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Virtually New Orleans - Feature Photo of the Week, June 9, 1997
Bayou St. John at Esplanade
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The Feature Photo is sponsored this week by NOLA Market.
Bayou St. John was one of the first major highways in the New Orleans area. The bayou starts at Lake Pontchartrain and originally went all the way into just north of the Vieux Carre'. There was so much vessel traffic on the bayou that a turning basin was constructed. This basin was located more-or-less where the Municipal Auditorium and Armstrong Park are now located. The turning basin is how Basin Street got its name. Nowadays, that basin has long been filled in, and the bayou itself only runs as far south as Jefferson Davis Pkwy in Mid-City.
When I was going to Brother Martin, this was the place where the Esplanade bus line met up with the Carrollton line, and I'd transfer to from one to the other to get home in the evening. There were shorter ways to get home than this one (the Carrollton bus ran down Gentilly Blvd. to DeSaix, then turned onto Wisner, then on to North Carrollton for its run Uptown. The Esplanade bus turned off of Esplanade Ave. on to City Park at this point and ended at City Park and Canal Blvd.), but this was the most scenic option of them all. The bayou has a very relaxing effect, a bit of calm amidst the hustle-bustle of commuter traffic.
To this day, the bayou is the dividing line between several neighborhoods. To the south of this point (what would be to your back looking at this photo), the downtown side is Faubourg St. John, one of the original Creole neighborhoods that sprang up as people moved out of the Vieux Carre'. The uptown side is Mid-City, which grew up as people living on one side of the bayou crossed to the other side to build more homes. The bayou makes a fairly sharp turn at this point, bringing several major streets together. From the lakefront, Wisner Blvd. ends its run parallel to the bayou. North Carrollton Ave. begins here (it's called "north" at this point because it's on the more-or-less northern side of Canal St. When the street crosses Canal, it's referred to as South Carrollton, and the block numbering starts over again.) Esplanade Ave. ends at this point (that's the silver bridge you see in the photo), and City Park Avenue begins here, running along the southern edge of the park that is its namesake. This joining of streets also separates Faubourg St. John from Mid-City and Lakeview from Gentilly.
The high-rise that dominates the rear of the photo is the Park Esplanade apartment building. Immediately behind the apartments is St. Louis Cemetery Number Three, the last of the three original Creole cemeteries in the city. On the other side of the bayou is the southeast corner of City Park. There's a traffic circle just out of view on that corner that is dominated by a figure on horseback. The rider is Maj. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard of the Confederate Army. On the right-hand side of the photo is Moss Street, which turns to follow the bayou. You'll find Pitot House, Cabrini High School, and some beautiful houses along the bayou as it winds back into town.
If you have a little extra time in your next visit to the city, take a break from the Quarter and Uptown and come see the bayou. It's no longer the vital artery it used to be, but you can still feel the history that was made here. The LeMoyne brothers canoeing down to the city. Voodoo ceremonies held on its banks by Marie Laveau. Ships bringing goods of all kinds into the city. For my money, there's more potential for a good historical romance novel in this neighborhood than in any part of Uptown, Garden District (and Anne Rice) notwithstanding. To get down here from the CBD or Quarter, catch the Esplanade bus and ride it down to this point. Get off, visit Pitot House on Moss St., check out the cemetery, Holy Rosary Church, and perhaps the New Orleans Museum of Art in the park. To get back downtown, either take the Esplanade line right back the way you came, or catch the Carrollton bus to Canal St., then the Canal line back into town.
This photo was shot by me, Ed Branley, with my trusty Nikon FA.
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