USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 26
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Neita, a post-hamlet and station in the northeast corner of St. Landry parish, is on the Texas & Pacific R. R., about 8 miles south of Simmesport and 25 miles northeast of Opelousas, the parish seat.
Nellie, a post-hamlet in the western part of Natchitoches parish,
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is about 3 miles south of Powhatan, the nearest railroad station, and 10 miles northwest of Natchitoches, the parish seat.
Neptune, a post-hamlet of Plaquemines parish, is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi river. 4 miles southeast of Buras, the nearest railroad station. It is a landing on the river and the supply town for a large area of country in the southern part of the parish. The population in 1900 was 278.
Nero, a post-hamlet of Plaquemines parish, is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi river, almost opposite Wood Park, the nearest railroad station, and about 5 miles above Pointe a la Hache. It is a landing on the river, the shipping point for a fruit district, and in 1900 had a population of 43.
Nestor is a post-hamlet in the east-central part of Plaquemines parish, situated on the east bank of the Mississippi river. 10 miles below Pointe a la Hache. the parish seat and almost opposite Homeplace, the nearest railroad station.
Newellton, a town of Tensas parish, is situated on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., about 10 miles north of St. , Joseph, the parish seat. It has a bank, a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices, and is the shipping and trading point for the northeastern part of the parish. Large quantities of cotton and rice are shipped from Newellton annually. The popu- lation in 1900 was 200.
New Era, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Concordia parish, is situated on the Black river, about 12 miles west of Bougere, the nearest railroad station, and 25 miles south of Har- risonburg, the parish seat.
New Iberia, the capital of Iberia parish, became the seat of parochial government when the parish of Iberia was created in 1868. It is situated on the Bayou Teche, in the northern part of the parish ; was first laid out in 1835, and incorporated by an act of the state legislature on April 24, 1847, while the territory of Iberia parish was still included in the parish of St. Martin. The first courthouse, a temporary one, burnt in 1870. and other tempo- rary buildings were used for several years, until a spirit of enter- prise moved the people of the parish and city, and in 1884 a fine new courthouse was built at a cost of $22,000. New Iberia is the center of a rich agricultural section, sugar being the principal crop. with rice as the second. It has 3 banks. 3 large sawmills, a brick factory, a cottonseed oil mill. a rice mill. several foundries, wood- working factories, a ship yard. excellent schools, electric lights, waterworks, a board of trade, and an intelligent and progressive citizenship. Excellent transportation facilities are furnished by the Southern Pacific R. R. and the Bayou Teche ; in addition to the main line. the Southern Pacific has a branch from New Iberia to the salt mines in the southwestern part of the parish. There are telephone and telegraph lines, connecting the city with the surrounding towns. In 1900 it had a population of 6,815 inhab- itants. The Catholic church of the town dates from 1836, when a lot was set apart for it and a brick church built a year later.
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This was replaced by a more modern structure about 20 years ago. The Protestant denominations are represented by the Episcopal. Methodist and Baptist churches. The opera house was built about 1885. New Iberia is the leading manufacturing town of the Teche country, and in 1900 did a business of over $600,000.
Newlight, a post-hamlet of Tensas parish, is situated on the Tensas river, 10 miles west of Newellton, the nearest railroad town.
Newlin, a post-hamlet and station in the northwestern part of Calcasieu parish, is on the Kansas City Southern R. R., about 10 miles southwest of De Ridder, and 30 miles northwest of Lake Charles, the parish seat. It has a telegraph station and express office, and is the shipping and supply town for a lumber district.
New Orleans .- Where. among the cities of the New World, can one be found to whose name clings so much of romantic interest as New Orleans? Its magic charm stirs the imagination of those to whom its fascination is but hearsay and the memories of those who have at one time formed a part of its ever changing panorama. A cosmopolitan city indeed is New Orleans, but it preserves more than any other city in the United States, the customs, traditions, and manners of France. Frenchman and Spaniard, long since gathered to their fathers, have left upon this, smiling southern port, the indelible imprint of their names, which greet the way- farer wherever he may wander.
One must turn back the pages of history for nearly two centuries of time to trace the beginnings of the Crescent City. Its site upon the east bank of the Mississippi, where the river makes a great sweeping crescent, earned the city this sobriquet, although at the present time the river shore within the city describes an S, so great has been the increase and spread of population. The original river front of the city in the days of Bienville and Perier is now several blocks back from the levee, because the current constantly washes away the west bank and deposits mud upon the east bank, so that in the passage of years, the old west shore has become the site of the present east shore.
The site of the city was selected in 1718 by Gov. Bienville, who during one of his early excursions up the river remarked this spot 100 miles from the mouth to be the highest point of land within many miles. It also possessed the strategic advantage of a back passage to the gulf through lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne, which might be utilized for many purposes. He therefore proposed to carry into execution the original intention when the colony was founded, and establish the capital upon the banks of the Mississippi, where a great seaport might grow up, and where arriving and de- parting vessels might load and unload their cargoes without the de- lays and troubles of lightering as at the Biloxi establishment. He accordingly directed his chief engineer Le Blond de la Tour and as- sistants to plan and stake out a town, to which he gave the name of New Orleans in honor of the Regent. Duke of Orleans. Soldiers, coureurs de bois and negroes formed the population of the little
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village, which in the succeeding 4 years became a hamlet of 100 cabins. In 1722 the capital of the province of Louisiana was for- mally established at New Orleans, and there it remained through- out the colonial period.
Colonial New Orleans is in many ways an epitome of colonial Louisiana. News of the settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi reached Montreal and Quebec, and explorers and settlers from the north soon joined the southern colonists. The German emigrants sent to Louisiana by John Law settled above New Orleans at what is known as the German Coast. Refugees from Acadia found a foothold and Acadian settlements followed. French soldiers and colonists from the Ohio valley flocked southward at the close of the French and Indian war, and in spite of severe setbacks the lit- tle city flourished. In the year 1719. during the first building of the city, a heavy rise of the Mississippi flooded the cabins of the workmen, and led to the construction of the first levee in front of the town. Hurricane, flood and fire followed in their turn, but to none of these was the city destined to succumb. The expensive and long Indian wars waged by Govs. Perier and Bienville against the Natchez and Chickasaws caused heavy losses to the colony. The original form of the city as exhibited in the map prepared in 1728 by Pauger, assistant to De la Tour, is a rectangle, with a frontage of 11 squares on the levee and a depth of 6 squares. This parallelogram now known as the vieux carre contained at the center of the river front the Place d'Armes, now Jackson Square, which was reserved for a parade ground, and another square reserved for the uses of the Church, which became the site of the St. Louis cathedral and the convent of the Capuchins, who were the spir- itual directors of the people of New Orleans. The narrow streets of the vieux carre, which is bounded by Esplanade, Canal, Old Levee, and Rampart streets, practically all bear the ancient names shown on the map of 1728. and given them by De la Tour. Rue de l'Arsenal became Rue des Ursulines, and rue de Condé became Chartres street. Chartres, Conde, Royal, Bourbon, Dauphine (rue . de Dauphiné), and Burgundy, traverse the vieux carre at right angles to Canal street, and in the opposite direction run Iberville. Bienville, Conti. St. Louis, Toulouse, St. Peter, Orleans, St. Anne, Dumaine and St. Philip streets. The rue des Quartiers and the rue de l'Hôpital were named after the government barracks and hospital were erected on them. Custom House street derived its name from the first Spanish custom house. Esplanade street was the soldiers' drill ground, Rampart street a part of the old wall, and Canal street was named from the drainage canal which trav- ersed the city northwest from the river to the lake. Bourbon, Conde, Royal, Chartres, Orleans, and Burgundy streets memorialize the great names of France, as do also the newer streets of Marigny, Moreau and Lafayette. "The government magazines were on both sides of Dumaine street, between Chartres and the river. The rest of that block opening on the Place d'Armes, was then. as now. used as a market-place. Facing the levee between St. Peter and
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Toulouse streets, was situated the Intendance (intendant's house). The house of the Company of the West was on the block above, and on the block above that was the Hotel du Gouvernement, or governor's house. Bienville, however, built a private hotel on his square of ground, which inchided the site of the custom house of to-day. The powder magazine was placed on what would be now the neutral ground in front of the custom house. A view of the city taken in 1718, about the time it was founded, for Le Page du Pratz the historian, shows the levee shaded with trees, buildings on both sides of the river, those opposite the city being on the plantation of the king, upon which Du Pratz afterward served as physician. He said that the quarters given to the bourgeois (our first citizens) were overflowed three months of the year. He calls these blocks, therefore, 'Islands; Isles,' which is the origin of the Creolism 'Islet' for street or square." (New Orleans, Grace King, p. 43).
The year 1727 was marked by the arrival of a company of 7 Ursuline nuns, who were sent from France to be teachers and nurses in the little community. The various locations occupied by the Ursuline order are fully described under the title Ursuline Convent. Their celebrated nunnery, the oldest building in the Mississippi valley, which became the archiepiscopal palace, still contains the archives and offices of the diocese, although since 1899, the archbishop has occupied the beautiful new residence purchased for him on Esplanade avenue. The old nunnery has preserved its original appearance and interior arrangements, only the repairs necessary to overcome the ravages of time having been made. The year 1727 is also the date of the establishment of the Jesuits, the missionary priests of Louisiana, upon the land granted to them above the city, now the American district. (See Catholic Church). Upon their plantation. with the help of slaves, were cultivated the orange, fig. sugar-cane, and indigo plant, introduced by the Jesuits into Louisiana from San Domingo, and their truck gardens also became famous. Vegetables and fruits for the city markets were supplied from their gardens, and from the German Coast, about 80 miles above the city. The first church in New Orleans occu- pied the site upon which the St. Louis cathedral now stands, and was erected in 1721. (See Cathedral.) Another of New Orleans' old and important institutions is the charity hospital, which suc- ceeded the military hospital. and received the first great impetus to its growth in 1784 from the gift to the city for that purpose of $114,000 by Don Andres Almonester y Roxas, the wealthiest man in Louisiana, father of the Baroness de Pontalba. (See Charity Hospital.)
Around the Place d'Armes the life of the little city centered. Here were the cathedral. the Capuchin convent, government ware- houses, and toward the levee at the corner of the square, was estab- lished in 1723. the French market. which remains to this day unique in its place in the life of the city. The original market was de- stroyed by the hurricane of 1723, and upon its site the present meat
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market was built in 1813. In the French market of the present day is a wondrous collection of edibles to tempt the housewife, who is early at hand to select from the fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, poultry and game, displayed for her table. Petit déjeuner can be obtained by the visitor and everything else imaginable in the great bazaar. To the average inland American, the fish market is a place of interest, and the Northerner is tempted by the sight of violets, orange blossoms, etc .. in the flower booths in midwinter. To the idler who wanders along the crowded aisles the variety is bewilder- ing, but the busy matron of the quarter soon makes her choice and departs. At 10 o'clock, or breakfast time, the real business of the day is over.
In 1779 a hurricane caused great destruction of property. On Good Friday, March 21, 1788, the historic fire, which destroyed the main portion of the town, commenced in the chapel of Don Vin- cento José Nuñez, the Spanish military treasurer of the colony, on Chartres street, near St. Louis. In the more thickly settled dis- trict, the river front alone escaped. Only 6 years had elapsed when, in 1794, another terrible conflagration swept through the city. A great number of residences, stores and public buildings were consumed by the flames, and the inhabitants fled in terror to the Place d'Armes and other open spaces, thankful to escape with their lives. As in the case of many other large cities, the fire seemed to be necessary to clear the heart of the city of many unde- sirable structures, and it was followed by a marked improvement in the appearance of the city. A reward was offered by Gov. Carondelet to the owner of every building erected, which should have a tile or other fire-proof roof. Buildings of plaster or brick replaced the original flimsy wooden structures. The oldest resi- dences, stores, etc., were erected at this time. Says Grace King: "What lay in the ashes was, at best, but an irregular, ill-built, French town. What arose from them was a stately Spanish city, proportioned with grace and built with solidity, practically the city as we see it today, and for which, first and foremost we owe thanks to Don Andres Almonester; and may the Angelus bell from the Cathedral, which times the perpetual masses for his soul, never fail to remind us of our obligation to him. * * * Standing amid the ruins and ashes of the town, that had been kind to him with money, honors, and a beautiful young wife, Don Andres had one of those inspirations which come at times to the hearts of mil- lionaires, converting their wealth from mere coin into a living attri- bute. Ilis first offer to the cabildo was to replace the schoolhouse. This was the first public school in New Orleans ; it was established by the government in 1772 to teach the Spanish language. with Don Andreas Lopez de Armesto as director. Don Manuel Diaz de Lara professor of Latin. and Don Francisco de la Celena teacher of reading. He then filled in the open space on each side of the church, by a convent for the Capuchins and a town hall, the cabildo, and he added the chapel to the Ursuline convent. "Of the same
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period as these notable buildings are the old French market and the Pontalba buildings facing Jackson Square.
The five years residence of the Spanish governor, Carondelet, were marked by the erection of various fortifications, necessitated ostensibly by the difference of opinion between Spain and the resi- dents of the upper Mississippi valley in regard to the freedom of commerce at the mouth of the river. The Spanish tariff regula- tions were extremely distasteful to traders from the north and threats of violence were common. Baron de Carondelet's real ob- ject, however, was to insure the loyalty of New Orleans, and the forts served to impress the people with the power of the Spanish authorities. Five forts were built upon the wall of mud and wooden pickets inside the great ditch which encircled the city. Forts St. Charles and St. Louis were erected on the river front, St. Joseph, St. Ferdinand and Burgundy at the rear of the city. Covered pas- sages connected the fortresses, which accomplished their purpose of keeping the peace, although the resistance they might offer to any real attack was problematical. At the same time the governor built on Bayou St. John a fort which remains in a fair state of preservation to the present day. Near it a small village has grown up known as Spanish Fort, and it was here Gen. Jackson landed in 1814 before he entered the city. The fort was armed and gar- risoned during the Spanish domination, abandoned as too far in- land in territorial times, and again occupied and garrisoned during the War between the States. By the treaty of San Lorenzo el Real, in 1795. the river dispute was settled and Baron Carondelet turned his attention to the improvement and rebuilding of the city after the fire of 1794. In this department, his greatest achieve- ment was the Carondelet canal, which was one of the important and serious attempts made to solve the difficult problems of sani- tation arising from the peculiar topography of New Orleans. Ca- rondelet's services were regarded as of such value to the com- munity that his name was conferred upon the canal by the cabildo.
Dear to the heart of the Louisianian is the French opera house, which can be traced to its humble beginnings on St. Peter street · in 1791, when a French refugee named Davis, from the San Do- mingo massacre, gathered together a company of players and com- menced giving performances in a hired hall. This became known as the Theatre St. Pierre and was the only theatre in the city until 1808, when the Theatre St. Philippe was erected on St. Philip street between Roval and Bourbon. Another theatre, erected in 1811, on Orleans street between Royal and Bourbon, was destroyed by fire in 1816, and upon its site, at a cost of $180,000, the famous Theatre d'Orleans was erected, where for many years drama and the opera flourished, second only to Paris and Italy in the quality of the attractions offered. The building contained a parquette, lat- ticed boxes for people in mourning, where they might hear the music unseen, 2 tiers of boxes and 1 of galleries. Ball and supper rooms adjoined the auditorium, and on occasion the great par- quette was floored over for dancing. Since the establishment of
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the Theatre d'Orleans New Orleans has had grand opera nearly every year. The greatest singers of the world have been heard upon its stage ; here Patti made her debut in Meyerbeer's "Pardon de Ploermel ;" Calve and Gerster have sung ; and many another voice famous in 2 continents gave its best to the appreciative creole audience. Full evening dress was required of the audience in ante- bellum days, and the entire operas of the great composers were given, requiring the performance to commence at 6 o'clock and often to last until midnight. The crowds finally became too great to be accommodated in the Orleans theatre, and in 1859 the French opera house, which seats 2,800 people. was built at the corner of Bourbon and Toulouse streets. In 1867 the Orleans theatre, shorn of its glory, became a prey to the fire fiend, and with the exception of one wing was burned to the ground. Additions were built to the remaining wing. the building served for a time as the criminal courthouse, and after the removal of the court became a convent. The modern French opera house is of great size, the immense audi- torium occupying but a minor part of the structure. Storage room, dressing rooms, all the paraphernalia of a modern theatre are com- plete in every detail. and the building is one of the best appointed opera houses in the world. The customs of the Theatre d'Orleans survived in the French Opera House, but in recent years have been somewhat modified. Only evening dress is tolerated in the boxes, but in the parquette, formerly reserved for men exclusively, street dress is customary. The opening of the opera is the opening of the social season and the duration of both is the same. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights are devoted to the opera. the last performance of the week being the most fashionable. Social func- tions occupy the intervening nights. When carnival balls are given at the French opera house. the parquette is floored over and con- verted into a mammoth ball-room accommodating 4,000 persons. The old St. Charles theatre on St. Charles street, erected in 1835 at a cost of $350.000. was the largest theatre in the United States when built. It was destroyed by fire in 1843, and was replaced by the new St. Charles or the "Old Drury," which held a prominent place in the affections of the people of New Orleans for many years. It was the scene of brilliant pageants in which appeared the great- est actors of the world.
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Included in De la Tour's original plan of the city, was the old St. Louis cemetery back of Rainpart street. To the original square devoted to use as a burial place other squares have been added, and the ground where sleep the founders of the city, once entirely with- out the city boundaries, is now enclosed on all sides by streets and buildings. The entrance is on Basin street between Conti and St. Louis. The old St. Louis cemetery is closed now, and within recent years no burials have taken place, except of persons descended from the families already there interred. The tombs of the earliest inhabitants of New Orleans can be seen. crumbling to decay, and the names carved upon them. French, Spanish or Canadian, are familiar to every lover of the history and traditions of Louisiana.
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The tomb of M. de Bore, whose plantation is now Carrollton, re- ceived in 1895 the remains of the historian Charles Gayarre, who at the great age of four-score years and ten was gathered to his fathers. The tomb of Paul Morphy, the world's greatest chess player, who died in 1884, and that of Benedics Van Pradelles, a companion officer of Lafayette, stand side by side. The tomb of Col. Michel Fortier, who served under Galvez in his wars against the British, is also in the old St. Louis. Conspicuous in all the New Orleans cemeteries are the vaults of benevolent societies, im- posing structures of stone and marble. The old St. Louis ceme- tery has become so crowded that almost every foot of space is uti- lized. The walls are lined with receptacles one above another, popularly called ovens. In New Orleans, owing to the marshy ground upon which the city stands, the dead are buried above ground in tombs or vaults of granite, marble or other durable material, containing shelves or chambers, each large enough to contain a casket.
The custom of celebrating the festival of All Saints day, Nov. 1, common in Roman Catholic countries, has survived in New Orleans from an early day. The whole city is busy for weeks beforehand in preparation and on this day set apart for the revival of sad though blessed memories, none is too poor to spare a tear, and there are few who fail to gather a tribute of flowers from the fading autumn to adorn the resting-place of a loved one. Every device for making beautiful the grave may be purchased at the gates of the cemeteries during the fortnight preceding All Saints day, and on the day itself flower vendors throng the streets near them. The crowds are so great that many are early astir to pay homage to the dead. and among the earliest are the orphans from the asylums, who wait near the gates with basins to receive con- tributions. The perfume of flowers is everywhere, and the des- tination of old and young, rich and poor. is the same. Early No- vember weather in New Orleans is delightful and a rainy All Saints day is rare.
In St. Louis cemetery No. 2. Alexander Milne, the friend of the orphan, is interred. also Chief Justice Francois Xavier Martin, the historian-jurist, Gen. J. B. Plauché, a hero of the War of 1812, and lieutenant-governor, and U. S. Senator Pierre Soule. St. Louis No. 3 is of great historic interest, and there is also the St. Louis ceme- tery for the colored.
Once far beyond the city limits, but now within its populous districts, are the first Protestant cemeteries on Liberty street at the foot of Girod. the Girod cemetery, named in honor of the French Protestant mayor and philanthropist, Nicolas Girod, the Lafayette, and the Washington. at the corner of Prytania street and Wash- ington avenue. In the Girod sleeps Mlle. Placide, whose poetic epitaph is noted. Gen. Bliss, gallant soldier of the Mexican war. and many an American pioneer and noble hearted citizen, honored in the city of. his adoption. The Washington cemetery contains a monument to Gov. Allen, the war governor, but his remains have
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