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New Orleans

New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. By law and government, the city of New Orleans and the parish of Orleans Parish are one and the same 6.

Bourbon Street, New Orleans, in 2003, looking towards Canal Street.It is an industrial and distribution center, a major seaport, and known for its rich cultural heritage, especially its music and cuisine. The city is on the banks of the Mississippi River about 100 miles upriver from the Gulf of Mexico at 30.07°N, 89.93°W.

As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 484,674. This figure does not include the suburbs in neighboring Jefferson Parish, Saint Bernard and other nearby communities; the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of about one million.

In addition to the urban areas of the city, New Orleans includes undeveloped wetland, especially in the east. Some communities within the Orleans Parish have historically had separate identities from the city New Orleans, such as Irish Bayou. Algiers, Louisiana was a separate city through 1870. As soon as Algiers became a part of New Orleans, the Orleans Parish ceased being separate from the city of New Orleans.

New Orleans has a subtropical climate with mild winters and hot, humid summers; it snows about twice a century. New Orleans is especially vulnerable to hurricanes from June to November.

Map of Louisiana highlighting the Orleans Parish

History

Colonial Era
New Orleans was founded by the French (as Nouvelle-Orléans) under the direction of Jean Baptiste Lemoyne, Sieur de Bienville, in 1718. The site was selected as a rare bit of naturally higher ground along the flood-prone banks of the lower Mississippi, as well as being adjacent to a Native American trading route and portage between the Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain via the Bayou St. John (formerly known to the natives as Bayou Choupique). A community of French fur trappers and traders had existed along the bayou (in what is now Mid-City New Orleans) for at least a decade before the official founding of the city. Nouvelle Orleans became the capital of French Louisiana in 1722, replacing Biloxi in that role.

In 1763 the colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire as a secret provision of the Treaty of Fontainebleau, but no Spanish governor came to take control until 1766. Some of the early French settlers were never quite happy with Spanish rule, and repeatedly petitioned to be returned to French control. A fire destroyed 856 buildings in the city on March 21, 1788, and another destroyed 212 buildings in December of 1794; after this brick replaced wood as the main building material.

The population of New Orleans also suffered from epidemics of yellow fever, malaria, and smallpox, which would periodically return throughout the 19th century until the successful supression of the city's final outbreak of yellow fever in 1905. In 1795 Spain granted the United States "Right of Deposit" in New Orleans, allowing Americans to use the city's port facilities. Louisiana reverted to French control in 1801 after Napoleon's conquest of Spain, but in 1803 Napoleon sold Louisiana (which at the time also included the territory which are now several other states) to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. At this time the city of New Orleans had a population of about 10,000 people.

19th Century
From early days it was noted for its cosmopolitan polyglot population and mixture of cultures. The city grew rapidly, with influxes of Americans, French and Creole French, many of the latter fleeing from the revolution in Haiti. During the War of 1812 the British sent a force to try to conquer the city, but they were defeated by forces led by Andrew Jackson some miles down river from the city at Chalmette, Louisiana on January 8, 1815 (commonly known as the Battle of New Orleans).

1888 German map of New OrleansThe population of the city doubled in the 1830s and by 1840, the city's population was around 102,000, fourth largest in the U.S, the largest city away from the Atlantic seaboard, as well as the largest in the South.

The importance of New Orleans as a commercial center was reinforced when the Federal Government established a branch mint there in 1838, along with two other Southern branch mints at Charlotte, North Carolina and Dahlonega, Georgia. Such action was deemed necessary largely because in 1836 President Andrew Jackson had issued an executive order called a specie circular which demanded that all land transactions in the United States be conducted in cash, thus increasing the need for minted money. In contrast to the other two Southern branch mints, which only minted gold coinage, the New Orleans Mint produced both gold and silver coinage, which perhaps marked it as the most important branch mint in the country. The mint produced coins from 1838 until 1861, when Confederate forces occupied the building and used it briefly as their own coinage facility until it was recaptured by Union forces the following year. The mint machinery was evidently damaged during the war, but because of its importance, unlike the mints at Charlotte and Dahlonega, it was refurbished and put back into service in 1879, minting mainly silver coinage, including the famed Morgan silver dollar from 1879 to 1904. The New Orleans mint, whose coins can be identified by the "O" mintmark found primarily on the reverse of its coinage, earned a reputation for producing coins of a mediocre quality; their luster is usually not as brilliant as those of other mints, and center areas tend to be flattened and not sharply struck. As a result, today well-struck New Orleanian coinage is prized in the numismatic world. Despite its years of faithful service, in 1909 the mint was decommissioned and its machinery was transferred to the main U.S. Mint facility in Philadelphia, a sad event which stuck in the minds of Louisianans: twenty years later Governor Huey Long would rail against this loss when he ran for the office of U.S. Senator against incumbent Joseph Ransdell, who Long claimed had allowed this ignominious closing of the mint to occur. The building, constructed in the Neoclassical style like most 19th-century public buildings in the U.S. at the time, functions today at the north end of the French Quarter as a museum of both the minting activity and jazz music that has made New Orleans famous.

New Orleans was the capital of the state of Louisiana until 1849, then again from 1865 to 1880. As a principal port it had a leading role in the slave trade, while at the same time having North America's largest community of free persons of color. Early in the American Civil War it was captured by the Union without a battle, and hence was spared the destruction suffered by many other cities of the American South. It retains a historical flavor with a wealth of 19th century structures far beyond the early colonial city boundaries of the French Quarter. The city hosted the 1884 World's Fair, called the World Cotton Centennial. An important attraction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the famous red light district called Storyville.

20th Century
Much of the city is located below sea level and is bordered by the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, so the city is surrounded by levees. Until the early 20th century, construction was largely limited to the slightly higher ground along old natural river levees and bayous, since much of the rest of the land was swampy and subject to frequent flooding. This gave the 19th century city the shape of a crescent along a bend of the Mississippi, the origin of the nickname The Crescent City. In the 1910s engineer and inventor A. Baldwin Wood enacted his ambitious plan to drain the city, including large pumps of his own design which are still used when heavy rains hit the city. Wood's pumps and drainage allowed the city to expand greatly in area.

Canal Street, looking away from the river, 1920s

In the 1920s an effort to "modernize" the look of the city removed the old cast-iron balconies from Canal Street, the city's commercial hub. In the 1960s another "modernization" effort replaced the Canal Streetcar Line with busses. Both of these moves came to be regarded as mistakes long after the fact, and the streetcars returned to a portion of Canal Street at the end of the 1990s, and construction to restore the entire line was completed in April of 2004.

The suburb of Metairie, Louisiana saw great growth in the 2nd half of the 20th century.

While long one of the USA's most visited cities, tourism boomed in the last quarter of the 20th century, becoming a major force in the local economy. Areas of the French Quarter and Central Business District which were long oriented towards local residential and business uses switched to largely catering to the tourist industry.

A century after the Cotton Centennial Exhibition, New Orleans hosted another World's Fair, the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition.

A view across Uptown New Orleans, with the Central Business District in the background, 1990s

Today
New Orleans is well known for its creole culture and the persistence of Voodoo by a few of its residents, as well as for its music, food, architecture and good times.

New Orleans is usually pronounced by locals "Noo Or-lins" "N'Awlins," or "Noo OR-lee-anns". The distinctive local accent is unlike either Cajun or the stereotypical Southern accent so often misportrayed by film and television actors. The City has the nicknames the Crescent City the Big Easy, and the City that Care Forgot. Many visitors consider New Orleans' motto to be "Laissez les bontemps rouler", or, "Let the good times roll."

Favorite tourist scenes in New Orleans include the French Quarter (known locally as "the Quarter"), which dates from the French and Spanish eras and is bounded by the Mississippi River and Rampart Street, Canal Street and Esplanade Ave. A popular visiting spot in the quarter is the French Market (including the Café du Monde, famous for café au lait and beignets). The Natchez, an authentic steamboat with a calliope tours the Mississippi twice daily.

There are three active streetcar lines, the Riverfront line (also known as the Ladies in Red since the cars are painted red) which runs parallel to the river from Canal Street through the French Quarter, the St. Charles line (green cars, formerly connecting New Orleans with the then independent suburb of Carrollton), and the recently restored Canal Street line (which uses the Riverfront line tracks from Esplanade Street to Canal Street, then branches off down Canal Street and ends at City Park Avenue with a spur running from the intersection of Canal and Claiborne Avenue to the entrance of City Park at Esplanade). The city is also the scene of the Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire." The streetcar line to Desire Street became a bus line in 1948, but will be restored as a light rail line.

St. Charles Avenue is home to Tulane and Loyola Universities; many stately 19th century mansions; and Audubon Park and Audubon Zoo.

Because of the high water table, New Orleans cemeteries mostly use above ground crypts rather than underground burial. New Orleans created its own spin on the old tradition of military brass band funerals; traditional New Orleans funerals with music feature sad music (mostly dirges and hymns) on the way to the cemetery and happy music (hot jazz) on the way back. Such traditional musical funerals still takes place when a local musician, a member of a club, krewe, or benevolent society, or a noted dignitary has passed. Until the 1990s most locals preferred to call these "funerals with music", but out of town visitors have long dubbed them "jazz funerals". Younger bands, especially those based in the Treme neighborhood, have embraced the term and now have funerals featuring only jazz music.

New Orleans has always been a center for music with its intertwined European, Latin American, and African-American cultures. The city engendered jazz with its brass bands. Decades later it was home to a distinctive brand of rhythm and blues that contributed greatly to the growth of rock and roll. In addition, the nearby countryside is the home of Cajun music, Zydeco music and Delta blues.

The city is also famous for its food. Specialties include Po'boy and Muffaletta sandwiches; Gulf oysters and other seafoods; etoufee, jambalaya, gumbo and other Creole dishes; and the Monday evening favorite of red beans and rice. (Louis Armstrong often signed his letters, "red beans and ricely yours".)

A true-color satellite image of New Orleans taken on NASA's Landsat 7
Airport
The city is served by Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, which is located near Kenner.

Celebrations
New Orleans' most famous celebration is its Carnival Season. The Carnival season is often known (especially by out-of-towners) by the name of the last and biggest day, Mardi Gras (literally, "Fat Tuesday"), which is held just before the beginning of the Christian liturgical season of Lent. Mardi Gras celebrations include parades and floats; participants toss strings of cheap colorful beads and doubloons to the crowds. The Mardi Gras season is kicked off with the only parade allowed through the French Quarter (Vieux Carre), a walking parade aptly named Krewe du Vieux. Main article: New Orleans Mardi Gras.

The Louisiana Jazz & Heritage Festival each spring is the other time when all the city's hotels are usually filled to capacity. "Jazz Fest" as it is called is one of the best music festivals in the nation, and features crowds coming from all over the world to experience a wonderful time (including music, food, arts, crafts, and of course the Louisiana heat).

Higher education
New Orleans is home to Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, Dillard University, Xavier University of Louisiana, the University of New Orleans, and Delgado Community College.

Sports
New Orleans is the home of the New Orleans Saints National Football League team. The city also has an Arena Football League team, the New Orleans VooDoo, owned by the Saints' owner. The New Orleans Zephyrs minor league baseball team plays in adjacent Metairie. The New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association moved to the city starting in the 2002-2003 season; they were previously based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Historical teams included the New Orleans Pelicans baseball team (1887 - 1959), the New Orleans Night of the Arena Football League (1991 - 1992), and the New Orleans Brass ice hockey team (1997 - 2003). Former basketball teams were the New Orleans Buccaneers (c. 1967-1970), and the New Orleans Jazz (1974 - 1980) which became the Utah Jazz.

Divisions and Neighborhoods
Public transport amongst the neighborhoods is managed by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority ("RTA").

Central Business District
Canal Street
Poydras Avenue
Old American Quarter
Old Warehouse District
Downtown
French Quarter
Storyville (no longer in existence)
Treme
Faubourg Marigny
Bywater
7th Ward
9th Ward
Lower 9th Ward
Uptown
Lower Garden District
Upper Garden District
Irish Channel
University District
Carrollton
Gert Town
Fountainbleu
Broadmoor
Mid City
Gentilly
Old Gentilly
Lakeside
New Orleans East
Versalles
Algiers
Algiers Point
English Turn
Other significant areas and sites in the city include:

Saint Louis Cemetery
Metairie Cemetery
The Superdome

New Orleanians
New Orleanians who attained note or fame have included:

Louis Armstrong, musician & entertainer
Vernel Bagneris, writer, director, actor, dancer
Dave Bartholomew, musician, composer, promoter
P.G.T. Beauregard, general & inventor
Sidney Bechet, musician
Ernest Bellocq, photographer
Terrence Blanchard, musician & composer
Buddy Bolden, musician, "inventor of jazz"(?)
James Booker, musician
Poppy Z. Brite, writer
George Washington Cable, writer
Truman Capote, writer
Kitty Carlisle, entertainer
Patricia Clarkson, actor
Harry Connick, Jr., musician and entertainer
Harry Connick Sr., district attorney, singer
Edmond Dede musician, composer
Ellen DeGeneres comedian, talk show host
Ernie K. Doe, singer, "Emperor of the Universe"
Fats Domino, musician
Clyde Drexler, former NBA star, soon to be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
Marshall Faulk, football star (St. Louis Rams)
Pete Fountain, musician
Jim Garrison, district attorney
George Girard, musician
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, pianist & composer
Shirley Ann Grau, writer
Bryant Gumbel, television anchor
John Hampson, inventor of "venetian" blinds
Marie Alice Heine first American Princess of Monaco
Clarence "Frogman" Henry, singer & musician
Lillian Hellman, writer
George Herriman, Krazy Kat cartoonist
Al Hirt, musician
Cheryl Holdridge, actress and Mouseketeer
Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer
Dr. John, musician
Earl King, musician
Stalebread Lacombe, self-proclaimed "inventor of jazz"
Papa Jack Laine, bandleader
Dorothy Lamour, actress
Mary Landrieu, senator and politician
Moon Landrieu, judge and politician
Nick LaRocca, self-proclaimed "inventor of jazz"
Josef Delarose Lascaux, inventor of cotton candy (candy floss)
John Larroquette, actor
Marie Laveau, Voodoo Queen
Elmore Leonard, author
Professor Longhair, musician
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts quarterback
Branford Marsalis, musician
Ellis Marsalis, musician & educator
Wynton Marsalis, musician
Adah Isaacs Menken, actress
Lizzie Miles, singer
Morgus The Magnificent
Paul Morphy, world chess champion
Garrett Morris, comedian
Jelly Roll Morton, musician & composer, self-proclaimed "inventor of jazz"
The Neville Brothers, musicians & singers
Joe "King" Oliver, musician
Dr. Alton Ochsner, surgeon & medical researcher
Chris Owens; Burlesque peformer and entrepreneur
Nicholas Payton, musician
Marguerite Piazza, operatic soprano
P.B.S. Pinchback, politician
Louis Prima, musician & entertainer
Mac Rebennack "Dr. John"
Anne Rice, writer of vampire tales and other Gothic fiction
Norbert Rilleaux, inventor, engineer
Clay Shaw, businessman
Rhonda Shear, beauty queen, television host
Richard Simmons, entertainer
John Kennedy Toole, writer of A Confederacy of Dunces
Allen Toussaint, musician, composer, record producer
Ben Turpin, silent film comedian
Ray Walston, actor
A. Baldwin Wood, inventor & engineer
Andrew Young, politician & statesman
Notable non-native residents have included:

Stephen Ambrose, historian and University of New Orleans professor
Harry Anderson, actor
John Goodman, actor
Lafcadio Hearn, writer
Lenny Kravitz, musician
Emeril Lagasse, chef, writer & TV host
Paul Prudhomme, chef
Trent Reznor, musician
Tennessee Williams, playwright

Tourism
New Orleans is one of the most visited cities in the United States. The city's colorful Carnival celebrations during the pre-Lenten season, centered on the French Quarter, draw particularly large crowds. Mardi Gras is a tradition that stretches back for years. During this time, Bourbon street is closed and open only to pedestrians or police. The Sugar Bowl game, played in early January, is a major tourist attraction, as well as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 907.0 km² (350.2 mi²). 467.6 km² (180.6 mi²) of it is land and 439.4 km² (169.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 48.45% water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 484,674 people, 188,251 households, and 112,950 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,036.4/km² (2,684.3/mi²). There are 215,091 housing units at an average density of 459.9/km² (1,191.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 28.05% European American, 67.25% African American, 0.20% Native American, 2.26% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. 3.06% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 188,251 households out of which 29.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.8% are married couples living together, 24.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% are non-families. 33.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.48 and the average family size is 3.23.

In the city the population is spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $27,133, and the median income for a family is $32,338. Males have a median income of $30,862 versus $23,768 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,258. 27.9% of the population and 23.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 40.3% are under the age of 18 and 19.3% are 65 or older.