 18

days for school or work. One of the most famous events located in City Park Carousel Gardens is the carousel itself! The Flying Horses, or carousel, was created in 1906, along with the entire amusement park. The Flying Horses are only one of the 100 antique wooden carousels in America. This makes them one of a kind and historical throughout the nation.

Storyland is another memorable part of City Park, and shows the importance and amusement given from nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Some of the great places exhibited in Storyland include The Dragon Slide, the Three Little Pigs, and the Little Old Woman who lived in a Shoe. But, as Mr. Hopper, one of the associates of City Park said,

It depends on every person’s own opinion, and what places they prefer, because I can’t choose for everybody.

He meant that what people like in the park depends on their personal opinion, not on the majority of opinions. There are life-sized figures exhibited that range in height from three to over six feet high! Storyland was established in 1956 and is popular with many families with small children. Some people describe Storyland as a fairytale playground and love to go there with their children. The places exhibited in Storyland are very interactive for children and provide an environment that allows them to use their imagination.

One of the interesting places in City Park is the Christian Brothers School for boys.

This is a running school whose campus covers one of the 1300 acres in City Park. The principal of Christian Brothers, Mr. Scaffidi said,

We have to show a lot of discipline while teaching and learning in the park, but it makes it exciting to come to work every day.

There are 287 boys enrolled in the school, and the total number of teachers is 18. The school was founded in 1960 by a Lasallian network of brothers, and continues to be run by the network. Christian Brothers was once someone’s house and they turned it into a school; the four Lasallian brothers even live in the upper level of the house! The boys’ uniform is a Building New Orleans 19

white or maroon shirt with school emblem, gray pants or shorts, and a black belt and shoes.

Hurricane Katrina did not affect the total number of students, but the areas in which they lived before and after the storm. Teaching and learning in a park enriches the lives of the students and teachers and allows them to enjoy coming to school every day.

Celebration in the Oaks is an event that takes place every year in December that is celebrated throughout the ancient oaks of City Park. Families come to enjoy light shows and have games. There are shows and performances that take place and celebrate Christmas.

A train runs through the park at the Celebration and allows people to take a tour of the park.

Celebration in the Oaks takes up three percent of the 1300 acres of City Park and people enjoy walking around and looking at the decorative Christmas lights arranged in the trees.

This festival was started in 1987 and has been a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas holidays ever since.

City Park allows New Orleanians to enjoy weekends with their family and friends and allows people to learn about the history and unique facts about the park. Children have an opportunity to exercise their imagination and enjoy themselves.

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A Dog-Gone Good Time with City Park Sports and Recreation Learning about City Park’s Sports and Recreation was very interesting because there were always new things to learn. City Bark is a dog park in City Park, and is fun for dogs to play in and get exercise.

City Bark was an idea that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals wanted to start, but after Katrina they could not find a place put it, . . . said Kathy Schrenk, member of the Board of Directors of City Bark. In August 2007, a group of dog lovers gathered and thought that there should be a dog park, and that was how City Bark came to be.

The entrance fee is only 35 dollars for an entire year, but in the future they are planning to have one-day permits so people such as tourists can pay for only one or two days. The owners play with their dogs off the leash, so they can run around freely within the fences of City Bark. If a dog is too rough and gets in a fight, then that dog gets a warning, but if the dog keeps on being rough they have to immediately leave. There is only one paid worker in City Bark, the rest are volunteers who love to play with and wash the dogs and help the people there. City Bark covers a total of four-and-a-half acres of land. There are approximately 2,000 dog parks in the nation, but only five in New Orleans. City Bark has just opened and has been a great success so far, considering it opened April 27, 2010 and had over 200 pass requests in the first month.

Track, tennis and golf are three major sports played in City Park. Track is held in Tad Gormley Stadium, which consists of a 400 meter track. Tad Gormley Stadium is great for watching track meets. Nearby to the stadium, tennis is one of the most played sports in City Park. The facility in City Park for tennis is one of the most outstanding public tennis facilities in the country. It consists of eleven hard courts and ten clay courts. City Park is planning to expand the tennis facility to an open area near City Bark. Track and tennis are both major sports that are played, and City Park hopes that it will remain that way for financial purposes.

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Golf is probably one of the sports with the largest facilities. Their Bayou Golf Facility has the largest facility in the south, featuring three eighteen-hole golf courses and a two– tiered driving range; big enough space for the golf carts to move from hole to hole. The golf facility offers golf carts; individual and group lessons by the Professional Golfers Association; club rentals; a fully stocked pro shop and Colonial-style Clubhouse restaurant. Tony Biagas, the head of sports at City Park, mentioned the movement of the softball center because of the golf course, by saying

The Softball Center will probably not reopen in the same place because we are planning to expand the golf course to where [the softball diamonds] were.

Golf in City Park is one of the largest courses in the South, and will become larger. Overall, City Park has outstanding facilities for golf, track and tennis, and they can tell by the public’s great reaction to them.

There are many sports facilities in City Park, but some of the main attractions are Tad Gormley Stadium and Pan American Stadium. Tad Gormley Stadium has a football field, as well as a 400 meter track. It was built in 1937; some of the main financial donors to the stadium are the Sugar Bowl, the NFL, Reggie Bush and Drew Brees. There have been many

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famous people who performed concerts in Tad Gormley, and in 1964 the Beatles performed there. In 1992, Tad Gormley Stadium hosted the United States Track and Field Trials for the Olympics. Tad Gormley held the first game for a black school, St. Augustine, against a white school, Holy Cross, which at the game there were an estimated 40,000 people, while the stadium holds only 26,500. Tad Gormley Stadium holds seven and a half times as many people as Pan American Stadium holds.

Thirty-six years after Tad Gormley was built, Pan American Stadium was built in 1973. Pan American Stadium has a football field that is also a soccer field, and is home to the New Orleans Jesters, a local soccer team. Pan American first started out as a soccer field because many Hispanics came to Louisiana, and City Park wanted to help them by providing a soccer field. While both stadiums attract local football and soccer fans, it is also where families can have fun. City Park hopes they can expand Pan American Stadium in the future.

It was very interesting to learn about soccer, boating, and fishing in City Park. People enjoy playing soccer there because it is open to the public and there is no entry fee to get in the group of soccer fields. The first soccer field in City Park was in Pan American Stadium, with the many lagoons surrounding it. In City Park the fish in the lagoons are mainly bass, catfish, and perch. There is also a Big Bass Competition to see who can catch the most fish, and the biggest fish. To fish in City Park, one must have a license, and in order to ride a boat there must be an adult of 21 years or older. To ride in a paddle boat for a half an hour, it would cost $10; with another option being row boating. It is a fun experience because the ducks, geese, and swans will playfully swim around the boat. It was interesting to learn how the sports and recreational activities in City Park have grown over the years.

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Culinary Culture There are many great Culinary Institutions in New Orleans. They represent New Orleans and its culture very well. As Ti Martin of Commander’s Palace said,

Yes, they are definitely missing out on a great experience!

Some of these restaurants include Antoine’s, Drago’s, Galatoire’s, and Commander’s Palace. Many of the restaurants in New Orleans were there before the hurricane and made it through the tragic storm. They needed some work, but they mainly made it through alright.

The restaurants in New Orleans have been through many tragic events but they are still serving their amazing food. These restaurants have all been around for a long time and definitely deserve recognition.

Many people think that there were more businesses before Katrina than after, but that was not the case, especially when it came to the restaurants in New Orleans. Katrina was a hurricane that ruined many things in New Orleans because the levee (a wall made out of land or concrete that helps protect New Orleans from flood waters) broke. Before the hurricane there were 809 culinary institutions in New Orleans, but two years after the hurricane there were 853 of them. That increased the amount by about five percent. That is one of facts about New Orleans restaurants that most people did not know.

Antoine’s is a very popular restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. Antoine’s has been in New Orleans for over 160 years, which is about a century and a half. Antoine’s has 14 dining rooms and half of them can hold more than 700 people. Each of the 14 dining rooms has its own special name that relates to its unique history. For example the Mystery Room was named during Prohibition, a time when drinking alcohol was illegal, was going on in Louisiana. The Mystery Room was a secret room that only a few people knew about, and they could only enter through the bathroom to purchase alcohol. Antoine’s has made dishes that are from around the world that are very popular. Three of their most famous dishes are Oysters Rockefeller, Eggs Sardou, and Pommes de Terre Soufflés. Antoine’s is a great restaurant where you can eat and also learn a piece of history.

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Drago’s restaurant is a great restaurant in New Orleans. It has been a part of New Orleans since 1969. Drago’s is known for its wonderful charbroiled oysters and its delicious lobster. It is a dressy-casual, family place that is known throughout the whole New Orleans.

After Hurricane Katrina, Drago’s gave 77,000 free meals to people affected by the hurricane. Drago’s is very important in New Orleans because of all the help it has given.

Drago’s is a great restaurant and did a great thing after Katrina that helped many people.

Galatoire’s is a great restaurant. It is located in the French Quarter (which is a certain section of New Orleans). It has won many great awards.

They won a couple of different awards for different things. One of them includes “King of Louisiana Seafood” for a chef at Galatoire’s. That

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proves how great of a restaurant it is. Most people love Galatoire’s and want to keep going back for more. As David Gooch of Galatoire’s said,

That is something that’s very rich and delicious.

It is a delicious restaurant that greatly demonstrates New Orleans culture and food style.

Commander’s Palace was built by Emile Commander in 1880 and belonged to the Commanders for 64 years until they sold it to the Morans in 1944. Then in 1974 the Morans sold the restaurant to the Brennans and then the Brennans refurbished the restaurant and made it even more upscale. At Commander’s Palace their entrées are either seafood based or meat based. On their menu, out of 28 recipes, 39% are dishes with meat and 61% of their dishes are made with seafood. With mouthwatering foods, tasty drinks, and the Victorian atmosphere, Commander’s has been attracting gourmets from around the world for over 100 years and serving about 250 people at a time. Commander’s attracts many local people because they love it, but Commander’s also attracts tourists because it is an excellent place to go if they want to get a good taste of what New Orleans food is like. Ever since Commander’s Palace was built it has been serving Creole dishes, Acadian dishes, and even creating dishes that everyone will love forever.

Commander’s Palace is an amazing restaurant that has been around for a long time and hopefully it will continue to be satisfying for all of its visitors.

As it is shown, these are all very amazing restaurants that definitely represent New Orleans culture. They all have their own New Orleans style, flavor, and names. These restaurants are all very great ways to show what New Orleans is like and I hope that you can see that. Their history in New Orleans helps them be even more successful. They are still all wonderful and make New Orleans a very special place each in their own way.

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The Heart of New Orleans When New Orleans was first established, it was centered around a square called Jackson Square. Jackson Square was a public square, faced the Mississippi River, and also held New Orleans’s government buildings and main church. Now Jackson Square, which was originally laid out by Louis Pilie, has been around for more than 360 years. Jackson Square and the buildings around it are some of the most historical places in the world. Jackson Square has been a part of the French, Spanish, and American cultures.

Jackson Square was renamed after Andrew Jackson, in honor of his victory at the Battle of New Orleans, in the War of 1812. Jackson Square was established in the 18th century. Even though it was established in the 1700’s, it was not declared a historical landmark until 1960. The park’s design has not changed since it was created over 300 years ago as a normal French or Spanish town. The park is 460 yards if you walk around it.

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Around the square there are artists who have to have a permit to paint in Jackson Square.

There are only 200 permits given out per year that cost $175, so only a certain group of artists can paint in the square. In 1971 the streets around Jackson Square were closed to make the square a pedestrian mall. Jackson Square’s park has history and value to the people that visit it.

The St. Louis Cathedral is the focal point of Jackson Square. . .

St Louis Cathedral is the visual crown jewel of Jackson Square as it rises gracefully above the surrounding buildings, and represents Louisiana's rich Catholic and Creole heritage . . . said our interviewee, Charles Chamberlain. The St. Louis Cathedral has been a very important part of Jackson Square and New Orleans since 1718. The cathedral that is standing now is the third version of the original cathedral. The first cathedral was made of wood, which did not last long. The second cathedral, which was built from 1725 to 1727, was made out of brick and timber. The third cathedral, which was made in 1789, was made because the second cathedral was burnt down in the Great New Orleans Fire of 1788. Now the St. Louis Cathedral is over two hundred years old, which makes it the longest running church in the United States. Under the St. Louis Cathedral there are eleven people buried.

Two of those people are Baroness Pontalba’s parents.

The Pontalba Apartments, completed in 1852, are one of the most historical sets of apartments in the United States. After a dozen years of planning and two and a half years of construction, the Baroness Pontalba’s two buildings ended up costing her over $300,000. Baroness Pontalba, being a member of French nobility, based the Pontalba Apartments after two palaces in France and hired and fired the finest architects while molding their ideas together. The Pontalba Apartments are the oldest apartments in the United States because they have been rented out for over 150 years. They were constructed in the late 1840’s, but not declared a historical landmark till 1974. The Pontalba Apartments are red-brick buildings, and they take up the entire block. The second and third floors of the Pontalba Building are apartments, while the first floor is owned by the Louisiana State Building New Orleans 29

Museums. The Pontalba Apartments are still in use today with a long waiting list for people to rent out apartments there.

The Presbytere was built in 1724, and it was used as a house for priests to stay.

When France transferred the Louisiana Purchase, the Presbytere was not yet complete. The Presbytere was mostly a military museum, but not forever. The Presbytere is currently a Mardi Gras Museum. It is also the headquarters for the Louisiana State Museum Complex.

Going into Hurricane Katrina the Presbytere’s cupola was not finished. Even though it was not finished, it still survived the hurricane.

The Cabildo is a national historic landmark that is located around Jackson Square.

The Cabildo got its name because Cabildo means town council, which it was used for when the Spanish controlled New Orleans. The original Cabildo was destroyed in the Great New Orleans Fire in 1788. The Cabildo was rebuilt during 1795 to 1799; after it became the seat of the Spanish government in New Orleans. Important events happened in the Cabildo like the transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to America, and the Plessy vs. Ferguson case. After the Civil War the Cabildo became the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1868 to 1910. In 1988 another fire destroyed the cupola and the third floor of the Cabildo. After the Cabildo reopened to the public in 1994, as a part of the state museum, it continued to be a big attraction to tourists in New Orleans because of its extraordinary history.

When Jackson Square comes to mind, people think of live music, art, and fortunetellers. Jackson Square is popular to all people on a nice day in New Orleans. Because of this atmosphere, Jackson Square gets over 12 million people a year. When people come to Jackson Square they see the artists with their paintings on the iron fence that surrounds the park. They also see the fantastic architecture. They can see all the history behind Jackson Square that makes Jackson Square important to the people that visit, the city of New Orleans, and the entire United States

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A World of Its Own New Orleans is known for its laid back lifestyle and parties. The biggest party of all is known as Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday. The Carnival season starts on January sixth, also known as Twelfth Night. From then to midnight on Mardi Gras day, New Orleans hosts what some call “The Biggest Free Show on Earth!” Throughout this time period there are multiple parades each run by different people known as krewes. It is one of the most unique cultural holidays in America and by far the most known. There are parades night and day, each having a different theme and its own floats. Each year tons of work is put into these parades, and one company, known as Mardi Gras World, takes on one of the largest roles of all -- creating the parades themselves.

It is not easy running the organization that makes 80% of the parades happen. To Blaine Kern, it is nothing but fun. Blaine Kern, Sr. is the first and current owner of Mardi Gras World. He started Mardi Gras World in 1947 to express his skills in puppetry.

We started making floats in 1947.

Bowen.

. . . said Mardi Gras World tour guide Linda

As it grew, his little handmade puppets became giant handmade structures known to New Orleanians as floats.

We opened to the public for touring back during the World’s Fair. . . . said Linda Bowen and soon, even Walt Disney, president of Walt Disney Studios, came to him offering a job. However, Kern loved the holiday of Mardi Gras so much, he decided to stay in New Orleans. As years went on, Blaine Kern earned the title of “Mr. Mardi Gras” and still runs his float building organization alongside his son Barry Kern.

Not many people can imagine how Mardi Gras World can manage building such elaborate floats in a year’s time. The process of float building starts with a simple sketch of Building New Orleans 31

what the float will look like when it is done. The designers will make changes to the sketch if necessary and then begin building the figures and decorations that will be spread out everywhere on the float. Usually, they have objects that have been used in past parades and can be remodeled to match the current float’s design. All floats are stored in a warehouse known as a parade den. Mardi Gras World serves as a back drop and an official den for parades. The Krewe of Bacchus keeps their floats in Mardi Gras World year round. Float building and storage is by far the most important part of Mardi Gras World’s job.

Although it is the biggest, Mardi Gras World is not the only float building company in New Orleans. Other companies such as Royal Artists do the same kind of work as Mardi Gras World.

Everyone has their favorite company but the majority of New Orleans prefers Mardi Gras World. It is known as the most efficient organization out of all the others. Many krewes like the size and efficiency of Mardi Gras World and feel safe giving their floats to them to design. They are rarely let down. Another reason Mardi Gras World is one of the best is because they do not just make decorations for floats but for parties, hotels and casinos as well. Since it opened, Mardi Gras World has been the first choice of many krewes.

As Mardi Gras nears, the work gets harder and rushed. The atmosphere of Mardi Gras World during the last few days until Twelfth Night is intense. They must get the 80% of parades they design finished by the day or night they roll. Usually, artists are just putting the finishing touches on the floats and adding extra designs to them. Because the reconstruction of floats starts the day after Mardi Gras, work is often done by then. Each float rolls back into its den after being seen by millions of people on the parade route and then is stripped of its decorations and sent back to Mardi Gras World, where they “recycle” floats and reuse them the next year. Although the floats look completely different every year, some people can tell that the floats have been used before. That is not exactly a bad thing due to the fact that Mardi Gras World is very well liked partly because of the fact that they do not have to spend all the krewes’ money on new floats every year.

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Without Mardi Gras World, the holiday of Mardi Gras itself would not be as exciting as it already is. Mardi Gras World makes the parades that happened happen. Without them, floats would not be as elaborate and beautiful as they are with them. When most people think of Mardi Gras, the work of Blaine Kern Studios’ Mardi Gras World always comes into mind, whether they know it or not. What those artists can do with nothing but Styrofoam, papier mâché, and fiber glass is without doubt amazing. One can only find the best artists in New Orleans there. Mardi Gras World shows what people can find when they think outside of the box. They are a truly amazing company.

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Museums of New Orleans The museums in New Orleans show the big impact of the city on the United States of America. They also show some of Louisiana’s style and the unique culture of the South.

Most of the museums were not heavily affected by World War II Museum. It is 70,000 square feet full of exhibits that display many artifacts related to the war. During World War II, the United States of America had 52% of the world’s aircrafts and 48% of the world’s vehicles. Many of the vehicles are on display at the WWII Museum. Congress chose New Orleans as the site of the museum because the city was home to Andrew Higgins, who built landing crafts which greatly affected the outcome of the war.

Each year about 350,000 people, war veterans and school children, visit the museum and learn about the war’s impact on the world, . . . said Mr. Kenneth Hoffman. The National World War II Museum takes you through an emotional journey about the war that changed the world.

The New Orleans Voodoo Museum was founded in 1972 by Charles Gandolfo. The museum is only 38 years old, but voodoo is over 7,000 years old. Today, around 15% to 20% of the Louisiana population practices Voodoo. The history of Voodoo in New Orleans dates back to two centuries ago when African slaves arrived here, in New Orleans. Gris-Gris is something that they have in the museum which is used in Voodoo to provoke magic and the act of it. There are numerous amounts of different types of Gris-Gris in Voodoo. Voodoo’s influence in New Orleans is still prevalent and the museum explores the historical aspects of the practice.

The Louisiana Children’s Museum has a kid friendly atmosphere with interactive activities. The museum has 30,000 square feet for children to run around and play with each other, and it has more than 100 hands-on activities. In one of the activities, children can discover Mr. Roger’s neighborhood and run around his 2,000 square feet exhibit. In another exhibit, kids can climb up a rock wall and make bubbles and learn why they pop.

The Louisiana Children’s Museum is located on 420 Julia Street in the warehouse district of Building New Orleans 34

New Orleans. The Museum is usually open from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm everyday and the admission is $7.50 per person. The Louisiana Children’s Museum is a great place for kids to have fun and learn at the same time.

The Louisiana State Museum is very important to the history of New Orleans in many ways.

In 1906 there were 67,000 visitors as opposed to 336, 932 in 2004, almost 100 years later. . . . said Tony Lewis. The Louisiana State Museum also owns and operates many locations such as the 1850s House, which is one of the Pontalba apartments, which the museum organization recreated to look like an apartment from the Antebellum Era. The House is 160 years old and very historic to New Orleans. The museum also owns the Presbytere, which is considered one of the best Mardi Gras Museums. It is 219 years old and one of the most historic buildings because it acted as city hall under Spanish and French occupation of Louisiana. The winding staircase in the museum contains more than 1,000 valuable artifacts and original works of art. As an example, the staircase has paintings of important characters throughout Louisiana history. The Cabildo, also known as the Louisiana State Museum, acted as many things, such as city hall, and is an important cornerstone in Louisiana history.

The Ogden Museum opened in 2003. Mr. Ogden started collecting all different kinds of southern art in the early 1960’s. The oldest art in the museum goes all the way back to 1890. This museum shows how Southerners like to express their ways of art. About 50 people visit this museum each day. There are five floors in the Ogden Museum. The Ogden museum shows the past of the South and how we are different from other people in the United States.

In conclusion, these museums play an interesting part in the New Orleans society.

The National World War II Museum shows how big of a part the city played in World War II. Building New Orleans 35

The Ogden Museum shows how the Southerners express their art. The Cabildo displays how Louisiana developed as a state and the Voodoo Museum explores an interesting practice that historical New Orleanians participated in. The Children’s Museum helps the economy of New Orleans and gives kids a great time. From art, to music, to history, to food, the museums of New Orleans display an incredible culture and the journey of its people.

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All Along River Road Between 1780 and 1868, plantations were popping up all over America; in Louisiana especially. There are about 400 plantations along River Road in Louisiana. The River Road Historical Society maintains all of them. Plantations usually consisted of the slave quarters, the manor home, a mule barn, a chicken coop, and the overseer’s home. The manor homes were all elegant, regardless of the owner. The policies, as far as the treatment of slaves and crops harvested of various plantations, were different. The Louisiana plantations of River Road provide an enormous portion of the culture that makes New Orleans inimitable.

On every plantation there is the main house; the main house was where the planter and his family lived. Main houses, also called manor homes are remarkable mansions.

Plantations, as a whole, average 4,000 acres, so the house is rather big. The most beautiful homes are adorned with luxurious furniture, and some houses were accompanied by amazing gardens and backyards. The designs for these plantation homes typically had Greek Revival stylings, which were giant, elegant homes with large columns in the front. The Building New Orleans 37

owners of these glorious River Road dwellings possessed plenty of wealth in order to own them. The elegant homes were constructed from the finest materials; for insulation a material called bousillage was used, and it consisted of cured Spanish moss, clay, and water. Today plantation homes are major tourist attractions; averages of 119,000 people visit the plantations in Louisiana every year.

Slaves in the antebellum era were useful for plantations for many reasons. Before 1731 around 6,000 Africans had been shipped off to America and down River Road to work on Louisiana plantations. Some plantation owners tried to treat their slaves fairly, but some did not consider slaves worthy of humane treatment.

Ms. Matherne told us . . .

The slaves on Destrehan Plantation were allowed to have an afternoon break.

At a particular time, the slaves went back to work on the field until the sun went down.

Usually slaves worked in the field, but some worked in the manor homes. There was an average of ten slaves that worked in the houses; the house slaves were usually treated better than the ones that worked the field.

They were in charge of the cooking, cleaning, backyard work, and helping with the children, if any. The slaves that cooked were usually elderly because they were too old to work in the field, and the slave master wouldn’t make much money if they were to sell them.

During the time of slavery, plantations were a small enhancement for the Louisiana economy. Two-thirds of America’s millionaires lived on plantations and owned slaves. Crops made the money on a plantation. Some famous cash crops grown on various plantations along River Road were cotton, sugar, indigo, tobacco, corn, and rice. Between 1793 and 1810 cotton production increased by 94% in Louisiana. This increase caused the plantation Building New Orleans 38

owners of Louisiana to earn a great deal of money. The job of a planter was a tough role to play, but it had to be done. The impact of plantations has an everlasting mark on the culture of Louisiana because of their rich economic history.

Destrehan Plantation’s history is a very engaging story. Our tour guide, Angela Matherne, said,

There is not a day that goes by that I have not marveled at how important this site is to Louisiana.

Building the main house took from 1787 to 1790. In 1914 Mexican Petroleum Company bought the house, but later abandoned it for 12 years. During that time lapse, treasure seekers put holes in the walls and stripped the mansion of anything valuable, such as Italian marble mantels, cypress paneling, Spanish tiles, and window panes. Luckily, a local policeman stopped the vandals from stealing the plantation's original iron gates and a 1,400 pound marble bathtub, rumored to be a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to the Destrehan family. Later in 1959, the American Oil Company donated four acres of land to the plantation. The land was then given to the River Road Historical Society; a faction that helps refurbish plantations.

Laura Plantation and Myrtles Plantation are two of Louisiana’s most well-known historic antebellum plantations because of the agricultural success, inspiring architecture, and the interesting history behind them. These plantations have been well known since the beginning of the 19th century. Myrtles Plantation has made itself known because it is one of the most haunted places in America. Even though Laura Plantation is eight years younger than Myrtles Plantation, it has just as big of a legend behind it. Behind Laura Plantation there is a road that was used for the slaves to get the house and the fields. This road stretched along their cabins heading south, and extends three and a half miles long; roughly the length of 65 football fields. The grand history of these River Road plantations makes them unforgettable.

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Sports Sites in the Big Easy In New Orleans, Louisiana, we have great sports facilities such as the New Orleans Arena, the Superdome, Turchin Stadium, Fair Grounds race track, and Zephyr Stadium.

These venues host numerous events every year. They host concerts, Super Bowls, National Basketball Association All Star Weekends, National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournaments, professional sports games, horse racing, and even Jazz Fest. These facilities are home to the New Orleans Hornets, New Orleans Saints, Tulane Green Wave Baseball, and the New Orleans Zephyrs. These places have helped New Orleans get more popular by hosting big events. Hopefully, all of these venues will continue to host huge events.

The New Orleans Arena broke ground in 1998 and opened on October 19, 1999 at a cost of $114 million. The New Orleans Arena is a facility that covers 13,090 square feet and holds 350 pounds a square foot. Its ceiling is 150 feet tall, which is half of a football field.

There are four levels in the Arena: the ground level for courtside fans, the club level, the suite level, and the upper level. The Arena can hold 18,000 people, which is a lot of people, but not compared to other National Basketball Association arenas. Even though it is small Building New Orleans 40

compared to other National Basketball Association team’s arenas, it is home to many events. In 2006, the largest crowd in the Arena’s history at 18,500 people came to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The Arena has hosted 13 different events since 2006 and will continue to host big events in the future for New Orleans.

The Louisiana Superdome was built in 1975 at a cost of $134 million, but if it were built today and not in the 1970s, it would have cost about a billion dollars. The Superdome is the biggest dome in the world and measures 680 feet in diameter and is 252 feet tall. It is home to many events such as the New Orleans Saints and Tulane Green Wave home football games, Sugar Bowls, Bowl Championship Series National Championships, boxing matches, National Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Championships, and the Super Bowl six times (1978, 1981, 1986, 1990, 1997, 2002, and soon to come 2013). Sadly, Katrina had harsh damages on the Superdome like leaking through the roof.

The cost of damages on the Superdome was $193 million. The damages from the hurricane are still being fixed right now to be ready for the next busy season. The Louisiana Superdome is one of the most well known stadiums in the world.

Turchin Stadium is home to the Tulane Green Wave baseball team. It was planned to be built in 2005, however Hurricane Katrina postponed the renovations and caused the renovations to be in 2006. While Turchin Stadium was being rebuilt and renovated, the Tulane Green Wave played at Zephyr Stadium. To build the new Turchin Stadium, it cost about $12 million. It has a capacity of 5,093 people. Since the opening of the new Turchin Stadium, Tulane has won 75% of their games. Unlike other college stadiums, Turchin Stadium has a turf field. The stadium has hosted multiple Conference USA tournaments, National Collegiate Athletic Association Baseball regional and super regional tournaments and will continue to host more.

Zephyr Field was built in 1997, to support a Triple A baseball team. It cost $25 million to build, and it holds 10,000 people. AAA is a minor league team where if you are good enough, you then move on into Major League Baseball. The average capacity of Triple A clubs is 11,843; therefore, the Zephyrs capacity is about five sixths of other AAA teams.

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Zephyr Field is a very fun place; it has a big hill that fans watch the game and play on in center field, and it also has a pool, two hot tubs, and a playground. The other sporting events Zephyr Stadium hosts besides Zephyrs games are UNO home baseball games, some high school championship baseball games, and it used to hold Tulane home baseball games. They no longer host Tulane home games; Tulane played there after Hurricane Katrina while they were building the new Turchin Stadium.

The New Orleans Fair Grounds is the third oldest working thoroughbred race track in the United States.

It opened in 1852, but burned down in the 1990s then was built by the owner Churchill Downs Incorporated, and is a sister racetrack to Churchill Downs where the Kentucky Derby is run. The Fair Grounds is ranked 12th among the top 15 racetracks in the United States, because it is one of the largest and runs longer in distance and year round than most tracks.

The track has a one mile dirt track and a seven furlong turf oval inside of that. Seven furlongs is a little more than two football fields. The Fair Grounds has three sections in one main building: the Grandstand, the Clubhouse, and Paddock which leads to the Casino Building. The clubhouse has suites where you can watch the races, the Grandstand is the lower level of the clubhouse and the ground bleachers where it is free attendance to watch the race, and the Paddock is where the horses circle around which leads to the Casino that has video poker and slot machines. Unfortunately, after Hurricane Katrina, the Grandstand and the Clubhouse had to be rebuilt due to roof damage. After the repairs, the Fair Grounds has reopened and has been having great success.

Sports are very popular in the city of New Orleans. If we did not have all of our teams, New Orleans would not be the same today. After Katrina, these teams helped rebuild the city and bring the city together, like the first Saints home game after Katrina against the Falcons. The Superdome was rocking and the Falcons had no chance as the Saints beat them 20 to three on a very emotional night. The Hornets also had Building New Orleans 42

their best season ever after the hurricane, when they made it to the Western Conference Quarter Finals. They also helped by donating money to charities and to people. These places are the heart and soul of New Orleans, Louisiana and will continue to be for a very long time.

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Transportation The river steamboats are native to New Orleans and they were first made here in 1811. The first steamboat cost $40,000, was 116 feet long but weighed 371 tons. In 1814, 21 steamboats came to New Orleans. Five years later, 191 steamboats arrived here, an increase of over 800%. More than 1,200 steamboat cargoes were unloaded in 1833 from trips along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Before the steamboat was created, the trip from Louisville to New Orleans took four months. In 1820, a steamboat could make the trip in 20 days, 100 days less, one-sixth of the time it used to take. Steamboats were an amazing invention for New Orleans and helped improve travel up and down the Mississippi River.

In 1814 there were 21 steamboats in New Orleans; in 1819 there were 119; and in 1833 there were more than 1,200 steamboats in New Orleans. One of the steamboat rides took you from New Orleans to Natchez, which took six days, six hours, and 40 minutes. It was a 268 mile trip. One steamboat was called the Lee and it was 300 feet long, and 1,468 tons. The race between the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez was won by the Lee; the time was three days, 18 hours, and 14 minutes.

Streetcars are a unique way to travel in New Orleans because not all cities have streetcars. The streetcar provides transportation for the residents of New Orleans, and it is also popular with tourists. New Orleans has three streetcar lines: the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, the Riverfront streetcar line and the Canal Street streetcar line. The St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, which is the main streetcar line, begins at Carrollton and Claiborne Avenues and then turns onto St. Charles Avenue and ends at Canal Street. Along the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line there are many tourist attractions such as the Audubon Park, Tulane University, Loyola University, and the Garden District. The cost to ride the streetcar is $1.25 and exact change is required. The fare of $1.25 reflects a 25% increase after Hurricane Katrina. An all day pass for the streetcar is $5, and a three day pass costs $12. Although streetcars are not the most modern form of transportation, they have remained an important part of the culture in New Orleans.

Ground transportation is the probably the most used form of transportation in New Orleans. From buses and tours to trains and cars, ground transit is everywhere. Buses were the main form of transportation in the late 1940's when only one out of three people had a car. Now, lots of people own cars. Horse carriage rides are available and most can hold from Building New Orleans 44

six to nine people on average. There is a Greyhound bus station in New Orleans, and it is one of the nearly 2,300 stations in America. There are many local rental car stations too.

Ground transportation is a big part of New Orleans.

Even though it is New Orleans' Airport, our interviewee told us that,

There are all these governments that are involved in us controlling the airport.

The Louis Armstrong International Airport was established in 1946. It was first called Moisant Field and now it is Louis Armstrong International Airport. Louis Armstrong International Airport started out with only 648 acres, and now it has 1,360 acres of land.

That is almost double the size it used to be! This airport was the first to have an Instrument Landing System. An Instrument Landing System is a system that guides the aircraft to make the land better. There are now three 5,000 foot runways and one 7,000 foot one! The Louis Armstrong International Airport is now one of the largest airports in the world.

The very first thing that our interviewee, Gerard Guter, told us was that

The RTA stands for the Regional Transit Authority.

The Regional Transit Authority is the only place in the United States of America that knows how to make the modern streetcars. The Regional Transit Authority made the streetcars that run on the Canal streetcar line and the Riverfront streetcar line. The red streetcars are more modern than the green streetcars, which are historic streetcars. The RTA is making a project which is trying to get the other cities to buy streetcars from New Orleans. A long time ago the streetcar workers would complain when they were not getting paid enough. Then they would go on strike and while they were on strike, the restaurants would give sandwiches to the poor strikers because they were not getting paid enough. The sandwiches were later known as po-boys because they were being given to poor strikers.

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The Louis Armstrong Airport is named after Louis Armstrong who was a jazz musician. This showed the importance of jazz to the city of New Orleans. It was previously named Moisant Stockyard Airport. In 2001, it was changed to Louis Armstrong. The Louis Armstrong Airport was used as a relief base during Katrina. Also, people park their private jets at the airport.

Building New Orleans 46

Water in New Orleans In Louisiana, water lies in numerous places like in rivers, lakes, or wetlands. This water has been around for long amounts of time, but as time progresses, the water may change or we find new ways to use the water. Some of the water we use is well known, like the Port of New Orleans or the Mississippi River, but those are not the only types of water we have. Louisiana also has lakes and wetlands scattered around in different areas. We use the water in many ways that help benefit the city, such as helping the economy or helping with flood control. We use most of the water in Louisiana, but sometimes we do not pay attention to how it can affect us until we meet certain circumstances.

Surrounding Louisiana’s Mississippi River delta are wetlands, which are marsh lands that protect New Orleans by weakening storm surges and absorbing huge waves.

These marshes are home to many species of fish, birds, and plants which support the fishing industries of New Orleans. The marshes have been forming from sediment deposited by the Mississippi River flood waters over thousands of years. Due to the creation of levees, sediment can no longer replenish the marshes, so we lose a football field of wetlands every 38 minutes because the wetlands are eroding quickly. The surprising fact is that we have lost over 30% of the wetlands and the number is still rising. We lost over 215 square miles of wetlands that cannot be replenished from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

With the wetlands eroding away, there is nothing to help protect Louisiana, and we are vulnerable to more future storms, which is why the state of Louisiana is helping fund programs to stop the loss of the wetlands and to allow them to grow again. Overall, the wetlands are part of what Louisiana is and it has many strengths and weaknesses.

The Mississippi River is an important resource to New Orleans. We get food and transportation from it. New Orleans is very famous for its food, and most of the food is seafood, which is fished and caught from the bodies of water around New Orleans, including the Mississippi River. New Orleans is sometimes known as the Crescent City because it was built on the crescent of the Mississippi River. On the crescent, the water flows in two ways

Building New Orleans 47

Because of the centrifugal force of 200 feet of water flowing around a 91˚ bend.

The river also helps the New Orleans economy significantly because of the business the Port of New Orleans has on the river. As of 2004, the Port of New Orleans made $8,000,000,000 in earnings. The Mississippi River is vital to New Orleans for the many services it provides us with.

Lake Pontchartrain (Pont-char-train) was formed from the Mississippi River, when it overflowed about 5,000 years ago. When the river overflowed, it moved east and started depositing sediment into another area, so over time, the sediments started creating a delta.

While growing, the delta separated water from the Gulf of Mexico, and so Lake Pontchartrain was formed. Lake Pontchartrain is an estuary because it has saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico and freshwater from rivers and streams higher north mixed in it. Unfortunately, Lake Pontchartrain can become a perfect water body for storm surges from hurricanes to build up on. It was estimated that the storm surge in Lake Pontchartrain would be 14 to 18 feet tall for Hurricane Katrina. The Bonnet Carré Spillway is designed to transfer water from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, so the lake helps with flood control in the Mississippi River. Lake Pontchartrain helps New Orleans with water when it collects water from other streams and rivers, and Lake Pontchartrain has been here for a long time, so it is very helpful in our community.

The Port of New Orleans is an extremely vital part of New Orleans’s economy, because of the trade and transportation industries, which provides much money for New Orleans. Trade along the port is very important to New Orleans’ economy, and with the help of the Mississippi River, the Port of New Orleans moves about 500,000 tons (one trillion pounds) of cargo each year transporting various items. Some items the port transports are chemicals, timber, iron, and steel. We also learned that the Port of New Orleans

leases portions of the port to private companies and they operate it and maintain it. They are called terminal operators.

Building New Orleans 48

The port affects the city’s economy through the cruise industry too, because every year, more than 735,000 people ride on the New Orleans cruises along the Mississippi River that are provided by the port. From 2002 to 2008, the average amount of money the Port of New Orleans made was about $38.6 million. The money made strengthened the economy of New Orleans considerably, and it boosts up the cruise industry’s economy significantly. The Port of New Orleans is an essential factor to New Orleans and its economy, and if the city lacked it, New Orleans would not be nearly as successful as it is now.

There are many types of water bodies that affect New Orleans. For example, wetlands help protect us from hurricanes, the Mississippi River and the Port of New Orleans affect our economy, and Lake Pontchartrain helps us with extra water from the Mississippi River.

New Orleans was damaged greatly after Hurricane Katrina. Wetlands were destroyed and the Port of New Orleans cruise industry had over one billion dollars of damage done to it.

The Mississippi River and the Port of New Orleans eventually helped us accumulate money to help repair the economy after Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina might have damaged our city, but all it took was some time for us to get some businesses running like our ports and rivers. Water plays a huge role in Louisiana, with them bringing in millions of dollars from the business the rivers and port bring, the huge estuary we have, and the wetlands that are filled with wildlife.

Building New Orleans 49

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