Metairie Cemetery Souvenir Map

An early souvenir map  that shows the locations of the lagoons along the perimeters of Metairie Cemetery. Dug in 1890, these lagoons benefited from proximity to the New Basin Canal, from which gravity pumps diverted fresh water. Congestion problems at the intersection of Metairie and Pontchartrain Boulevards and City Park Avenue were well publicized by 1929, and by the 1950s these roadways were widened and this stretch of the New Basin Canal was filled.(1)

(1)Henri A. Gandolfo. Metairie Cemetery: An Historical Memoir. New Orleans: Stewart Enterprises, 1981 and "Pleasant Scenes on Metairie Trip" The Times-Picayune (3 November 1929): p. 1; 6.

Image above: Souvenir Map Presented to Mr. S.H. Bell by Helmuth Holtz. New Orleans: February 1904. Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Company Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries. The SEAA retains other maps of the cemetery, from 1955; 1965; 1975; 1978.