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New Orleans
I INTRODUCTION
New Orleans, one of North America's most distinctive and culturally diverse cities, located in southeastern Louisiana on the Mississippi River, about 180 km (about 110 mi) from the Gulf of Mexico. The city was founded in 1718 on a site mostly below sea level on the east bank of the Mississippi and south of Lake Pontchartrain. New Orleans, named for Philippe II, Duc d'Orléans, regent of France under Louis XV, has been a leading commercial center since its founding and has one of the most active ports in the United States. Since World War II (1939-1945), the city's rich cultural heritage has contributed to its emergence as a major international tourist center. New Orleans has a semitropical climate, with an average daily temperature range of 5C (42F) to 16C (61F) in January and 23C (73F) to 33C (91F) in July. The city averages 157 cm (62 in) of precipitation per year.
II NEW ORLEANS AND ITS METROPOLITAN AREA
At the city's core is the Vieux Carré, a historic neighborhood also known as the French Quarter, which is the site of the original settlement. Exotic houses and wrought-iron balconies reflecting French and Spanish architectural styles dominate this unique district's narrow streets. The French Quarter's central plaza is Jackson Square, which features a bronze statue of Andrew Jackson, who led the defense of New Orleans during the War of 1812 (1812-1815) and later became U.S. president. The square is surrounded by the Saint Louis Cathedral, built in 1794 and remodeled in 1851; the Cabildo and the Presbytère, former government buildings erected in the 18th century; and the Pontalba Buildings, large apartment buildings constructed in 1849. East of Jackson Square on Decatur Street is the French Market, home of numerous shops. On nearby Chartres Street stands the Ursuline Convent, which was founded by Ursuline nuns in 1734 and is thought to be the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley. On the eastern boundary of the French Quarter on Esplanade Avenue is the Old U.S. Mint, which was built in the 19th century and refurbished in 1981. A streetcar line parallels the Mississippi River and provides transportation from one end of the French Quarter to the other. Jazz is still a popular attraction on Basin and Bourbon streets, where this treasured American musical form first appeared and gained fame in the early 20th century.
On the western end of the French Quarter is Canal Street, the location of the U.S. Custom House, which housed the Union Army headquarters during the American Civil War (1861-1865), and the boundary between the French Quarter and the Central Business District, the city's commercial hub. Riverwalk, a large shopping center, and the New Orleans Convention Center, which holds hundreds of conferences a year, are the business district's most prominent buildings. Farther to the west lies the Garden District, a neighborhood of numerous beautiful 19th-century homes. Still farther west is Uptown, another fine residential neighborhood. The Old Carrollton Court House, now Lucher School, is its most notable structure. The Saint Charles Avenue Streetcar Line, a national historic landmark, connects Uptown and the Garden District to the Central Business District and the French Quarter. On the northern side of the city, in the Garden District, and adjacent to the French Quarter, are several cemeteries that are noted for their architecturally distinctive aboveground crypts of marble and granite. Of special interest is the Saint Louis Cemetery, which was unique in its day because it contained not graves but crypts and vaults, since the city's mud foundations made underground burial impossible.
The New Orleans metropolitan region covers 8,800 sq km (3,400 sq mi), and includes the counties—known in Louisiana as parishes—of Orleans, Jefferson, Saint Bernard, Saint Charles, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Tammany, Saint James, and Plaquemines. At the center is the city of New Orleans (coextensive with Orleans Parish), with a land area of 468 sq km (181 sq mi). Extending from this base are numerous suburban towns in the surrounding parishes. Metairie, Harahan, and Kenner are rapidly growing residential communities on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Jefferson Parish, as is LaPlace in St. John the Baptist Parish.
Since the opening of the Mississippi River Bridge in 1958, several communities on the west bank of the river have become similar suburban localities. These include Algiers, which was once a noted local center for shipbuilding and railroads and is presently the location of the Naval Support Activity, and the three communities of Harvey, Marrero, and Gretna in Jefferson Parish. Gretna is home to the David Crockett Fire Company Number 1, the oldest volunteer fire company in the United States. Chalmette, site of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans and also the location of Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Company, is a mixed residential-industrial area in St. Bernard Parish. Since 1960, due to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which opened in 1956, and Interstate 10, this burgeoning suburban sprawl has extended north of Lake Pontchartrain into Slidell, Mandeville, and Covington in St. Tammany Parish.
III POPULATION
The population of the city of New Orleans has substantially declined since large numbers of families began relocating from the inner city to the suburbs in the 1950s. The city's population peaked at 627,525 in the 1960 census, but that figure shrank to 496,938 by 1990—a loss of nearly one-third over three decades. In 2000 the city's population was 484,674, and by 2003 it was estimated at 469,032.
According to the 2000 census, the black population constituted 67.3 percent of the city's population; the whites, 28.1 percent; Asians, 2.3; Native Americans, 0.2 percent; and people of mixed heritage or not reporting race, 2.2 percent. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered 109 at the time of the census. Hispanics, who may be of any race, represented 3.1 percent of the people.
The French originally settled New Orleans between 1718 and 1762, and then passed the city into Spanish hands. The result was a unique French-Spanish culture known as Creole. Many Creoles still live in the city and have a major influence on the city's cuisine and cultural life. Another effect of the city's French and Spanish heritage is the dominance of the Catholic faith among the city's inhabitants.
The large black population of New Orleans also has a strong influence on the city. The black population started to grow with the importation of black slaves from Africa. In the 1790s the slave uprising in Haiti brought an influx of whites and blacks from the West Indies to the city. West Indian blacks introduced Vodun (commonly spelled voodoo) religious rites and the song and dance rhythms of Haiti into Creole culture. These Haitian rhythms, mixed with those of American blacks, became a basis for New Orleans jazz.
In 2003 the total population of the New Orleans metropolitan area was 1.3 million. Many descendants of the Germans, Irish, Italians, and Anglo-Americans who immigrated to New Orleans during the 19th century have moved to the suburbs. Although most suburbanites have blended into mainstream American society, the Isle?os, descendants of immigrants from the Canary Islands who arrived in the late 18th century, form an uncommon community in St. Bernard Parish where they continue to speak Spanish and make their living fishing and trapping.
IV EDUCATION AND CULTURE
Education began in New Orleans in 1727 when Ursuline nuns opened a convent school for girls. The parochial school system, which extends into the outlying metropolitan parishes, is now one of the largest in the United States. The city also has many institutions of higher learning including Tulane University, Loyola University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Dillard University, Southern University at New Orleans, the University of New Orleans, and Louisiana State University Medical Center. The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University is one of the finest facilities for the study of African American culture and history in the United States. New Orleans also has an extensive public library system.
New Orleans enjoys a rich cultural atmosphere that is unique in the United States. The city's annual Mardi Gras (French for “Fat Tuesday”) celebration is internationally renowned. Held during the week before Lent, Mardi Gras is marked by spectacular parades featuring floats, pageants, elaborate costumes, masked balls, and street dances. Another of the city's major events is the annual Spring Fiesta, when many homes and gardens are opened to the public. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the New Orleans Food Festival also contribute greatly to the city's cultural life. Saint Patrick's Day, Saint Joseph's Day, and All Saints' Day also signal important religious celebrations for New Orleans's Catholic population.
Among the city's cultural institutions are the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Louisiana State Museum, a history museum housed in the Cabildo and nearby buildings that features a bronze death mask of Napoleon I; the Historic New Orleans Collection, a gallery and research library; the Confederate Museum, a Civil War museum; Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré, one of the oldest little theaters in the United States; and Preservation Hall, home of traditional New Orleans jazz. The city sustains a philharmonic orchestra and an opera association. The city is also home to numerous nationally famous restaurants, as well as many lesser-known culinary establishments of excellent quality. Examples of popular New Orleans cuisine include oysters Rockefeller, crayfish bisque, pompano en papillote (a type of fish served in a paper bag with sauce), and beignets (deep-fried pastries).
V RECREATION
Recreational facilities abound in New Orleans. Among the city's major parks are Audubon Park and Zoo, the expansive City Park, the Aquarium of the Americas, and Woldenberg Riverfront Park. The Moonwalk Promenade fronts on the Mississippi River near Jackson Square. The French Quarter is the headquarters for the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, which stresses the region's diverse ethnic history and has component sites throughout the metropolitan area. The Louisiana Nature Center is also an important educational facility.
The Louisiana Superdome, one of the world's largest enclosed stadiums, is home to the New Orleans Saints professional football team, the annual Sugar Bowl of college football, and the Tulane University football team. The New Orleans Zephyrs minor league baseball team plays in Jefferson Parish, and the New Orleans Brass professional hockey team plays in the city. English Turn Country Club is host to the Freeport-McDermot Classic, a regular event on the professional golf tour. Numerous public and private golf courses and tennis courts are spread throughout metropolitan New Orleans. The city supports thoroughbred horse racing at the Fair Grounds Race Track.
VI ECONOMY
The New Orleans economy has traditionally relied heavily upon manufacturing and shipping—both river barge and ocean vessel traffic—although tourism and gambling have grown in importance in recent years. Extensive dock facilities line the banks of the Mississippi River; the Gulf of Mexico section of the Intracoastal Waterway, which skirts the mainland from Texas to Massachusetts; and the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a deep channel completed in 1963 that provides a shortcut to the Gulf of Mexico. Each year more than 5,000 vessels dock at New Orleans. Exports from the city include grains, textiles, food, coal, and petroleum products. Imports, many of which come from Latin America, include cocoa, coffee, bauxite (an aluminum ore), and crude petroleum. Since the 1980s, however, the Port of New Orleans has experienced a drop in business due to competition from railroads, the trucking industry, and oil pipelines. Supertankers, an increasingly important component in ocean shipping, are too large to come up the Mississippi River. These vessels commonly dock at East Coast ports and then ship their freight by rail to the interior of the United States. New Orleans officials have responded to these challenges with programs to enhance the city's docking facilities and to improve rail connections to the wharves.
Metropolitan New Orleans is one of Louisiana's foremost industrial centers. The city's industrial base is highly diversified and encompasses more than 800 manufacturing operations. The leading industries include shipbuilding, petroleum refining, food processing, and the manufacture of clothing, construction materials, wood products, primary metals, and petrochemicals. Additionally, the Michoud Assembly Facility is located just outside of New Orleans. The facility produces equipment for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). New Orleanians who work in manufacturing make up more than 10 percent of the entire manufacturing work force of Louisiana. Despite its importance to the economy, manufacturing has caused problems. Waste from the petrochemical plants that occupy the banks of the Mississippi from Baton Rouge, the state capital, to New Orleans, has risen in past years and threatens the area's drinking water and the supplies of river fish.
New Orleans and its suburbs are linked by a remarkable system of bridges. The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which connects New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish, spans 39 km (24 mi), making it the longest above-water highway bridge in the world. The Huey P. Long Bridge, 6 km (4 mi) long, crosses the Mississippi River from the western part of New Orleans. Traffic on U.S. Highway 90, which follows the Old Spanish Trail from Florida to California, passes over this bridge. The Greater New Orleans Bridge connects New Orleans with communities on the other bank of the Mississippi. The Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport handles commercial and passenger air traffic to and from all parts of the world. The New Orleans Lakefront Airport on Lake Pontchartrain serves smaller craft, and the Alvin Callender Naval Air Station is an installation used by reserve units of the armed forces.
VII GOVERNMENT
A mayor-council system was adopted in 1954 and governs New Orleans. The mayor heads the executive branch of municipal government, and a council of five district and two at-large members form the legislative branch. The mayor and seven council members serve four-year terms in office. The chief administrative officer assists the mayor in the executive branch of city government and coordinates the activities of the various municipal departments. Several independent boards and commissions within Orleans Parish direct specialized governmental functions, such as the Sewerage and Water Board and the Orleans Parish School Board. The Orleans Levee Board and the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans (the Dock Board)—two vital governmental organizations for a city that is largely below sea level and depends mightily upon its port for economic prosperity—are actually Louisiana state agencies.
VIII HISTORY
Small villages of the Quinapisa and Tangipahoa peoples occupied the site of present-day New Orleans when the first European visitor, French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, arrived in 1682. In 1699 another French explorer, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, visited the site. Recognizing the potential of the location, Bienville established a settlement there in 1718 after he became governor of the French colony of Louisiana. He named it Nouvelle-Orléans, for the Duc d'Orléans, regent of France. In 1721 French engineer Adrien de Pauger laid out the first town plan, a rectangular grid of 66 squares (today's French Quarter). The following year the town became the capital of French Louisiana. In 1763 France divided Louisiana between England and Spain, and New Orleans became the capital of Spanish Louisiana.
Unhappy with Spanish administration—notably, new trade regulations that included the forced importation of Spanish wine—French businessmen and soldiers rebelled in 1768 and 1769, but were swiftly subdued. Under Spanish rule, trade between New Orleans and Spanish colonies in the Caribbean flourished, especially in such products as tobacco, seafood, foodstuffs, and pork. Despite damaging fires in 1788 and 1794, the town grew more prosperous. In 1800 New Orleans was secretly returned to France, although this was not made official until 1803. In that year France transferred the city to the United States through the terms of the Louisiana Purchase.
In 1805 New Orleans became an incorporated city, and in 1812 it became the capital of the new U.S. state of Louisiana. The city was the state capital from 1812 to 1830. In 1830 state legislators moved the capital to Donaldsonville in hopes of keeping the state government and its officials away from the distractions of New Orleans nightlife. However, New Orleans was capital again from 1831 to 1849, at which time its growing economic and political power prompted the rest of the state to pressure the Louisiana government to move the capital. In 1849 the capital was transferred to Baton Rouge.
When the British and Americans were fighting in the War of 1812 (1812-1815), Major General Andrew Jackson and his troops were sent to defend the city of New Orleans from British attack. Leading a ragtag force of pirates, Creoles, blacks, and regular troops, Jackson defended the city against British invasion in the Battle of New Orleans. When the British attacked the Americans, Jackson's forces held their positions and launched an artillery and musket assault that devastated the enemy. The British commander, Sir Edward Pakenham, was killed in the barrage, and the British were forced to retreat.
Between 1810 and 1850 steamboat traffic on the Mississippi River made the city one of the busiest ports in North America. By 1840 New Orleans was the fourth largest city in the United States. This new growth and prosperity attracted a large influx of immigrants, mainly Anglo-Americans, Germans, and Irish. These immigrants swelled the city's population, contributed to urban growth, and added to local tension. Conflict between the Creoles and the newcomers led to the division of New Orleans into three separately governed municipalities in 1836. Though the city officially reunited under a single government in 1852, the ethnic conflict continued in often-violent political disputes until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.
At the outset of the Civil War, New Orleans was the largest city in the South, a center for the cotton trade, and a major exporter of goods from the Midwest. Although slavery was widespread in New Orleans at this time, commerce formed the economic base of the city. Because of this, many New Orleans merchants initially opposed the secession of Louisiana from the United States because they feared that it would disrupt commercial ties with the North. After the war began, however, the city's inhabitants readily embraced the Confederate cause. New Orleans was a major port and military center for the Confederacy. However, in April 1862 a Union fleet captured the city, and it remained a Union stronghold for the rest of the war.
In May 1862 General Benjamin F. Butler became the military governor of New Orleans. Many of the city's inhabitants resisted his policies and the Union occupation of the city. Butler's harsh treatment of the native population caused his dismissal as governor seven months later. Under the leadership of his Union successors, living conditions in the city improved, and new trade regulations restored commercial prosperity.
During Reconstruction, the process of rebuilding that followed the Civil War, Republicans controlled city government and eliminated several areas of racial segregation—most notably in education and public transit. After Reconstruction ended in 1877, the Democrats gained power in the city and reinstituted segregation by creating separate black and white facilities. The Democrats established a political organization known as the Old Regulars under the leadership of John Fitzpatrick and Martin Behrman. The Old Regulars worked to enhance the city's economy and improved municipal sanitation and the water supply. They also used their extensive influence to maintain political control in New Orleans, while at the same time forming alliances with rural political leaders to protect their interests in state government and to preserve racial segregation in Louisiana.
In the 1880s Louisiana sugar and cotton planters brought in Italian laborers to work on plantations. However, many of these Italians preferred to live and work in New Orleans and became active in local industry. This influx of Italian immigrants created tensions. When the local police chief was murdered, people suspected a criminal group known as the Italian Mafia. This event provoked strong anti-Italian sentiment among the native population and led to the lynching of 11 Italians in 1891.
In the late 19th century, shipping activities in the city declined with the demise of the steamboat, but by the end of World War I (1914-1918), river barges contributed to a substantial commercial rebound. Also during the early 20th century, engineer A. Baldwin Wood developed powerful pumps that allowed the draining of swampland within the city and opened vast new sections of New Orleans for settlement. For many years the geographic location of the city on muddy subtropical lowlands that were surrounded by water prevented its growth. The rising waters of the Mississippi River frequently flooded the city, and heavy rainfall enlarged the swamps. However, Wood's pumps along with canals, a line of levees, and the Bonnet Carre Spillway—which diverts runoff from the Mississippi into Lake Pontchartrain—allowed the city to grow.
In 1934 New Orleans Democrats opposed Louisiana Senator Huey P. Long and his statewide political organization, which he controlled first from his position as state governor and then from the U.S. Senate. Long's forces in the state legislature subsequently undermined the power of the Old Regular Democrats and installed Robert S. Maestri, a Long associate, as mayor of New Orleans in 1936. Maestri improved the city's fiscal machinery and tax collection early in his administration, but during World War II (1939-1945) city services faltered badly and criminal activity increased. After World War II, reform Democrat deLesseps S. Morrison became mayor and ended the reign of the old political machines.
During the administrations of Morrison (1946-1961) and his successors Victor H. Schiro (1961-1970) and Maurice “Moon” Landrieu (1970-1978), an era of commercial and industrial growth ensued that supported the completion of a series of major public works programs. Building projects included new bridges and overpasses, a new city hall and municipal court complex, a main public library, the Poydras Street commercial corridor, the Louisiana Superdome, the Aquarium of the Americas, and the renovation of the French Quarter as a tourist attraction.
As the racial composition of the city started to change during the 1950s, blacks attained a more prominent role in municipal government. In 1960 New Orleans public schools began to desegregate. In 1978 Ernest “Dutch” Morial became the city's first black mayor.
During the 1990s race remained an issue in New Orleans. Drug use, high crime rates, and dilapidated housing persist in predominantly black neighborhoods. Furthermore, the departure of many residents for the suburbs eroded the city's tax base. In 1991 the city council sparked a major controversy when it voted to prohibit racial and gender discrimination in Mardi Gras organizations, a bastion of the white upper class. Several carnival krewes (private organizations that sponsor parades and other events), including Comus, the oldest, abandoned their annual parades rather than integrate. Additionally, recent legislation called for the renaming of all public schools that had been named for slave owners, including George Washington.
At the beginning of the 21st century, New Orleans faces many potential problems. To be competitive, many people believe that the city should diversify its economy and increase its commercial aggressiveness or risk losing business to other port cities. Additionally, New Orleans must deal with questions of racial relations and crime, while at the same time trying to compensate for a tax base that is declining as people leave the city for the suburbs. However, the city remains a popular tourist destination, well known for its food, music, and colorful annual events.
Contributed By:
Edward Haas
French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana
The Vieux Carré, or French Quarter, in New Orleans, Louisiana, marks the site of the city's original settlement, established by French explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne in 1718. The architecture of the area, such as the Bourbon Street restaurant shown here, contains elements of both French and Spanish influences.
ALLSTOCK, INC./Rick Stangler
