Old Harvey Cemeteries

Subdivision surveys can help researchers locate historic cemetery sites. The Southeastern Architectural Archive's Guy Seghers Office Records has a considerable number of twentieth-century surveys that document graveyard locations.

The cemetery highlighted above -- in a 1922 Eustis & Bres survey -- was located towards the rear of the Louisiana Cypress Lumber Company's tract along the Harvey Canal in Jefferson Parish. This area was formerly known as the Destrehan Tract, and Joseph Rathborne began to operate a cypress lumber concern here as early as 1889.(1)

By 1940, the Rathborne Land Company was subdividing its massive holdings along the Intracoastal Waterway. The area where the old cemetery had been was redeveloped as a residential section of four- and five-room frame residences. Surveyor Guy Seghers platted the subdivision, noting an existing cemetery along what had been Julia F. Grefer's land (shown below).

This second graveyard is still intact, known as the Evening Star Cemetery [AKA Harvey's cemetery; Harvey cemetery]. Since Hurricane Katrina, it has expanded across Grefer Avenue, absorbing what had formerly been a series of 30' wide residential lots.

Knowing variant geographical names can facilitate the research process. Consulting  GNIS is one means of determining place name changes. For Louisiana, knowing the names of subsequent plantation owners is also beneficial. Marie Adrien Persac's Norman's Chart of the Lower Mississippi River (1858) is one means of determining familial connections, and the United States Mississippi River Commission's Preliminary Map of the Lower Mississippi River: From the Mouth of the Ohio River to the Head of the Passes (1885) is another.

(1)Advertisement. The Times-Picayune 5 July 1948.

Images above: Digitally enhanced detail of Eustis & Bres. LA Cypress Lumber Co. Tract. Survey. 1922. Box 120. Folder 45.

Digitally enhanced detail of Guy J. Seghers. Industrial Subdivision of Property of Joseph Rathborne Land Company, Inc. Harvey, Louisiana. 10 October 1940 with annotated corrections to February 1944. Box 120. Folder 29.

Both Guy Seghers Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Segregation Forms

Dillard University architect Moise H. Goldstein (1882-1972) designed the Richard Berthelot Lemann Memorial Park in 1934 (illustration above). The playground was built on city land that had resulted from the overfill of the former Carondelet (Old Basin) Canal. Site clearance and grading took nearly a year to complete.

Touro Infirmary Chief of Staff Dr. I.I. Lemann and his family donated $15,000 for materials and equipment, and federal emergency relief workers (FERA) supplied the labor. Under Mayor T. Semmes Walmsley's administration, the city offered the former canal site extending from Marais Street to North Prieur. Additionally, the city agreed to the Lemann family's stipulation that should the city ever use the site for other purposes, the city would develop a new Richard B. Lemann Memorial Playground elsewhere.

The playground was originally segregated by race, gender and size. From Marais to North Claiborne - the section closest to the Municipal Auditorium - the playground was for white children.  From North Claiborne to Prieur, the playground was for black children.  Each park had its own designated girls and boys areas, and separate areas for small children and big children.

The North Claiborne entrance to each playground section featured memorial iron gates, each with its own plaque. The two playground sections were entirely surrounded by fencing in order to protect the children from "automobile hazards."  Park superintendent Lawrence Di Benedetto proclaimed the fenced enclosure a "new era" in playground design.(1) Since the park's namesake had died in an automobile accident, the safety feature was apropos.

The dedication ceremonies were held on June 16, 1925, with the riverside section celebration at 4:00 pm and the lakeside section following at 5:00 pm. FERA bands performed at both events, although the evening celebration had considerably higher attendance numbers.

To see the gates today, click

here

and

here.

(1)Di Benedetto, L. "2 Playgrounds To Be Dedicated." New Orleans States 14 June 1925.

Image above:  "Drawing of Lemann Memorial Playgrounds." The Times-Picayune New Orleans States 30 December 1934.

NEW! TWB Finding Aid

The Southeastern Architectural Archive recently finalized the processing of the Toledano, Wogan and Bernard Office Records. The collection includes certain records of the New Orleans architectural office of Toledano, Wogan, & Bernard, as well as those representing predecessor and successor offices. Project drawings, specifications, photographs and correspondence date from 1893-1974.

If you are unfamiliar with the Southeastern Architectural Archive's holdings, consult its list of "Finding Aids by Collection Name."

Image above:  Photographer unknown. Xavier University, Intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Drexel Drive, New Orleans, LA. Circa 1956. Toledano, Wogan and Bernard Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Battle of New Orleans Site

Since the National Park Service is celebrating the Bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans this holiday season, we decided to feature some early surveys of the site. These are photostat copies of the original surveys that were collected by Guy Seghers, whose office records are retained by the Southeastern Architectural Archive and the Historic New Orleans Collection. 

Barthélemy Lafon (1769-1820) developed the survey shown above while employed as deputy surveyor under Isaac Briggs (1763-1825). Thomas Jefferson had appointed Briggs "Surveyor of the Lands of the United States, South of the State of Tennessee" in 1803 and one year later Briggs was assigned to develop a post road from Washington to New Orleans. Lafon's survey records the plantation properties of J.M. Pritchard, Mssrs. Prevôt and Chalmette. Signed 13 February 1808, "la 32eme anné de l'Indépendence des Etats-Unis de l'Amérique," the document primarily records Prevôt's landholdings from the Mississippi River to a grove of trees. A drainage canal separates the plantations of Pritchard and Prevôt.

The second survey -- surviving as a fragment -- was signed in New Orleans on the 20th of March 1878. It records the town of Fazendville, then consisting of twenty lots, each measuring 120 feet in depth and sharing a common alley. By this time the area was unified by a levee road and a larger canal (dating to January 1815) was in place.The city and the United States government claimed nearby parcels.

Images above: Photostat copies of surveys. Folder 4, Box 109. "Battle of New Orleans Site, St. Bernard Parish." Guy Seghers Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Sixteenth Street Canal

We recently came across this photomechanical reproduction from 1898 that shows the milling operations of the New Orleans Cypress and Lumber Company, formerly the McEwen and Murray Sawmill. The operation was located in the square bounded by Cambronne and Dante Streets, the new basin and the Sixteenth-Street Canal. In November 1897, one of the McEwen dry kilns containing 5000 feet of lumber was destroyed by fire. The McEwen mill was owned by the New Orleans Cypress and Lumber Company and began operating under the owner's moniker by 1898.

In February of that year, the plant sustained significant tornado damage. The roof of the machinery room was completely blown away, exposing the engines to the elements. Other surrounding structures also sustained damages. Mount Olive Baptist Church was completely torn apart, its timber scattered into the nearby swamp. Workers' houses adjacent to the mill were "prostrated" and twenty families were "rendered homeless."(1)

The mill sustained catastrophic damages in July 1899, when a massive lumber fire swept through the plant. Yard number 2 contained some 8,800,000 ft. of clean and undressed cypress ready for shipment. A strong southeast wind spread the fire very quickly and despite the response of six steam engines that drew water from the canal [now renamed the Seventeenth-Street Canal], the yard was lost. The owners, represented by Captain and Mrs. R.A. Scott, and F.G. Tiffany of Lacrosse, Wisconsin, filed a $150,000 claim with the Pescaud insurance agency.(2)

(1) "A Little Cyclone Sweeps the City." The Daily Picayune 20 February 1898.

(2)"A Lumber Fire." The Daily Picayune 16 July 1899.

Image above:  New Orleans Cypress and Lumber Company, Ltd. Advertisement from Official Directory of the Southern Pacific Company and Atlas of Lines for Use of Shippers and Buyers. Chicago: Lanward Publishing Company, 1897-1898. Louisiana Research Collection, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

"Seasonal Will & Changing Moods"

In August 1918, the locally-published trade paper Building Review featured a story on the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (AKA Industrial Canal). Morgan Dudley E. Hite (1882-1959), the newspaper's editor, summarized the excavation and piling work, volume of building materials, proposed water containment and anticipated completion date. His editorial also included his bird's eye view of the new canal, which is reproduced above. Hite was among those who envisioned the canal as a great advance:

"It has been objected that New Orleans 'has too much water' at her doors. The Inner Harbor-Navigation Canal Marks the beginning of the putting to use of this water in a scientific way, a proper placing and control of it, instead of as heretofore being subject to uncontrollable seasonal will and changing moods. Conservation at its best!

"When completed, this canal will rank with the half-dozen greater world canals -- only three now existing having a depth as great as the New Orleans undertaking -- the Panama, Suez and Kiel. Depth of sill-clearance of the locks is a test of the canal's greatness and importance -- the New Orleans lock will have 30 feet over the sill. It is by far the single greatest factor of port development yet undertaken by the Port Commissioners of New Orleans, and the engineering study of its economic factor destines it to be one of the nation's great and most highly co-ordinated industrial regions of the future, with every facility of modern commerce, transport by rail, river, canal, lake and ocean; for raw and finished product; banking facilities and a location in the heart of the South's greatest labor market."

The triplet buildings (4400 Dauphine Street) in the foreground space were completed under the  direction of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps in 1919.  The Board of Commissioners, Port of New Orleans, leased two of the buildings after World War I. The Board also subleased spaces to individual commercial ventures. The property reverted to the U.S. War Department during World War II and the name of the complex was changed to the New Orleans Port of Embarkation. After the war, the structures were known as the New Orleans Army Terminal, and in 1966 the Navy assumed custody, renaming them as the Naval Support Activity. In 1973, administrative changes within the Navy resulted in significant alterations to the exterior and the surrounding site. These were undertaken by associated architects Waldemar S. Nelson; Nolan, Holcombe, Apatini & Seghers; Nolan, Norman & Nolan; James P. Oubre and August Perez & Associates. On 3 July 1975, the buildings were dedicated as the F. Edward Hebert Defense Complex. In October 2013, the City of New Orleans acquired the complex.

Morgan D.E. Hite, editor. "Details of Construction." Building Review (August 1918): pp. 20-21. Louisiana Research Collection, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

See also: "Dedication Ceremony: F. Edward Hebert Defense Complex." Brochure. 1975. Project No. 1279. William T. Nolan Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

NOLA Canals 1903

In 1903, engineeres Coleman, Malochee and Villere surveyed landholdings of the New Orleans Land Company between City Park Avenue and Lake Pontchartrain. They recorded the canals that punctuated the subdivision, as well as the historic tracts that formed the basis of the company's possessions. Much of this area had been utilized by charitable groups, including the Firemen's Charitable Association and the Milne Asylums. Spanish Fort is discernible in the upper right-hand corner of the map.

Image above: Coleman, Malochee and Villere. Map showing some lands belonging to the New-Orleans Land Co. situated in New-Orleans. April 1903. Martin Shepard Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

New Orleans Silica Brick

In 1915, Harry M. Dyett announced the formation of a new venture that would transform Lake Pontchartrain white sand into brick. He sought testimonials from local architects, including Paul Andry and Rathbone De Buys, and claimed that his new company would utilize the Dyett Press (patent image above), which had been developed by his brother, James H. Dyett.

The Dyetts established the New Orleans Silica Brick Company and built a factory along the New Basin Canal near Murat Street. The location allowed easy transport of sand acquired along the Tchefuncta River. The bricks could be made in ten hours' time, which significantly reduced the lengthy process that had been associated with kiln-fired brick.(1)  The company employed one hundred men in its first year of operations, and expanded its workforce as the material gained popularity.

Emile Weil used the brick for his 827 Carondelet Street building for the Jacobs Candy Company, his 5341 St. Charles Avenue duplex for Louisiana Bag Company President Jasmin Feitel (1917) and Nolan & Torre used it for their Klotz Cracker Factory building (615 Tchoupitoulas Street, 1918). Bungalow architect Morgan Hite advocated its use as a means of reducing construction and upkeep costs, and cited its planned appearance in Gentilly Terrace.(2)

Image above: J.H. Dyett.  The Dyett Press (Patent No. 952,790). 22 March 1910. As viewed 10 April 1913 via google patents.

(1)"Silica Brick Company Plant." The Times-Picayune (13 August 1916): p. 32.

(2)M.D. Hite. "Cheaper to Build Houses of Brick Than of Lumber." The Times-Picayune (17 February 1918): p. 42.

To read more, see New Orleans Silica Brick Company Prospectus. New Orleans, c. 1915. Martin Shepard Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Barataria and Lafourche Canal 1911

Barataria and Lafourche Canal: Locks on Mississippi River, Opposite New Orleans, LA.  New Orleans: 1911.  Martin Shepard Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

More Building Letterheads

Here are a few more letterheads that prominently feature buildings:

Crescent City Manufacturing Company
Corner Montegut and Marais Streets
1909

New Abita Springs Hotel
Abita Springs
1912

Gaiennie Company Plumbing
Carondelet and St. Joseph Streets
1914

Gaiennie Incorporated Plumbing & Heating
501-503 Napoleon Avenue
1925

Enochs Lumber and Manufacturing Company
Jackson, Mississippi
1925

Stauffer, Eschelman & Company, Limited
Canal and Dorsiere Streets
1914

Home Paint Store
342 Camp Street
1910

Interstate Electric Company
Baronne & Perdido Streets
1907

Interstate Electric company
352-356 Baronne Street
1922

Interstate Electric Company
Magazine and Girod Streets
1927

John T. Pender
431-433 Carondelet Street
1913

The Louisiana Cypress Lumber Company Limited
Harvey Canal, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
1920

J.H. Menge and Sons, Limited
Common and Tchoupitoulas Streets
1914

Menge Marine Hardware and Supply Company
The Menge Block
729 Tchoupitoulas Street
Undated

Kingsley House Association
1202 Annunciation Street
1913

Central Manufacturing and Lumber Company
Howard Avenue and Dryades Street
1902

The A.J. Nelson Manufacturing Company
Howard Avenue and Dryades Street
1907

New Orleans Roofing and Metal Works
Scott, Toulouse, St. Louis Streets and Carrollton Avenue
1913

Riecke Cabinet Works
Annunciation and Calliope Streets
1921

Riecke Cabint Works
Corner Tulane and Solomon Street
1925

F.C.Turner & Company
Mobile, Alabama
1927

Barnett-Schaeffer-Connor, Incorporated
537-547 Baronne Street
1914

F.F. Hansell & Bro., Ltd.
404-412 Carondelet Street
1925

M. Augustin
323 Baronne Street, near Union Street
1915

Teutonia Insurance Company
217 Camp Street
1903

Canal Bank and Trust Company [with view of Teutonia Insurance building]
607 Gravier Street (at Camp)/217 Camp Street
1914

The Natchez Hotel
Natchez, Mississippi
1912

The Cowan Hotel
Greenville, Mississippi
1912

Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company
204 Carondelet Street
1907

The German Insurance Company of Freeport, IL
Southern Department Building
626-630 Common Street
1904

Images above:  Martin Shepard Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

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.

The Hiker

If you are taking the new Loyola Streetcar or walking near the Energy Center building at the intersection of Poydras Street and Loyola Avenue, you may notice this monument.

It hasn't always occupied its current site, but was first erected on South Claiborne Avenue at Canal Street (image above). Local monument artisans Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Company created the base and installed the monument. The project was delayed when workers encountered the foundation of an enclosed brick drainage canal under Claiborne Avenue. Opting to avoid damaging the culvert, they drove piles around it and constructed a concrete arch above it in order to support the monument.

Designed by sculptor Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson (1871-1932), The Hiker was a tribute to American soldiers who fought in the Spanish-American War. Veteran and Judge Rufus Edward Foster of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals headed the committee that selected the sculpture, which was erected with funds appropriated by the Louisiana State Legislature.

The Gorham Company purchased the rights to Kitson's piece, and began casting copies in 1921. The New Orleans Hiker was dedicated on Memorial Day 1939.

Image above: "Spanish-American War Memorial By Pioneer Firm." Undated broadside. Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Co. Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Dedication of the Industrial Canal

This photograph was taken by an unidentified photographer on 5 May 1923 during the dedication of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal. Governor Parker addressed the thousands who had gathered at the locks to celebrate the public holiday. Dauphine and Claiborne Avenue streetcars transported hundreds of visitors to the Ninth Ward location.

The photograph includes the steamboats Susquehanna and Aunt Dinah as well as a dock board tugboat that participated in the event's marine pageant.

Image above: Unidentified photographer. Dedication of the Industrial canal. 5 May 1923. Miscellaneous Photographs Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Channeling Dakota

22 March 2010. The Associated Press is reporting a proposed $1.3 B 36-mile channel system through the Red River Valley. Read more about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project here.

Image above: Jeff Roberson, AP photographer. Doug Rensvold Driving Through Floodwater in Gardner, North Dakota. 22 March 2010.

This past weekend, UCLA Geographer Nick Bauch and I went out to the Morganza (Pointe Coupee Parish), Louisiana Control Structure (image above). The Morganza Spillway (1957-1986) serves to prevent the Atchafalaya River from capturing the Mississippi.

The structure is located just to the North of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary and just to the South of the Old River Control Complex. Project maps, test piles, and other preliminary data sets are outlined in George Stevenson's Final Report, Morganza Floodway Bridge, at Lottie, Louisiana, with test pile data on other crossings of the Morganza Floodway (Baton Rouge, LA, 1943), housed in Tulane University's Louisiana Research Collection. View U.S. Army Corps photographs and maps here.

Images above: Nick Bauch, photographer.The Morganza Spillway (Control Structure). 21 March 2010.