Chapter Three- Historic Settlement of New Orleans

Old New Orleans (Google Images)

The idea to found New Orleans or Nouvelle-Orleans, came about in Paris in 1717 through John Law's Company of the West, which took control of Louisiana that year.  New Orleans was to be a "port of deposit," or transshipment centre for future trade from upriver in the Mississippi River Valley.  Jean-Baptiste le Moyne de Bienville, the man who suggested the site, was entrusted with the actual foundation of the city.

Clearing of underbrush for the new city probably began in March 1718. The engineers charged with this task met with problems arising from uncooperative convict labour, a shortage of supplies, two severe hurricanes (in 1721 and 1722), and the unpleasant physical conditions of mosquito-infested swamps as they set up the first crude dwellings covered with bark and reeds. An engineer, Adrien de Pauger, drafted the first plan for the town, encompassing what is now the Vieux Carre and consisting of 66 squares forming a parallelogram.

The first residents were a colorful mixture of Canadian backwoodsmen, company craftsmen and troops, convicts, slaves, prostitutes, and indigents.  In a census taken in November 1721, New Orleans had a population of 470 people: 277 whites and 172 black and 21 Indian slaves. In 1722 New Orleans was designated the capital of Louisiana, and in 1731 the city returned to the control of the French crown.


Old New Orleans (Google Images)

In 1762 France, secretly agreed to cede Louisiana to Spain, and, by the Treaty of Paris (1763), Spain received New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi.

In 1800 Louisiana was secretly returned to Napoleon's France, and by 1803 the French emperor had negotiated its sale to the United States. The ceremonies transferring Louisiana to France and later to the United States took place in new Orleans's Cabildo and main square, the Place d'Armes (now Jackson Square), in the winter of 1803.
(source:http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/411897/New-Orleans/11810/History)

Chapter Two- Landforms of New Orleans

With miles of waterfront in three directions, New Orleans is partly peninsular. The heart of the city spreads around a curve of the Mississippi River—source of the nickname "Crescent City"—while edging Lake Pontchartrain on the north. Lake Pontchartrain connects to Lake Borgne, a broad opening to the Gulf of Mexico. Lakes, marshlands, and bayous extend from the city in all directions. Louisiana is divided into parishes rather than counties; New Orleans itself occupies the entirety of Orleans Parish, while metropolitan New Orleans extends west into St. Charles, St. John, and St. James; south into Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard Parishes, and north into St. Tammany Parish, and into other parishes as well. (source:http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/New-Orleans-Geography-and-Climate.html)

Chapter One- Introduction to NOLA

Different Areas of New Orleans (Google Images)

New Orleans is know by many nicknames: NOLA, The Big Easy, The Crescent City....It brings to mind different things like Jazz, Mardi Gras, Saints football, Creole cooking, Hurricane Katrina, countless films and television shows and many, many more images.

Few cities have so many different faces and appeal to people on so many different levels.

Lets begin with some facts from the US Census Bureau:

-New Orleans covers approximately 169.42 square miles (2010).
-Population of New Orleans as of 2010 was 343,829 with an estimated population for 2011 of
 360,740
-Of that population in 2010, 60.2%  were black and 33.0% were white, and Hispanics/Latinos made up 5.2%. The rest of the population with much smaller representative numbers were American Indian, Alaskan, Asian, and Persons reporting two or more races.

The website About.com Geography (http://geography.about.com/od/unitedstatesofamerica/a/neworleansgeography.htm)
has some interesting information regarding the city that can help a visitor or newcomer learn more about the history of New Orleans, such as:

1)The city of New Orleans was founded under the name La Nouvelle-Orleans on May 7, 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville and the French Mississippi Company. The city was named after Phillipe d'Orleans, who was France's head of state at that time. In 1763, France lost control of the new colony to Spain with the Treaty of Paris. Spain then controlled the region until 1801, at which time it was passed back to France.

2)After becoming a part of the United States, New Orleans also began to play a large role in international relations as it developed into a large port. The port then played a role  in the Atlantic slave trade but also the exportation of different commodities and the importing  of international goods for the rest of the nation up the Mississippi River.

3)In August 2005, New Orleans was hit by the category five Hurricane Katrina and 80% of the city was flooded after a failure of the city's levees. 1,500 people died  in Hurricane Katrina and many of the city's population permanently relocated.

4)The climate of New Orleans is considered humid subtropical with mild winters and hot, humid summers. The average July high temperature for New Orleans is 91.1 F (32.8 C), while the average January low is 43.4F (6.3C).

5)New Orleans is home to two of the largest private universities in the United States-Tulane University an Loyola University New Orleans. public universities like the University of New Orleans are also within the city.

New Orleans!

New Orleans is a city unlike any other in the United States. It is a city with a rich history, a melting-pot of cultures and influences that give it the distinct flavor that can be found nowhere else in the world, let alone the US. I hope to share photos, facts, and information regarding the city which, while I have only visited twice, has managed to take a hold of my heart and imagination in a way that no other place has.

French Quarter street sign/Google Images

St. Louis Cathedral/Google Images

French Quarter Street/Google Images



Downtown New Orleans-River view/Google Images