Ithiel Town & New Orleans

The Southeastern Architectural Archive retains an important letter written by New York architect-engineer Ithiel Town (1784-1844) regarding his improved Lattice Bridge design of 1835. When the document came on the market, William Cullison III acquired it with support from the Marjorie Peirce and John Geiser, Jr. Fund.

Dated 23 July 1836, it gives illustrated instructions for a proposed bridge spanning 250 feet, with trussing extending 300 feet. Town advises the recipient, Boston carpenter John Livermore, to use either spruce or pine planks configured in a repeating diamond pattern, and sets a “lowest” price of $1/foot for “the whole length of the trusses of the bridge.” 

Town was a prominent New York architect and engineer known for his patented bridge. He promoted the innovation in various classified advertisements, professional publications and correspondence, thus securing its use from New York to Alabama.

New Orleans architects James Dakin, James Gallier, Sr., and Robert Seaton worked for Town before moving South; Minard Lafever also knew him. In January 1835, Town expressed an interest in visiting Louisiana to establish new bridge contracts.(1) 

(1)Ithiel Town (New York). Letter to Seth Shine (Tuscaloosa, Alabama). 17 January 1835. Cited by Jim Wilson, "Letter approving the contract to build a bridge across the river at Wetumpka." As viewed 20 November 2015. URL: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/elmore/letters/w-bridge.txt

Image above:  Ithiel Town. Lattice Bridge Diagram. Pen and ink on paper. 1836. Marjorie and John Geiser II Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Spooky NOLA

We hear a lot of ghost stories in the Southeastern Architectural Archive -- from building managers, homeowners, genealogists, electricians, facilities staff, general contractors and shorers. In past years, I presented a Halloween lecture to former Tulane University faculty member Milton Scheuermann, Jr.'s "Architecture and Mysticism" class. Since he retired in June, I decided to post the presentation online.

View the images here.



& if you want to know my favorite SEAA Ghost Story:

Two electricians came into the archive one day to suss out some issues pertaining to a building they were hired to rewire. They needed to examine the SEAA's blueprints.

As they were consulting the drawings, they conveyed that about twenty-five years ago they were working on a CBD skyscraper building (they didn't want to say which one) because the manager was reporting frequent electrical problems.

They ultimately examined a ceiling crawl space.  As they shimmied across the floor, they started to discover artifacts. A shoe.... another shoe.... some pants.... a hat ... the BONES.

Startled, they backed out immediately and called authorities.  They said they never heard a convincing outcome.

The only report that they could find in the local paper described two workmen coming across horse bones in a building.

One electrician remarked, "Horses don't wear pants!"

Progressive New Orleans 1940

Metro Goldwyn Mayer's "A Brief New Orleans History Lesson" (1940) includes mention of modern construction methods and also Tulane University.

New Orleans of the Future: 1958

Ground Is Broken for New Mississippi River Bridge

Gigantic Span will Inaugurate New Era in City's History

1 May 1955.  The ground has been broken and construction has begun on the new $65 million Mississippi River Bridge.  Persistence, patience, vision and hard work are making a reality of a dream that began nearly 100 years ago. 

The towering bridge will serve as a gateway to the vast undeveloped territory on the West Bank. It will open the door to immense commercial and population growth in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area.

The Mississippi River Bridge Authority, which is directing the building of the monumental structure, estimates that the first cars will rover over the 3 1/2-mile long span by July 1, 1958.  When completed, it will be the longest cantilever bridge in the United States and the third in the world.  

Work has begun on the building of the four large piers upon which the bridge will rest.  In order to secure the firm foundation for the main pier in the river, a giant concrete block as high as an 11-story building will be sunk into the river bottom.  Into the bridge itself will go 40 million tons of steel.

The structure, rising 350 feet above the river, will have two 24-foot roadways and plans include a provision for a fifth lane when necessary.

From the City of New Orleans. Annual Report of the Mayor 1954-1955.  1 May 1955. Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.  JS 13.N47

Image above:  Crescent City Connection (formerly the Greater New Orleans Bridge), New Orleans.  Bridges designed by Modjeski and Masters, first completed September 1959; second completed September 1988.  08 2008 by K. Rylance.