Category: New Orleans History

  • Take a Streetcar Tour for the Holidays

    Take a Streetcar Tour for the Holidays

    If you’ve ever been in New Orleans for the holidays, you know the city loves to dress itself in all the finery of the season. It seems every home is jeweled and crowned by twinkling lights while oak and palm trees are swathed with wreaths and ribbons. To truly appreciate the festive displays this winter,…

  • Creators of Culture: The History of the Faubourg Treme

    Creators of Culture: The History of the Faubourg Treme

    Few neighborhoods in the world can take credit for as many culturally groundbreaking events as New Orleans’ own Faubourg Treme. Though it occupies only a small area of the city, the Treme has had a mighty impact worldwide through the invention of Jazz, initiating the first Civil Rights movement in the United States, and by…

  • Thoroughbreds and Tall Hats: A Thanksgiving Tradition in New Orleans

    Thoroughbreds and Tall Hats: A Thanksgiving Tradition in New Orleans

    New Orleans has a long list of holiday traditions. Whether it’s a yearly trip to Celebration in the Oaks or The Vampire Ball, our unique history has created a multitude of events you can only find in the Crescent City. Attending the opening day at the New Orleans’ Fair Grounds Race Track is one of…

  • The Colorful History of New Orleans’ First Suburb: The Faubourg Marigny

    The Colorful History of New Orleans’ First Suburb: The Faubourg Marigny

    People from all around the globe come to enjoy New Orleans every year.Whether they prefer a scenic streetcar ride up the live oak lined avenue of St. Charles or a slow stroll through the Vieux Carre, what many visitors don’t know is a place as charming and picturesque rests just outside the French Quarter. It’s…

  • Marie Laveau: A Legend in Her Own Time

    Marie Laveau: A Legend in Her Own Time

    How are legends made? One whisper at a time. Or at least such seems to be the case with New Orleans’ most famous practitioner of Voodoo, Marie Laveau. Her name is known worldwide and, while verifiable facts of her life are scarce at best, there is no shortage of stories about the woman New Orleans…

  • The Unusual History of Audubon Park

    The Unusual History of Audubon Park

    Come walk the strange, winding trail of history that lead to today’s Audubon Park. Whether it’s your first time in New Orleans or you’re a verified local, one of the city’s must-see destinations is Audubon Park. Home to ancient live oaks, lagoons, walking trails, and one of the nation’s best zoos, the park also contains…

  • Preservation Hall: Where Art & Jazz Meet

    Preservation Hall: Where Art & Jazz Meet

    In a city whose culture is founded on art and music, nothing represents the collision of these two worlds better than Preservation Hall.  It has a history that epitomizes New Orleans’ zest for community and collaboration and continues to embody that spirit to this day. A Jazz Hall by Any Other Name            While it…

  • The Boat that Saved Humanity

    The Boat that Saved Humanity

    New Orleans is no-doubt a city of culture, one that offers art and music galore, but one of its greatest contributions to global history is memorialized in the depths of the Warehouse District: the Higgins Boat.  As the 74th Anniversary of D-Day dawns, it’s time to pay homage to the boat that changed the face…

  • On the Straight and Narrow

    On the Straight and Narrow

    History of the Shotgun Home They line the streets like long narrow cracker boxes tipped on their sides, brightly colored, some with gingerbread trim others with well used front porches meant for gathering. The Southern charm of a shotgun home comes not only from its historical significance, but its transformation from affordable housing into a…

  • The Carousel Cocktail: History of the Vieux Carre

    The Carousel Cocktail: History of the Vieux Carre

    The Drink that Spins: The Vieux Carre Cocktail If you’re looking for a strong drink, nowhere can serve one quite like the Big Easy.  From rum-loaded Hurricanes to the unspeakable Bourbon Street ‘Hand Grenades’, from the classy Sazerac to the the classic Old Fashioned, there’s no doubt that New Orleans knows how to mix them. …

  • Krewe of Muses History

    Krewe of Muses History

    The Sisters of Mardi Gras Mardi Gras is a time of color and charisma, where people of every type take to the New Orleans streets to celebrate.  It’s an incredible cultural moment made better by the parades of wit and whimsy that stud the weeks prior to Fat Tuesday.  One such parade is Muses, a…

  • The Feats of Lafitte: History of Jean Lafitte

    The Feats of Lafitte: History of Jean Lafitte

    Jean Lafitte: The Most Interesting Man from New Orleans Jean Lafitte: we know him as the pirate hero of New Orleans, others know him as the most successful smuggler in the history of the Spanish Main, and some even know him as the greatest scoundrel to sail the seas.  With the clouds of myth surrounding…